17 interesting and instructive cartoons about birds

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Parrot Kesha, red hen Ginger and lively penguins from "Madagascar" will not let children and adults get bored.

1. Gray Neck

• USSR, 1948.
• Animation, fairy tale.
• Duration: 20 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 3.

A duck named Gray Neck once helped a bunny to escape from a fox. And she decided to take revenge on her and hurt the bird's wing. Because of this, Gray Neck could not fly south with her relatives and stayed for the winter in her native pond. The problem is that the redhead predator has firmly decided to eat the duck and does not leave it alone.

"Gray Neck" based on the story of D. N. Mamin-Sibiryak, like many other works of "Soyuzmultfilm", is simply charming, and the classic hand-drawn animation will delight both adults and children.

2. The ugly duckling

• USSR, 1956.
• Animation, fairy tale.
• Duration: 18 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 6.

An unusual chick is born in the duck family. The inhabitants of the poultry yard do not accept the baby, tease him and call him offensive names. Fleeing from ridicule, the duck runs away and faces even greater problems. But he does not yet know that he will soon grow into a beautiful swan.

The wonderful Soviet cartoon quite accurately retells the fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen. This is ideal if you want to show your child a classic version of the story. But "The Ugly Duckling" by Harry Bardeen is best left to older children or teenagers.

3. Penguins

• USSR, 1968.
• Animation, drama, fairy tale.
• Duration: 13 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 8.

A penguin father asks a friend to keep an eye on his egg. But he turns out to be absent-minded and accidentally drops the egg into the water. And in order not to talk about loss, he replaces it with a stone of the same shape.

The heartbreaking cartoon by Vladimir Polkovnikov, written by Anatoly Mityaev, made more than one generation of children cry. And few adults in the finale will be able to hold back their tears.

4. Return of the prodigal parrot

• USSR, 1984.
• Animation, comedy, fairy tale.
• Duration: 9 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 1.

Domestic parrot Kesha is offended by the owner Vovka and decides to teach him a lesson by flying away from home. He expects to return immediately, but all the windows are the same, and the pet inevitably remains on the street. And it turns out to be very difficult to survive there.

Kesha was invented by playwright Alexander Kurlyandsky and animator Valentin Karavaev, and Gennady Khazanov was invited to voice the character. The first episode was released in 1984 and immediately fell in love with the audience that then two more parts appeared, in which the selfish bird again flew away from Vovka.

In the second episode, Kesha tried to get along with the nasty neighbor boy, and in the third he spoiled the life of the village guy Vasily. But wherever the parrot was brought in, cartoons with his participation remained incredibly witty, and the phrases “Have you not been to Tahiti?”, “We are well fed here too,” “Oh, you darkness! It’s bubble-gum”quickly became winged.

5. Adventures of Lolo the little penguin

• USSR, Japan, 1987.
• Animation, drama, adventure.
• Duration: 77 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 6.

Lolo the little penguin is restless and wants to always be the first in everything. Due to his curiosity, he and his girlfriend Pepe find themselves on the high seas. Now the youngsters are waiting for dangerous adventures and meeting new friends.

The project was created by four animation studios at once: the Soviet "Soyuzmultfilm" and "Sovinfilm", as well as the Japanese "Lifewalk Corporation" and "Aist Corporation". The result is excellent, although some of the scenes are overly dramatic and may intimidate children.

6. Escape from the chicken coop

• UK, USA, France, 2000.
• Animation, comedy.
• Duration: 84 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 0.

Chicken Ginger, along with her friends, has long been trying to escape from Mrs. Tweedy's farm, where they can be allowed to fill the pie at any time. But then the American rooster Rocky literally falls from the sky on the birds. With his help, Ginger hopes to teach her companions to fly and thereby save them from a terrible fate.

Animator Nick Park became famous for his funny short films about Wallace and Gromit, and decided to make his full length similar to the Hollywood classics "The Great Escape" and "Concentration Camp 17". Only in the first tape the plot is more childish and funny.

7. Valiant: Feathered Special Forces

• UK, USA, 2005.
• Animation, comedy.
• Duration: 76 minutes.
• IMDb: 5, 5.

Young pigeon Valiant dreams of becoming a member of the Royal Pigeon Office to help people at the front during World War II. And one day he is trusted to forward a secret document on which the outcome of the battle depends.

"Valiant" is a bright, but too childish cartoon, so it can be boring for adults to watch it. But the situation can be rectified by the original dubbing: the voices of Ewan McGregor, Tim Curry and Hugh Laurie immediately change everything for the better.

8. Chicken Chicken

• USA, 2005.
• Animation, family comedy.
• Duration: 81 minutes.
• IMDb: 5, 7.

A chicken named Tsypa mistook the fallen acorn for a piece of the sky. He told all the residents of the city about this, but no one believed him. Then, to restore his reputation, the hero joins the baseball team and wins an important match. But here a part of the firmament really falls on the chick's head.

Chicken Chicken was Walt Disney Pictures' first full-length cartoon to use only 3D animation. But it was still very imperfect and today it is hopelessly outdated.

But, on the other hand, children are unlikely to find fault with the shortcomings of the graphics, and it will be useful for them to watch the cartoon: it raises the topic of difficult relationships with parents and subtly mocks a variety of social phenomena.

