Merrie Melodies: The Early Worm Gets The Bird (1939)

A determined bird goes out early to hunt for a worm and the bird gets into trouble. Produced in 1939.

This item is part of the collection: Film Chest Vintage Cartoons

Production Company: Warner Brothers Pictures
Audio/Visual: sound, color
Keywords: merrie melodies; warner brothers

Write a review Reviews

Downloaded 71,276 times Average Rating:

Reviewer: john870 - - July 5, 2008
Subject: Why is it alway a race thing

This is a great little cartoon. Why is everything about race?
I like this cartton and i see nothing about putting down any one.
Even black americans needed work back in the hard days of america. Even if they could only use they're voices.
My step dad was an black american. And i loved this ol fart he was the best dad.
We werent raised to hat and even he loved the little cartoons.
So please exsplain the race thingy in this cartoon. Becouse ima missing it.
please move on folks or nothing will ever change.

Reviewer: AmirFahzad - - September 26, 2007
Subject: The Early Worm Gets the Bird

This cartoon was made at a time when blackface comedy was standard fare in America. Did this broad stereotyping represent black folks accurately? Of course not! Did it offend blacks at the time? Most likely it did, but blacks then were not a political force and were powerless to do anything about it.

These old "racist" cartoons were not malicious in their intent, but just perpetuated the old-style blackface characters and comedy popularized by minstrel shows, Al Jolson, Amos & Andy, etc. They're just a snapshot of the society that made them.

Reviewer: haft98brant - - September 22, 2007
Subject: Umomar is an idiot

Ike many, he tries to revise history by pointing out the overt racism in the cartoon. No kidding.
Unfortunately, your attempts to boost your own worth by pointing out the foibles of those who lived before yo is an empty gesture. YOu seem to beleive that YOU would have done better had you lived in 1939; I doubt it. Clown.

Reviewer: UmOmar - - September 19, 2007
Subject: Not for Entertainment

The entertainment value for me and my children is really overshadowed by the racism depicted. The birds are drawn with stereotypical features with the plot and dialogue no more than a "Black Face" routine of the minstrels. Would I feel comfortable having this cartoon playing on my computer screen in an airport? Ask yourself that.

Now, it does have a high educational value for older children who have a concept in place about the history of race relations in America, civil rights, and the many successes of African-Americans. A parent could explain the negative aspects to stereotyping racial groups and could even draw parellels between the past for African-Americans and the present with Arab-Americans.

Reviewer: southerngal@bellsouth.net - - December 16, 2006
Subject: The Blackbirds

Now this one, I don't really have a problem with, because all of the animals spoke in a broken southern dialect (not just the "Blackbird" family), therefore I don't deem it as being racist. Although it may be a tad bit demeaning to people of the "South", because they don't seem to be very articulate, but in any event, this was one of the cartoons that teaches a lesson, which makes it valuable as well as comical! Go figure the lesson was being taught by a loving, plump, and spiritual black mother ;) .

Reviewer: donotmetimid - - December 10, 2006
Subject: Funny, but not racist.

The blackbirds in this cartoon have southern African American accents, but I don't see this as being racist, anymore than Elmer Fud is racist. (He's a white guy that is the butt of jokes.) It's just humor using personification. Perhaps giving blackbirds this accent is appropriate. . . If anything this cartoon helps to break down the wall between the birds and the worm; See it from the other character's (person's) perspective.

Reviewer: JAW-MAN - - September 25, 2006
Subject: A fine cartoon, but........

...I would hesitate to place this one among the greatest Warner cartoons ever. Apart from the obvious racial element, this is only a pretty standard entry in the Merrie Melodies series. The quality of this print is great, however.

Reviewer: WarnerArt - - June 5, 2006
Subject: We've come a long way in 60 years

You can see actual cels used in the making of this cartoon at www.warnerart.com This Merrie Melodies short was created during a period when the animators at Leon Sclesinger Studios were trying to mimic the cartoons of Disney. By todays standards it's racist and offensive but in 1940 the stereotypes were commonplace and endured by African Americans on a daily basis. While these cartoons are no longer shown as they are politically incorrect, they remain an important part of animation and cultural history.

Reviewer: Spuzz - - April 30, 2006
Subject: YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

There is NOTHING in the world like rediscovering one of your favorite cartoons when you were growing up. Such as the case of ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂThe Early Bird Gets The WormÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ which tells about a young blackbird discovering the joys and pains of hunting for a worm at daybreak. As I said, IÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂve seen this before.. MANY times, and it sure was fun remembering gags and lines used in this film. Surprisingly enough, I saw this plenty of times in the 1970ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs, even though this is AWFULLY racist nowadays. But this is sure entertaining stuff! One of my faves!

Reviewer: samrees - - March 13, 2006
Subject: okay...but

nothing new. typical chase scenes, with the ole put the victim in the sandwich scene.... many of the ideas must have been taken from other cartoons. lacking in life and any real creativity

Reviewer: black_perry - - February 17, 2006
Subject: Hi Lena!

Viel SpaÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂàim Karneval! WÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂünsch Dir ein schÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂönes We


---I know i'm off-topic---

Reviewer: sirkutbored - - January 4, 2006
Subject: Offensive?

In a world where the choice of merry christmas and happy holidays starts fights between disparate groups, I guess anyone, anywhere can be offended by anything, but I remember seeing this when I was growing up and maybe it was just me but at 5 years old I guess I just didn't think about racial implications. Being Southern myself, I enjoyed the fact that every character spoke with a southern accent and beyond that never gave it a second thought. Strange how kids will miss the bigger picture that adults who have been jaded will always see. Is it racist? Hardly. Offensive? Not unless you see offensive material everywhere. The bird wants to get the early worm, the worm wants to see what an early bird is and when the bird gets in trouble with an actual predator, who comes to his aid? the worm. The last scene in fact, where the worm is in the bed, would seem to signify that the bird and worm are now close enough friends to overlook the predator and prey aspect. Great moral story and classic warner brothers animation. A must see.

Reviewer: John-boy - - August 24, 2005
Subject: Entertaining cartoon

This cartoon portrays it's characters as Southern blacks. This in an of itself isn't offensive in the least, in that the charicatures aren't portrayed in a negative fashion. The "mammy" bird is shown to be wise and loving, the adventurous baby bird as being young and impetuous, like most young boys. Besides, the worm is *also* portrayed as a Southern black. But as far as the dialect, all of the characters *including the fox* are simply speaking in a Southern dialect.
The plot is well written and portrays both forgiveness (on the part of the worm) and good parenting (on the part of the mother bird.)
Historically, all races are charicatured in cartoons, white (*especially* whites!), blacks, Eastern Asians, native Americans, etc. Learn to have a sense of humor and just view this cartoon for what it is... HUMOR and entertainment. Don't be too sensitive. I.e. dont't become somebody who falls for Jerry Seinfeld's "anti-dentite" skit.
I enjoyed this cartoon as a child and *still* enjoy it. Overcome a tendency to write this one off as "racist" and simply enjoy it.

Reviewer: berberry - - March 25, 2005
Subject: Racist cartoon

I have mixed emotions about this cartoon. It's classic Warners animation, but here we have a family of blackbirds, voiced by whites mimicking an African-American dialect. It should be no surprise that many will find this piece to be highly offensive, as I did.

On the other hand, I also feel that this film is a part of American history and is reflective of the time in which it was made. Many young people today don't realize that this sort of mockery of blacks was once quite common and even institutionalized. Perhaps this cartoon can help some folks to a greater understanding of our history as a people.

All things condidered, I decided on a mid-level star rating for this short cartoon picture.