Watch Who Killed Cock Robin? For Free

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Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

"Silly Symphony". I groaned whenever the cardboard popped up instead of the face of Donald, Goofy or Pluto. As an adult, I can see how the series -starting with the unbearably mawkish "Flowers and Trees" but culminating with the heart-pounding masterpiece "The Old Mill"- allowed Walt Disney to sweep many Oscars and make his bones before the groundbreaking "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". Still, even as a child, I was never drawn into the whole lyrical imagery driven by cutesy songs I didn't even understand, so I used to tape over these darn cartoons whenever they were caught on my VHS. Two exceptions though: "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" and its catchy 'Rats, Rats, Rats' and the classic of all the classics, the gripping and captivating "Who Killed Cock Robin?", and while I'm writing these lines, I have the ominous melody playing in my head and that simple but riveting interrogation mark on screen. I was eight when I first saw it, and after "Hello" and "Goodbye", one of the first sentences I learned in English was "Who killed... ?" closely followed by "I don't know".This is a case of love at first sight that the passing of years never soiled, I loved it as a kid, I love it even more as an adult. It's a combination of factors... but first, there's the story, built up like a real mystery thriller. Whistling a sweet and hypnotic melody, Robin calls his beloved Jenny Wren out of her balcony, she makes her entrance with these words "Oh Robin, you're fascinating me!" and says it like she means it. Verbal lyrics might have overplayed the sentimentality, but Robin's repetitions of "Ba-ba-boo" and "Ba-ba-bee" indicates the smart angle taken by the animators, it's a romance sure, but smartly coated with dark comedy.Speaking of the dark, the mysterious shadow of an bow-wielding bird is slowly approaching until the serenade is literally cut short by the arrow, hitting him right in the heart. Robin looks overwhelmed with love before a long fall. As he hits the ground, three agonizing "Ba-boo" come off his beak then three faces come out the saloon, if you pay attention, they'll be the three suspects. What we've got after is your archetypal crime's aftermath except that it's set is an anthropomorphic universe occupied by birds, so the Police are coming, followed by an ambulance. Robin is nonchalantly put on a stretcher (you can't tell from the carriers' expression how routinely it is) and cops move away the bystanders but take the three suspects out of the bar. "I done nothing" repeats one of them, then the Cop, with an unmistakable Irish accent tells him to keep that for the judge, he hits him several times in the head and a remarkable ellipse cuts from the stick to a courtroom gravel hammer. Naturally, the Judge is an owl he sounds like James Earl Jones. "Who killed Cock Robin?" he gravely asks. The Jury plays like a Greek chorus and repeats all the lyrics with the smoothness of a Barbershop quartet. In two minutes, the tone is set, it's dark, subversive and yet funny. The film was made in 1935, where I believe three of the finest Disney cartoons were made: "The Band Concert", "Pluto's Judgment Day" and this one. Interestingly, the one with "Pluto" also featured an unfair atmospheric trial. Was it the context of the Stalin purges or a pure coincidence? What I know is that it's a unique case of Disney showing a form of justice as zealous as incompetent, when a poor black bird is getting hit because "I don't know" and "I saw nothing" are no acceptable answers and where a big shot is only sitting on the accused' nest because he "looks guilty", according to the parrot-prosecutor. The portrayal of the Black bird can be deemed as politically incorrect but is he not a victim after all and aren't the representatives of the legal system getting a worse deal? Think of the scene where Jenny Wren comes in and after a melodious and suave call for justice, the Judge who's not the least insensitive to her charm, decides to hang them all, and as the jury jollily chants in my favorite moment, "we don't know who's guilty so we're gonna hang them all". If it wasn't so hilarious, it would be tragic, no wonder, an arrow hits the judge's hat while he's dancing and someone says "stop!". It was time to stop!And then comes the last outrage, the killer was Cupid, and Robin wasn't dead, he just fell in love and Cupid seems to be pretty gay about the whole thing (pun intended). It takes one "Kiss me, tall, dark and handsome" so Robin can slowly resurrect, the umbrella covers his face and Jenny raises her head with the kind of moan that makes you wonder where Robin's beak is, and the jury can only duplicate the sound while waving their hats to make some air, the heat is just too much. "Who Killed Cock Robin" has a set-up, an investigation, a twist and a resolution with quite daring sexual innuendo. That's why as an adult, I naturally learned to appreciate even more.And it wasn't until I became a movie buff, that I realized Cock Robin was Bing Crosby, Jenny Wren was Mae West, the cuckoo a mix of Harpo and Groucho Marx and the whole cartoon a powerful reflection of its time the film, depicting a world of crime with drinking, smoking, killing, brutal arrests, arbitrary justice and sex. To those who believe that Walt Disney is just about political correctness, they should watch this film and reevaluate their preconceived opinions. And ever since I was eight, this has been a favorite of mine, a treasure I'll always cherish, I'm almost three decades older and I still tell my Dad if he remembers "Whooooo killed Cock Robin?". You bet he does!

Sometimes I'm so into watching Looney Tunes that I forget about gorgeous animated Silly Symphonies. This one, despite some jokes that would be inappropriate today (like a slightly racist one, which is probably about 20% racist), "Who Killed Cock Robin?" was a pleasure to watch.I enjoyed this Silly Symphony for the beautiful animation, Cock Robin, the singing and the female robin is good as well. The end is very sweet. Some people may be put off by the "innapropriate jokes" but it should not let you be put off. That was what cartoons were like in those days. They did not know it was rude. Sometimes it's quite nice to watch an "unsafe" cartoon nowadays. :-) A lot of Looney Tunes episodes are like this as well.A cute and handsome robin sings to a beautiful female robin, playing his guitar (the female robin is supposed to represent Mae West). Someone shoots him and the police investigate very quickly, taking quite a few witnesses to a court case. Will they find out who killed Cock Robin?Recommended to people who do not mind "different" cartoons and Silly Symphonies! Enjoy! :-)

Although this short lost the Oscar to another Disney cartoon (Three Orphan Kittens), it's actually got a lot more going for it than the winner. An adaptation of the old nursery rhyme (very loose adaptation, as is typical of Disney), there's a lot going on here. Mae West isn't the only parody here. Hollywood would be parodied quite a bit by both Disney and Warner Brothers in cartoons. Well worth your time. Recommended.

In this Silly Symphony cartoon, Cock Robin is shot with an arrow while trying to woo Miss Jenny Wren (wonderfully animated as a Mae West parody). A trial featuring a wide variety of well drawn bird characters follows. The cuckoo bird, drawn to look like Harpo Marx, is especially enjoyable. This is a great short, but it seems to sprint through the story. Other Silly Symphonies, like The Wise Little Hen, take their time with things. This one seems very hurried. Still, that shouldn't take away from enjoying the wonderful animation.