Lambert the Sheepish Lion (1952)

A delivery stork mistakenly delivers Lambert, a lion cub, to a flock of sheep. The mother won't let the stork take him back, so Lambert is raised as a sheep, but he just doesn't fit in. He ... See full summary »

Director:

Jack Hannah

Writers:

Bill Peet (story), Ralph Wright (story),

Stars:

Sterling Holloway, June Foray

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Sterling Holloway	...	Narrator / Mr. Stork (voice)

Storyline

A delivery stork mistakenly delivers Lambert, a lion cub, to a flock of sheep. The mother won't let the stork take him back, so Lambert is raised as a sheep, but he just doesn't fit in. He grows up cowardly, until the day his mother is chased by a wolf.

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Plot Keywords:

stork | sheep | flock of sheep | lion | wolf | 

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Genres:

Family | Short | Animation | Comedy

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 February 1952 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cordeiro, o Leão Medroso

Filming Locations:

Walt Disney Studios, 500 South Buena Vista Street, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

8 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sterling Holloway reprised his role from Dumbo for this short.

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Quotes

Narrator: [after Lambert defeats the wolf] Lambert's mother is so proud, and the sheep have changed their tune.

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Connections

Featured in Ink & Paint Club: Escapees from the Ark (1997)

User Reviews

irresistible Ugly Duckling variant

In Australia (probably elsewhere, too) this short cartoon was screened just before "The Lion King". For a brief moment I sensed a new golden age, with hand-animated features basking in critical praise and paying their way at the box office, and classic short cartoons once again seeing the light of day (that is to say, the darkness of cinemas). The dream didn't last long, did it? "Lambert" turned out to be the last hand-animated short I ever saw in a cinema; today, Disney doesn't even bother to re-release its old FEATURES any more, and its animation department, which has maintained continuous production for something like seventy-five years and still has the best animators in the world, is fighting for its life in the face of general indifference. We are living in evil times.

I was particularly glad to see this cartoon in the dark, just before "The Lion King": it always brought tears to my eyes, which I managed to keep secret. I gather it was based on a children's book, or was at one point going to be a children's book, or some such, but unless the prose was as perfectly crafted as Hans Christian Andersen's, this is surely the better form. It's a departure for Jack Hannah, who doesn't try to be funny; he just tells a sweet, warm-hearted story as clearly as possible. How can you not love it?