The Bird Store: A Chaotic Mess of Feathers

Is it worth the watch?

Honestly, if you have seven minutes to kill and you enjoy watching early animation where everything is constantly vibrating, sure. It’s for the animation nerds who want to see how they handled group dynamics before everything got so polished and boring. If you hate repetitive slapstick or the sound of chirping that feels like it’s drilling into your skull, stay far away. 🐦

There is this one moment where the cat tries to sneak up on a canary. The way the background art just sort of slides around is really distracting. It feels less like a coherent space and more like a collection of paper cutouts having a nervous breakdown.

The birds don't just sit there, though. They launch a full-on counter-offensive that feels a lot more organized than it has any right to be. It’s not quite as intense as the stakes in The Wrestler, but for a group of parakeets, they fight like their lives actually matter.

Specific weirdness I noticed:

• The cat’s facial expressions are wildly inconsistent. Sometimes he’s a terrifying predator, and two seconds later he looks like a confused potato.
• The sheer volume of bird noises is kind of overwhelming. It’s like being trapped in a closet with a hundred squeaky toys.
• The ending feels like they just ran out of film and decided to call it a day.

I found myself wondering why the pet shop owner is nowhere to be found. Is this place abandoned? The birds are basically running a tactical defense operation in total silence from the humans.

It’s definitely not a masterpiece. It lacks the grounded human stakes you’d find in something like His Jazz Bride, but it’s got this weird, frantic energy. It’s just people drawing birds and making them do things that birds definitely don't do. Like operating pulleys. And using sewing needles as spears. 🧵

The whole thing feels like a fever dream that someone had after eating too much cheese. You can tell they were just testing what they could get away with. Sometimes the movement is fluid, and other times it’s just jerky chaos. It doesn't really matter though. You aren't watching for the plot.

If you've seen enough of these vintage shorts, you know the drill. It’s a bit silly, slightly annoying, and totally charming in a way that feels like a relic from another planet. Just don't expect it to change your life.