Well this short is informative, maybe a bit to informative as you get to see things you probably have no urge to witness. This short goes over how chickens and eggs were being improved upon to become bigger and better. They did neglect to show them putting growth hormones into the feed which is why we have chickens with such big breasts, but I suppose they did not want to reveal all of their secrets and techniques. Really nothing all that entertaining about this short, but it still shows the ins and outs of raising chickens right up to a strange auction they had back in the day. So be prepared to watch as chickens are taken from point a to point b, watch them live a fun live free range, and watch people as they try and figure out what sex the chicken is. You also get to watch inside an egg as a chick develops. Finally, you get to see what their chicken of tomorrow looks like compared to the chicken of today, or chicken of years ago versus really old chicken. Like I said, not going to bash the short to much as it did explain a lot. In fact, I say it explained and showed to much for my tastes.
15 Reviews
chickens wtih a pedigree
ksf-212 February 2019
The funny thing is....in spite of the title, my father worked with chickens so long, he actually got an allergy to chicken feathers, so he had to leave the business. but everything in here is pretty accurate. Dad worked on research for larger chickens and larger eggs. more bang for the buck. buck buck buck! yummmm. it's very dry! HAH ! but yawn. this short just goes on and on. true but boring. go find something else to w.atch. shown on both Turner Classics and Pluto channels.... yawn. did i mention that its b..o.r..i..n..g...
"That's what you think, baby boy"
jcaraway38 November 2009
Warning: Spoilers
That is still one of the most bizarre lines in short film history... and it's spoken by a chicken! Our narrator is talking about how it would be easy for any chicken to be able to lay an egg, and one of the hens says the line I mentioned in the summary. Uh...
I guess the makers of this film stuck this in here as some sorta comic relief, but it's just "weird" as MST3K's Crow says. It's really not funny at all.
Anyway, the "movie" isn't horrible. It set off to teach people about the future of the chicken, and it does just that. It set off to be informative, and it was. I actually learned a couple of things. For example, I didn't know until I saw this film that baby chickens have enough nutrients left over from their yolk to keep them nourished for 72 hours. I also learned that... uh... hmm...
I guess the makers of this film stuck this in here as some sorta comic relief, but it's just "weird" as MST3K's Crow says. It's really not funny at all.
Anyway, the "movie" isn't horrible. It set off to teach people about the future of the chicken, and it does just that. It set off to be informative, and it was. I actually learned a couple of things. For example, I didn't know until I saw this film that baby chickens have enough nutrients left over from their yolk to keep them nourished for 72 hours. I also learned that... uh... hmm...
Oh my God
Hancock_the_Superb30 May 2006
Lowell Friggin' Thomas narrated this? I never knew that before. I'm not really sure what the point of it is; I mean, except maybe farmers, what would the average American need to know about chickens? And why would Lowell Thomas - a pioneer in journalism and broadcasting, a world traveler who made T.E. Lawrence a household name - be involved in such a poultry. . . er, I mean PALTRY film? Next I'm gonna learn that Sir Alec Guinness narrated an instructional video for a British chimney sweeping service. . .
I saw this on MST3K, as I'm sure most everyone here did, and got a lot of laughs out of it. Eight stars for their effort.
I saw this on MST3K, as I'm sure most everyone here did, and got a lot of laughs out of it. Eight stars for their effort.
The title alone reads like a bad joke.
Jordan_Haelend20 September 2004
Who on Earth is so fascinated by this subject that it was felt that a film needed to be made about it? I can't think of anything less interesting as a subject!
This one's bad all the way 'round: the photography is inferior (and not just because of the age of the film,) and the subject is amazingly boring. This one is so poorly made that it isn't even on a par with "Uncle Jim's Dairy Farm" (1960,) which was pitched to grade schoolers who might have had at least a passing interest in the subject matter. I can't see anyone caring enough about "the chicken of tomorrow" to watch this.
Kudos to MST3K for digging up this example of cultural chicken-droppings.
This one's bad all the way 'round: the photography is inferior (and not just because of the age of the film,) and the subject is amazingly boring. This one is so poorly made that it isn't even on a par with "Uncle Jim's Dairy Farm" (1960,) which was pitched to grade schoolers who might have had at least a passing interest in the subject matter. I can't see anyone caring enough about "the chicken of tomorrow" to watch this.
Kudos to MST3K for digging up this example of cultural chicken-droppings.
