King-Size Canary (1947)

A mangy cat on the verge of starvation finds a tiny canary and a bottle of 'Jumbo-Gro' fertiliser, which gives him an idea that leads to giant cats, dogs, mice and canaries chasing each ... See full summary »

Director:

Tex Avery

Writer:

Heck Allen (story)

Stars:

Pinto Colvig, Frank Graham

Cast

Uncredited cast:
Pinto Colvig	...	Cat (voice) (uncredited)
Frank Graham	...	Mouse (voice) (uncredited)

Storyline

A mangy cat on the verge of starvation finds a tiny canary and a bottle of 'Jumbo-Gro' fertiliser, which gives him an idea that leads to giant cats, dogs, mice and canaries chasing each other round Lilliputian towns and cities...

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Plot Keywords:

kilroy was here | sleeping pill | hunger | self referential | la marseillaise | 

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Genres:

Family | Animation | Comedy | Short

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 December 1947 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kanariefågeln som växte

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

8 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In animation historian Jerry Beck's 1994 poll of animators, film historians and directors, this cartoon was rated the tenth greatest cartoon of all time.

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Quotes

[last lines]
Mouse: Ladies and gentlemen, we're gonna have to end this picture. We just ran out of the stuff. Good night.

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Connections

Referenced in Behind the Tunes: A Conversation with Tex Avery (2004)

User Reviews

The quintessential Tex Avery cartoon.

While I do not personally think this is Avery's best cartoon (that honor goes to The Legend of Rockabye Point) and this one is also not among my personal favorites, this is the ultimate in Tex Avery cartoons. Everything Avery strived to do is here-he loved taking a quasi-normal situation, tossing in a random, improbable element or three and then piling sight gag after sight gag, each one more outlandish than the ones before. The jokes are all sight gags. What dialogue there is is generally there as necessary for set-up and only one or two lines are even mildly funny. Just sight gags, as far as the eye can see, fast enough to register, but so fast that you almost don't have time to breathe because you're laughing so hard. This one makes you want to do things like hang spoons from your nose! Wildly silly and unforgettable, truly a masterpiece. This is a great cartoon! It worked 55 years ago and it works today. You have to see this one. Most highly recommended.