A Star Is Hatched (1938)

Emily the chicken, lives in Hickville but dreams of Hollywood. Her chance comes when director J. Megga-Phone happens to drive past and gives her his card. She makes her way to Hollywood, ... See full summary »

Director:

Friz Freleng

Writer:

Tedd Pierce (story)

Stars:

Sara Berner, Mel Blanc, Bernice Hansen

Cast

Uncredited cast:
Sara Berner	...	Emily (voice) (uncredited)
Mel Blanc	...	Director Yelling 'Cut' (voice) (uncredited)
Bernice Hansen	...	Baby Chick (voice) (uncredited)
Tedd Pierce	...	J. Megga Phone / W.C. Fields / Movie Star Guide (voice) (uncredited)

Storyline

Emily the chicken, lives in Hickville but dreams of Hollywood. Her chance comes when director J. Megga-Phone happens to drive past and gives her his card. She makes her way to Hollywood, and Megga-Phone's office, where she discovers a whole flock of hens with the same card and a completely uncaring Megga-Phone. She returns home to faithful Clem, and a chick with foolish notions.

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Plot Keywords:

chicken | film director | character's mouth fills the screen | cartoon chicken | aspiring actress | 

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Genres:

Animation | Family | Short | Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 April 1938 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Leon Schlesinger Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

8 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Included in Turner Home Entertainment's 2-disc special edition DVD of Bringing Up Baby, released 1 March 2005.

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Connections

Referenced in Hollywood Steps Out (1941)

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Soundtracks

"Bei mir Bist du Schön"
(uncredited)
Music by Sholom Secunda
Played as J. Megga Phone's theme tune

User Reviews

Hilarious Satire on "A Star is Born" with a Chicken Cast!!

This wonderful Warner Bros. cartoon from 1938 is featured as a bonus on the "Bringing Up Baby" DVD in a beautiful print. It's a hilarious spoof of the old chestnut of a star-struck girl who goes in search of stardom in Hollywood - only this time the girl is a scrawny hen!! Our heroine has plastered her chicken coop/apartment with pictures of movie star(among them Claudette Colbert, Dorothy Lamour, Cary Grant, and Janet Gaynor) and dreamily reads movie mags and envisions her future as an actress. And who should happen to drop into town at the local filling station but a world-famous movie director (who happens to be a rooster) who sees star potential in this chick and gives her his business card. Our girl goes to Hollywood - where W.C. Fields is a traffic cop, Freddie Bartholmeow is the newspaper boy and Clark Gable a streetcar conductor (we also see caricatures of Mae West, Charlie Chaplin, John Barrymore, Greta Garbo, Edward G. Robinson, and others) - will she become a star or lay an egg? This is a hilarious cartoon that will greatly appeal to old movie buffs as well as cartoon fans.