Walky Talky Hawky
| Walky Talky Hawky | |
|---|---|
| Merrie Melodies (Henery Hawk/Foghorn Leghorn/Barnyard Dawg) series | |
 The October 17, 1953 Blue Ribbon reissue title card of Walky Talky Hawky. | |
| Directed by | Robert McKimson |
| Story by | Warren Foster |
| Voices by | Mel Blanc |
| Music by | Carl Stalling |
| Animation by |
Richard Bickenbach Cal Dalton Don Williams Arthur Davis |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date(s) | August 31, 1946 |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Running time | 7:00 |
| Language | English |
Walky Talky Hawky is a Henery Hawk/Foghorn Leghorn animated short film from Warner Bros. released in 1946 and directed by Robert McKimson. All voice characterizations are performed by Mel Blanc.
Production
Warren Foster developed a barnyard dog, a large rooster and a chicken hawk; and presented them to newly promoted director Robert McKimson late in 1944; dialogue was recorded on January 13, 1945.[1]
Plot
Henery Hawk discusses his cravings with his father, who then tells him "Your mother and I are outcasts, hated and hunted because of what we are: Chicken hawks. And you, you Henery, you're a chicken hawk too. And like all chicken hawks you crave to eat - a chicken." More enthusiastic than his father, Henery Hawk sets out to find a chicken, however, as he tries to fly, he falls from the tree and tells the audience "Someday I gotta learn to fly." Meanwhile, in a barnyard, the Barnyard Dawg deliberately throws a watermelon on an unsuspecting Foghorn Leghorn, who is done filing his nails, muttering to himself while thinking of the Dawg "EVERYDAY IS THE SAME THING!". Just as the Dawg goes to sleep, Foghorn deliberately spanks the Dawg with a paddle, angering the Dawg into chasing Foghorn, only the Dawg gets choked by the leash and falls. The Dawg now angrily barks at Foghorn, who then deliberately slaps the Dawg, yelling "Ah, SHUT UP!" and walks away.
Henery meets Foghorn, who, seeing the hawk as a potential pawn against the Dawg, tells Henery he is a horse and that the Dawg is a chicken and Henery Hawk goes up to the Dawg and deliberately bites the Dawg in the tail, causing the Dawg to wake up from his nap in pain and Henery warns the Dawg "Are you gonna come quietly or do I have to muss ya up?!", but the Dawg chases Henery, but gets choked on the leash again and falls again while Foghorn whacks the Dawg in the head like he's playing croquet with croquet mallet and runs with the Dawg angrily barking again, only with a headache. Henery is still running, but Foghorn tells Henery not to give up and Henery literally carries the Dog house with the Dawg in it like a train while the Dawg investigates with a mirror, sees Henery and lifts up his house and gives chase but is choked and falls again and Foghorn deliberately puts a knight's helmet on the Dawg and whacks the Dawg in the side of the head many times causing the Dawg's head to literally shake inside. Foghorn tells Henery that the Dawg is a "foxy chicken" and they have to "outsmart him" and Foghorn whispers the plan into Henery's ear. Henery lures the Dawg out of his house by drawing a doorbell and presses it and plays a piano while the Dawg dances to the music and the Dawg gets whacked and trips over a banana peel and a spring while walking clumsily and landing on a rollerskate. When the Dawg surrenders and asks Henery what he is looking for, Henery tells the Dawg "You're a chicken, I'm a chicken hawk, and I'm gonna eat chicken!", the Dawg realizes he's been the victim of Foghorn's prank and points out "I'm NO chicken! THAT'S a chicken!" and Foghorn accuses the Dawg, "Don't you, I say don't you call ME a chicken, you... chicken!" Henery realizes he's been tricked and he releases the Dawg on Foghorn which starts a brawl between the two of them, only this time, Foghorn is now running while the angry Dawg is now on the warpath against Foghorn. When the brawl takes them into a barn, an ACTUAL horse forcibly ejects them, clunking their heads together in the process. The two foes, shaking hands to prove solidarity, re-enter to double-team the horse. Finally, Henery captures Foghorn, the Dawg, and the horse, mimicking Foghorn and telling the camera that "One of these things, I SAY, ONE OF THESE THINGS, has GOT to be a chicken!" as the cartoon irises out.
Awards
The film is mostly notable for being an Academy Award for Animated Short Film nominee, losing to MGM's cartoon The Cat Concerto, which shared one of seven Oscars for the Tom and Jerry series.
Availability
The short is included, digitally remastered, in the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3 and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection. It is also part of Bugs Bunny: Superstar Part 2 in the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 4. It is also in the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 3 Blu-ray and DVD.