Who Killed Cock Robin? Is a Bizarrely Dark Cartoon

Is it worth your time?

If you like old-school, rubber-hose animation and don't mind a little bit of 1930s weirdness, sure. It’s a short, so you aren't losing much of your afternoon.

However, if you get annoyed by characters constantly breaking into song or the frantic energy of early Disney shorts, you’ll probably want to skip this one. It’s not for the faint of heart or the impatient.

The vibe is… unique

The whole premise is just inherently strange. You’ve got this dapper little robin crooning away like he’s in a lounge, and then—*thwack*—he’s hit with an arrow. It’s like watching a noir film but everyone has feathers.

The courtroom scene is where it really gets cookin'. The judge is an owl who can't stop singing, and the witnesses are just a parade of caricatures. It reminds me a bit of the chaotic energy in The Gosh-Darn Mortgage, just with more beaks.

Specifics that stuck

The Mae West-inspired Jenny Wren character is something else. The animators clearly had a blast with the exaggerated movements and the heavy-lidded expressions. It’s definitely a product of its time, for better or worse. 🐦

I couldn't help but notice how the backgrounds look almost painterly compared to the manic characters. There’s this one shot of the courtroom where the shadows are surprisingly deep for a cartoon from 1935. It feels a bit more grounded than, say, Cubby's Stratosphere Flight.

Random thoughts

• The arrows are surprisingly pointy.
• Nobody actually seems that sad about the robin getting shot.
• The jazz scatting is surprisingly tight.

It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s a weird little window into what people found funny eighty years ago. Sometimes I think we overthink these things, but man, that owl is annoying. 🦉