Disaster of yesterday.
icehole423 January 2002
This short documentary discuses life on a chicken farm in the late 1940's, showing off all the advances they had at the time to produce chickens and make chickens better. The narrator is obscenely cheerful and the pictures are quite boring. Not surprisingly, in the credits it says they consulted with some people from Texas A&M university. For those of you outside the Lone Star state, T A&M graduates are often the but of jokes saying they're not too bright. Skewered on MST3K for being bad, and rightly so. The feeble attempt at humor in the end falls flatter than a pancake.
Avoid this one unless you're watching the MST3K version.
Avoid this one unless you're watching the MST3K version.
the egg came first
lee_eisenberg25 September 2013
Yes, it's easy to imagine that chickens have idealistic lives on farms. We know that in reality they get cramped into tiny spaces in which they can barely move their wings, while they get pumped full of hormones to make their breasts giant. "The Chicken of Tomorrow" looks ridiculous now that we know all this. So it makes perfect sense that "Mystery Science Theater 3000" tore the movie to shreds. The Satellite of Love crew has a lot of fun with the short.
Oh, and what I mean by my title is that the answer to that age-old question is a simple matter of understanding evolution. Birds evolved from dinosaurs. Therefore, the a dinosaur had to lay an egg one day, and out hatched a avian. It's really easy when you think about it.
Oh, and what I mean by my title is that the answer to that age-old question is a simple matter of understanding evolution. Birds evolved from dinosaurs. Therefore, the a dinosaur had to lay an egg one day, and out hatched a avian. It's really easy when you think about it.
As exciting as watching the grass grow.
icehole419 January 2002
This short film talks about making chickens better. It shows how a farmer should keep the hens that make the grade and sell the hens that don't. The narrator is monotone and pretty annoying. It's also a short that doesn't stand up to the test of time. One thing I found amusing is that they consulted a professor of animal husbandry from Texas A&M university on this one. For those of you who don't know, TA&M is often the butt of jokes about graduating idiots here in Texas.
Hey... another #1 for me....
Hey... another #1 for me....
The MST3K version is my preferred version.
kkmwills3 August 2022
Overall, a dry poultry-centric short. Funded by a division of TEXACO! Because, as the guys point out, we Americans *needed* to be convinced of trucking items either to market or supermarkets in the post- WWII Era.
Kevin Murphy made this silly thing one of my favorite shorts.
Kevin Murphy made this silly thing one of my favorite shorts.
eet mor chiken
johnny_burnaway10 May 2017
Chickens, eggs, and the art of raising chickens for maximum egg production are big business, as this short film notes that egg production takes place in every county in the United States. Even with that type of saturation, apparently the honchos in Big Chicken (Big Egg? Whichever comes first.) decided some advertising was in order. Maybe there was a stigma associated with chicken farming. After all, no one really wants to think about the bloody origins of their Denver omelette or 20-piece bucket of KFC. This was produced in 1948, with the wounds of WWII still fresh; perhaps word leaked that Heinrich Himmler once worked as a chicken farmer in the 1920's.
Still, we're talking about chickens here. The filmmakers do their best to spice up their subject matter, although things take a bit of a left turn when one laying hen breaks the fourth wall with a weird Mae West impression. Otherwise, we get to watch chicks as they're hatched, sexed, and thrown into cardboard boxes like so many Amazon purchases. Farmers weigh the cost of chicken feed against egg production, with the losing chickens condemned to walk the last mile to the ol' chopping block. Someone carves roast chicken breast so incredibly thin we can only assume that bird is dinner for a family of twelve. Perhaps sensing they've run out of material, but contractually obligated to deliver a film of a certain length, the filmmakers close things out with a paean to trucking and its place in the transportation of eggs.
The MST3k crew actually makes the most accurate assessment of everything we're shown in this short: "Eggs are complicated! They should cost $100 each!"
Still, we're talking about chickens here. The filmmakers do their best to spice up their subject matter, although things take a bit of a left turn when one laying hen breaks the fourth wall with a weird Mae West impression. Otherwise, we get to watch chicks as they're hatched, sexed, and thrown into cardboard boxes like so many Amazon purchases. Farmers weigh the cost of chicken feed against egg production, with the losing chickens condemned to walk the last mile to the ol' chopping block. Someone carves roast chicken breast so incredibly thin we can only assume that bird is dinner for a family of twelve. Perhaps sensing they've run out of material, but contractually obligated to deliver a film of a certain length, the filmmakers close things out with a paean to trucking and its place in the transportation of eggs.
The MST3k crew actually makes the most accurate assessment of everything we're shown in this short: "Eggs are complicated! They should cost $100 each!"
