Moonbird (1959) User Reviews

Geeky Randy's summary

[Geeky Randy · 6/10 · 12 July 2014]

Short animation about the adventure of two boys sneaking out in the middle of the night to try and catch the mythic Moonbird and bring it home. The two characters' voices are actually rambles of directors John and Faith Hubley's sons (Mark and "Hampy") that were secretly recorded during an imaginary backyard safari before going to sleep in the darkness of their room. Storyline and visuals may not be above par, but given that the concept was pieced together by chance through the imagination of two little boys definitely makes it worth 10 minutes. Animated by Robert Cannon and Ed Smith, and won an Academy Award for Short Subjects (Cartoons) in 1959.

**½ (out of four)

A Beautifully Made Albeit Tedious Short

[elicopperman · 4/10 · 30 September 2018]

John Hubley is a legend in the history of animation known for both his avant-garde experimental animated shorts and his emotional realism which came from him casting everyday civilians into his work. For over 20 years, he and his wife Faith made numerous animated shorts that embraced such unconventional methods, even winning oscars on the side. One of which, being today's short, is well known for having been based on tape recordings of their son's improvised play on searching for a creature called the "Moonbird".

From an artistic point of view, the film looks mesmerizingly gorgeous. Although set at night, the more neutralized and dark color scheme really emphasizes the mystery of searching for a strange creature. The character designs are relatively simplistic, yet there's a strong sense of dynamic poses that helps bring them to life. To create semi-transparent textures and overlaid images, they used double exposures, and this helps the presence of the Moonbird come off as appropriately unsettling. All the artistic touches help display a macabre fantasy world from childish imagination.

However, as beautiful as the film is from a presentation standpoint, the actual story and voice acting itself are both boring and kind of obnoxious. The idea of recording two children acting out their own play is cute in concept, but the children in the short just mumble repeatedly and it becomes really annoying after a while. It doesn't help that the actual "plot" is so straight forward that nothing interesting really happens in this film, making it come off as style over substance. I guess it feels authentic to children making up whatever they like, but when even the sound design is broken and muffled, it becomes hard to be entertained by anything in this.

Overall, Moonbird was made with pure sincerity and there is a lot of passion shown in the visuals, but its lackluster narrative and exasperating sound quality make it hard to really enjoy. I admire the short's artistry, but when I can't find much entertainment value in it, then the whole thing just feels like "a big, beautiful Cadillac with no engine inside it", to quote Stephen King. If anything, the film is like any other grade school play: tiresome, tedious and the equivalent of hearing cats and dogs moaning and howling overnight.

It Never Seems to End

[Hitchcoc · 5/10 · 28 April 2019]

I had all I could do to make it through the cacophony of those voices as these two brothers stomp around in the woods. The little one is quite insufferable and before long he is joined by the bigger, older one in this woeful wail. I'm sure that one could say it is cute, and I am not an old crab, but I failed to see the point.

Proof that by 1959 animation was dead

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 2 September 2008]

While the style of this cartoon was unique (enough to help it get the Oscar for Best Animated Short), this cartoon signaled to me the death of animation. It wasn't until the 1980s that a resurrected respect for decent animation occurred and fortunately today animation is once again respectable. In the interim, studios like Hannah-Barbera, Trans-Lux and Lou Scheimer reveled in horridly low frame-rates, cheap repetitive backgrounds and simplistic animation. Heck, to call some of this animation is a joke--it was more like a fast slide show since the frame rates of 24 fps were reduced in half or worse! While I can't blame MOONBIRD completely (after all, Columbia studios, Creston Studios and others produced cheap animation well before MOONBIRD), it is shocking when you compare the ultra-simple Eric Carle-style cartoon here with gorgeous MGM or Looney Toons cartoons in their heyday.

However, MOONBIRD manages to do something these other hack studios didn't. In this film they basically let two toddlers prattle non-stop and they animated it. The problem is that 2 and 3 year-olds aren't that interesting--at least not for 10 minutes straight!! Watching this film is like being locked in a room with an obnoxious small child who has always been told by his parents that he/she is the next Judy Garland or Marlon Brando. To me, this was about as welcome as a year-long migraine. Do yourself a favor and don't watch this film.

"In Which Two Boys have an Adventure in the Middle of the Night"

[ackstasis · 7/10 · 2 May 2009]

The animated short films of John and Faith Hubley (here credited as Faith Elliott) have an air of improvisation about them. While some, like 'The Hole (1962)' and 'Voyage to Next (1974),' were nonetheless structured around a central theme, the husband-and-wife pair were not averse to simply recording the conversations of their own children and animating whatever flights of fantasy happened to transpire. Of this type of film, 'Windy Day (1968),' in which the Hubleys' daughters make surprisingly profound observations on the nature of love and death, is the most impressive I've seen. 'Moonbird (1959)' won John Hubley the first of his three Oscars (also the first of seven nominations), a victory that signalled the wider acceptance of a more experimental, minimalist style of animated film, as opposed to the vibrant cartoons of Walt Disney and Warner Brothers. With 'Moonbird,' the Hubleys animate the improvised late-night adventure of their two sons, Mark and Ray, in which the pair exchange ideas for capturing a giant "moonbird" in their backyard.

