The Discontented Canary is a 1934 Happy Harmonies cartoon directed by Rudolf Ising.
Plot[]
The cartoon begins with a canary in his cage and a parrot singing. The canary wants to get out of his cage, but is locked inside. Then, their owner arrives. But she accidentally left the cage open. Then, the canary flies out and goes outside. He descends into a garden and a cat slyly sneaks up on him. The weather then gets windy as a thunderstorm arrives in. Then, the cat chases the canary around the garden. Suddenly, a lightning bolt strikes the cat's tail and he runs away screaming in agony. Realizing the outside world isn't as safe as his cage, the canary flies back home and sings as the cartoon ends.
Availability[]
![(2007) DVD Myrna Loy and William Powell Collection, Disc 2: Evelyn Prentice (USA 1995 Turner print added as a bonus)[3]](/wiki/File:Myrna_Loy_and_William_Powell_Collection.jpeg "Myrna Loy and William Powell Collection.jpeg (157 KB)")
Myrna Loy and William Powell Collection, Disc 2: Evelyn Prentice (USA 1995 Turner print added as a bonus)[3]
- (2008) DVD - MGM Collection Volume 1
- (2018) DVD - Hugh Harman & Rudolf Ising's Uncensored Cartoons, Disc 3
- (2018) DVD - Hugh Harman & Rudolf Ising's Uncensored Cartoons Collection Volume 3
Censorship[]
A black and white faded color print does exist in bad quality and it is censored. This print is missing the entire scene with the canary interacting with other wildlife. The censored print jumps from the cat lurking towards the bird to the start of the thunderstorm.[4] This print ended up on home video throughout the years, until the 1995 dubbed version came out and has the scene with the wildlife intact.
Notes/Goofs[]
- This short is notable for being the first MGM cartoon to be produced for the studio in general, and thus have copyrights owned by the studio, unlike previous shorts they distributed, which didn't give them the rights to own the copyright. It is also notable for the following:
- The first short of the Happy Harmonies series. The opening titles have the byline A METRO COLOR CARTOON, because Harman/Ising didn't know what to call it at first. The next short, The Old Pioneer would introduce the new title HAPPY HARMONIES. However, the ending titles remained the same.
- The first 2-hue Technicolor short, and the first MGM cartoon produced in color since Hell's Fire.
- The first MGM cartoon to be a one-shot, with no recurring characters in sight.
- While this short was long believed to be in the public domain, the copyright for the short was renewed in 1961.
- The American Turner "dubbed" print is on the Myrna Loy and William Powell Collection - Disc 2 (Evelyn Prentice) DVD. It has been restored with DVNR, hence the constant flickering. Before the Turner 1995 print came out, finding an original copy was very rare. (See Availability) In March 2020, the frames are not frozen on some of the titles from the 1979 VHS tape.
Gallery[]