Good in it's Day
Doug-16921 December 2008
I'm giving it a 10 because it wasn't meant for our generation. It is interesting to see how information was distributed back in the 40's. The whole purpose it was even on TV these days was for the MST3K crew to poke fun at it. It wasn't meant to educate anyone and it wouldn't even be on if not for MST3K. I'm sure it was helpful in it's day before the internet and the mass communication we have today. I like to see what our "fathers" or our "father's father" may have watched. Since I need 10 lines before I can post this, I googled "chicken + poems" and copied a couple poems I found there. Okay, these poems are weird..............Roses are red, Violets are blue, You're a great chicken, Cock-a-doodle-doo............Dearest chicken, lovely bird, Love is not too strong a word For the way I feel for you, And hope you feel it for me too. I love you more than I can say, And even more each passing day
Okay...an educational film about chickens.....
Pietro_Shakarian28 June 2003
What we have here is an extremely cheesy, out-dated educational film of the late 40s. The whole premise never really goes any place and the worst and most idiotic facet of it is when a chicken supposedly "talks" ala Mae West. Then there's the guy who can barely cut thin slices of roast chicken. And that annoying narrator......
Do not watch this without the Mystery Science Theater 3000 crew - whatever the costs.
Do not watch this without the Mystery Science Theater 3000 crew - whatever the costs.
This Chicken won't see tomarow!
Mitora-san22 December 2002
Slow paced, inane drivel, saved by Mike and bots of MST3K!
The overly cheerful hick of a narator tell us a "touching" story of how chicken is hatched, how they get breeded and going to the market for meat and eggs. The stupidest part is not the narator, but the so-called "Talking Chicken" that says "That's what you think, big boy!" when the narator talks about breeding. Too bad we don't get to see the birds and the bees of chicken life, but hey, it was the 1940's America, so what would they know.
Funny part is after short, Tom Servo tries to break himself out of an egg *L*
The overly cheerful hick of a narator tell us a "touching" story of how chicken is hatched, how they get breeded and going to the market for meat and eggs. The stupidest part is not the narator, but the so-called "Talking Chicken" that says "That's what you think, big boy!" when the narator talks about breeding. Too bad we don't get to see the birds and the bees of chicken life, but hey, it was the 1940's America, so what would they know.
Funny part is after short, Tom Servo tries to break himself out of an egg *L*
Definitely, not for everyone, but MAN! What a great movie!
Spuzzlightyear21 November 2005
Oh my god. Too think I've seen it all, I then have the pleasure of seeing 'The Chicken Of Tomorrow'. Trust me, this film will take you off your feed for a week. Narrated by Lowell Thomas. It starts out by him intoning "Did you know that poultry is the nation's third largest crop" in such a way that it's hard to figure out whether he's very bored or very excited. And THEN, the fun starts as we see chickens, dead and spread eagled on the production line in the hundreds. The whole film is about the farmer's never ending quest to find a better chicken, and we see a contest to see who can make a better chicken. From incubations (with cross section of eggs during that process ewww) to the birth, to growth, to shipping to the processing plant (the chickens being thrown into cages is really hard to watch) and finally to it's assembly.. better make that disassembly line as we see shots of chirpy (excuse the pun) females merrily ripping out chicken guts. (no really, why are they smiling?) Finally, the judging takes place, (the chicken pieces all look the same). Lowell THomas says "Dressed White Hocks representing Mrs H W Lindhart of Chillicoffy, Missouri had the best skin texture, the least dark meat, and the best covering of fat." Were they talking about Mrs. Lindhart's chickens? Or Mrs. Lindhart? Thankfully, this movie ends, as we all gag. "Mmm. boy that makes me hungry!" A MUST see. But I'll probably won't see it again. :P
Some eggs don't even exist!!
ticklemetorgo25 June 2005
How can one comment about this short? Whew, well it's not that short, but MST makes it fun. Basically a story of the poultry industry which I did not know that people had demanded a film for the industry. Anyway the film does not answer several simple questions as to what came first: The chicken or the egg? What DOES the petroleum industry really have to do with chicken farming? Why raise chickens in Normandy? Why have chicken auctions? We can go on forever and ever and ever with these unanswered questions.
The film also suffers from character development, basic plot, cartoon like action sequences, and nudity (except from the chickens smoking in bed) These are core values that all films must have, does Chicken of Tomorrow have these values?? NO!!!!!!! And in this the movie does fail, it's lets us down and disappoints us, the viewing audience. We are left to wonder, what about the chicken of tomorrow??
The film also suffers from character development, basic plot, cartoon like action sequences, and nudity (except from the chickens smoking in bed) These are core values that all films must have, does Chicken of Tomorrow have these values?? NO!!!!!!! And in this the movie does fail, it's lets us down and disappoints us, the viewing audience. We are left to wonder, what about the chicken of tomorrow??
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