''It's Tough to Be a Bird'' is a 1969 American animated educational short film directed by

Ward Kimball Ward Walrath Kimball (March 4, 1914 – July 8, 2002) was an American animator employed by Walt Disney Animation Studios. He was part of Walt Disney's main team of animators, known collectively as Disney's Nine Old Men. His films have been honor ...

and produced by

Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...

. The short won the Academy Award for Best Short Subject, Cartoons in 1970 and was nominated for a BAFTA Film Award for Best Animated Film in 1971. This was the last animated short film produced by Disney to win an Academy Award until '' Paperman'' (2012) and thus the final animated cartoon short released by Disney in the golden age of American animation.

Summary

In the short, a red

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

(voiced by

Richard Bakalyan Richard Bakalyan (January 29, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor who started his career playing juvenile delinquents in his first several films. Early life Richard Bakalyan was born on January 29, 1931, in Watertown, Massachuset ...

) explains how birds have contributed to human culture, even as people often try to kill them. He claims this may be because humans were jealous that birds can fly but people cannot, mentioning the legend of Icarus and featured films of early unsuccessful flying machines. In ''Disney's

D-TV ''D-TV'' was a series of music videos created by The Walt Disney Company and produced by Charles Braverman and edited by Ted Herrmann which premiered on May 5, 1984, by taking hit songs of the past and putting them together with various footage of ...

'' in the 1980s, clips from this short were set to

Bobby Day Robert James Byrd (July 1, 1930 – July 27, 1990), known by the stage name Bobby Day, was an American singer, multi-instrumentalist, music producer, and songwriter. He is best known for his hit record " Rockin' Robin", written by Leon René und ...

's cover of " Rockin' Robin".DTV Bobby Day Rockin' Robin by Rayzor-YouTube
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Cast

* Ruth Buzzi as Soprano *

as M.C. Bird * John Emerson as Bird Fancier * Jim Swain as Bird Fancier * Ann Lord as Bird Fancier * Hank Schloss as Bird Fancier * Walter Perkins as Bird Fancier * Rolf Darbo as Bird Fancier

References

External links

* *
''It's Tough To Be A Bird'' on BCDB
{{AcademyAwardBestAnimatedShortFilm 1961–1980 1969 films Best Animated Short Academy Award winners 1960s Disney animated short films Disney educational films 1969 animated films Films directed by Ward Kimball Films produced by Walt Disney Films scored by George Bruns Animated films about birds Animated films about animals Noah's Ark in film 1960s English-language films

Summary

Cast

See also

References

External links