The film has a rough, somewhat scrappy, animation style that isn't necessarily aesthetically attractive, but nonetheless complements the nature of the story – which is that of a hastily-scrawled flight of imagination, a spontaneous improvisation of fantasy. The two main characters appear transparent, as though having been artificially transplanted into their dreamworld. This idea sits at the film's heart. Above all else, 'Moonbird' stands as a tribute to the power of imagination, which is most extraordinarily powerful in one's younger, impressionable years; when Santa Claus was an annual visitor, and one's toys each had a distinct personality. The film does perhaps run a few minutes overlong. The Hubley sons say less of interest than their female siblings a decade later, and, rather than wondering aloud about their emotions and ambitions, instead engage in a charming kind of power-play in which the older son issues orders to his rebellious younger brother. All in all, this is a delightful animated short, and a good introduction to the work of the Hubleys.

Moonbird

[CinemaSerf · 6/10 · 10 February 2024]

A young boy and his baby brother find their bird has escaped and so in the middle of the night, the take their bag of bait into the garden where they hope to lure it back into it's cage. The snag is that the younger sibling is a bit noisy. He speaks loudly. He cries loudly. He walks loudly. He is to stealth what Herod was to childcare. Speaking of that gentleman, I did find the extremely accurate imitation of the baby speech - especially the eye-watering rendition of "I've Been Working on the Railroad" did get under my fingernails to the point where I'd have readily summoned one of his soldiers. The animation, though, is creative using the darkness and shade as well as a ghostly style to represent the two children quite effectively as the colourful, ostrich style (and size), bird arrives on the scene and the bairn has to try to be quiet. Well good luck with that! The last scene is quite funny, but...

Animated Charmer

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 6 May 2001]

Two little boys go for a secret nighttime adventure and have an encounter with a MOONBIRD.

This absolutely charming little film is based on the (apparently) unscripted dialogue between two young brothers, Mark & Hampy Hubley. Created & designed by their parents, John & Faith Hubley, the effervescent quality of the conversation is matched by the limited-animation format which takes the simple story into flights of fancy.

Winner of the 1959 Oscar for Best Animated Short.

Good use of limited-animation, but the dialogue becomes tedious after a while.

[llltdesq · 8/10 · 8 August 2001]

This cartoon deservedly won an Oscar for Animated Short in 1959. It came about in an intriguing way-John and Faith Hubley taped their two sons at play and structured the animation around the conversation between the two. Fascinating though this is (and the animation is excellent), toward the lattr part of the short, the dialogue starte to become tedious and distracting, at least to me. This technique would be used again to quite good effect in later shorts. Still an excellent short and most recommended.

Minimalist Animation at Its Best

[tommyg · 10/10 · 17 August 2002]

I viewed a screening of this animation last night at the "OSCARS IN ANIMATION: THE MOVIES" as part of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 75th year celebration of on-going events of films that became standards of performance over those same years. The chatter and banter of two boys in their surrealistic evening hunt to capture a bird was indeed original, creative and lead the viewers back to their own childhood. The animation floated in a very minimalist manner, forcing one to focus on the dialogue between two boys caught up in their simple vocabulary, misspoken words, sibling dueling while pretending to be adult, and pure fun. And I am sure the bird won all of those issues in the closing moments. This short film was well worth the 10minutes of its existence on the screen.

Adorable

[abbylee1 · 10/10 · 6 September 2005]

The first time I saw this movie, it had me cracking up. I have a two year old so I could really identify with the baby in the movie. Everything about the baby reminded me of my son; the way he talked, his mannerisms, and when he cried to dig the hole.. HAH. I couldn't stop laughing. This movie is absolutely adorable and I would recommend it for all ages, especially children or people with children or grandchildren. I have never seen a cartoon so cute, and endearing. I honestly can say I've never watched a better one. The animation is a little different, but I think the artists did that on purpose to put the viewer in a more childlike mindset.

The older brother in this video reminded me a lot of the kids I used to babysit where the older sister would always boss the little brother around, but in a nice way. It was cute that the older brother was helping his brother and was very tolerant and patient with him. Definitely a must see movie. I found it on a DVD my son got for his birthday, on a Pop Eye DVD w/ various other old cartoons on it. They're sold at Walmart for 1 buck! Who can beat that? It's better than watching the same thing over and over and over.. lol.

This Made Me Happy

[Peaceful211 · 10/10 · 11 March 2022]

The animation goes perfectly with the little voices in this short. Listening to two children communicating 63 years ago is heartwarming by itself, and these two boys are a lot of fun. The little one's attempts to get the lyrics right on some classic old songs and watching the animated faces created by their own parents -- just love it. Ten minutes of fun, originality, and cuteness. I needed this today.

A children's fantasy on the big screen

[kb-16838 · 10/10 · 27 May 2022]

Few artists produce convincing portrayals of children in their work. Oftentimes they come across as miniature adults, or as simply one-dimensional. This is especially true in animation, where recorded voicework is essential to any character's portrayal, as children's voicework often comes across as stilted or simply unnatural. This film bypasses these issues by building the entire piece of work around a pair of children's secretly recorded imaginary adventure. The result is a film that feels like a genuine look into a child's imagination. Paired with brilliant colors and striking animation, this film is a joy to watch.

However, as anyone who has taken care of young children (especially siblings) knows, spending too much time with them can wear your patience thin- the run time of ten minutes is perfect.

It's easy to see why this film took home an Oscar, and it's definitely worth ten minutes of your time.