9. Happy feet

• Australia, USA, 2006.
• Animation, family comedy, musical.
• Duration: 109 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 4.

The young penguin Mumble cannot sing at all, but he is an excellent tap dancer. But such a hobby is not held in high esteem among his relatives, so the hero becomes an outcast. Nevertheless, he is determined to win the heart of the beautiful Gloria.

The cartoon was created by George Miller, screenwriter of films about the adventures of Babe Pig and author of the Mad Max franchise. Through his efforts, Happy Feet, despite the banal setting, turned out to be spectacular and dynamic, and the heroes, moreover, sing in the voices of Hugh Jackman, Brittany Murphy and Nicole Kidman.

10. Catch the wave

• USA, 2007.
• Animation, family comedy.
• Duration: 85 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 7.

Penguin Cody Maverick devotes all his free time to surfing and dreams of winning the big annual championship. But the very first competition with the arrogant Tank Evans ends in defeat, and the hero realizes that he is still far from perfect. But his new girlfriend introduces him to the sports legend Geek, who has a lot to learn from.

The Sony Pictures cartoon is extremely funny about the adventures of birds: for example, it parodies typical sports dramas. It is also made in the format of a reality show: operators with a camera constantly follow the main characters, and they themselves give interviews from time to time.

11. Legends of the Night Watch

• USA, Australia, 2010.
• Animation, fantasy, adventure.
• Duration: 90 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 9.

Soren the owlet, along with his brother, are kidnapped by enemies from the Pure clan. Having learned about their sinister plans, Soren breaks free from captivity and flies in search of the Ga'Khuul tree, where, according to legend, the Nightguards live. On the way, he makes new friends.

The cartoon based on the book series by Catherine Lasky was directed by visionary Zach Snyder. Therefore, viewers will be delighted not only by the touching big-eyed owls, but also by spectacularly filmed flight scenes, coupled with stunning graphics.

12. The ugly duckling

• Russia, 2010.
• Animation, fairy tale, drama, musical.
• Duration: 75 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 5.

A strange duckling appears in the poultry yard, not like everyone else. He tries to adapt to those around him and please them, but they only do that in every possible way they spite and offend the newcomer.

Animator Harry Bardeen (The Flying Ship, The Gray Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood) crossed Andersen's fairy tale with Orwell's dystopia Animal Farm and spiced it all up with the music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The result was a very mature work, with Bardeen being criticized for making the film too dark.

13. Rio

• USA, 2011.
• Animation, family comedy, adventure.
• Duration: 96 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 9.

Linda is taking her incredibly rare parrot, Blu, to Rio de Janeiro to mate with the last female of her species. But everything does not go according to plan, and poachers kidnap the birds.

The creator of "Ice Age" Carlus Saldagni shot a colorful, funny and full of national Brazilian flavor cartoon. It's a shame that long before Blue Sky Studios, Pixar was developing a tape with a similar concept about a newt named Newt. Its plot was so reminiscent of "Rio" that the implementation had to be abandoned.

14. Penguins of Madagascar

• USA, 2014.
• Animation, comedy, adventure.
• Duration: 92 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 7.

Four resourceful penguins are captured by the insidious octopus Dave, who was once seriously offended by their relatives. To defeat the enemy, the birds have to team up with a team of super-agent beasts.

Lively penguins - minor heroes of the first "Madagascar" - became so popular characters that they even got their own animated series. But this was not enough for the producers, so a full film was also released, telling about the life of Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Prapor before their appearance in New York, as well as after the events of the original trilogy.

15. Storks

• USA, 2016.
• Animation, family comedy, adventure.
• Duration: 87 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 8.

Once storks brought babies, but now they have a new business - delivering orders from a large online store. One day, the best employee of the company, Junior, accidentally activates the long-shutdown machine for creating babies, and a sweet but unplanned girl is born. While no one has learned anything, the hero, together with his girlfriend, Buttercup's girlfriend, must deliver the child to his parents as soon as possible.

Directors Nicholas Stoller and Doug Sweetland took as a basis the old belief about storks bringing children, and how they could modernize it. Still, critics scolded the film for too obvious imitation of "Monsters, Inc."

16. Angry Birds in the movies

• USA, Finland, 2016.
• Duration: 97 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 3.

The angry bird Red, an orphan and outcast, goes to special courses to suppress outbursts of anger. Meanwhile, green pigs come to the island where the hero lives and teach the natives to have fun. Red suspects that the aliens are up to something unkind, but no one believes him.

The cartoon on the casual game "Angry Birds in the Movies" came out quite well. True, he caused controversy: some viewers saw in the way the green pigs are depicted as an offensive allusion to immigrants.

17. Camouflage and espionage

• USA, 2019.
• Animation, comedy, adventure.
• Duration: 102 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 8.

Daring and stylish secret agent Lance Sterling is forced to team up with a shy young scientist Walter Beckett. The problem is that the spy accidentally swallows the experimental drug and turns into a pigeon.

The Blue Sky Studios cartoon follows all the cliches of the typical spy comedy. Moreover, the story itself is as simple as possible, but the authors contrived to present it quite cheerfully. Well, the duet of Tom Holland and Will Smith definitely makes the picture worth watching.