The Early Worm Gets the Bird

Release Date: January 13, 1940

Merrie Melodies [reissued as a Blue Ribbon MM, reissue title card shown above]

Synopsis
Mammy Blackbird is tucking her three children into bed. One little bird named Willie pulls out a copy of a book titled The Early Bird Gets the Worm and starts reading. Mammy scolds him and warns that if he tries to catch that worm that the ol' fox will catch him. Willie isn't frightened by his mother's warning and sets his alarm clock so he can have a worm for breakfast. The next morning, he sneaks out of house and tracks down the worm. The little worm turns out to be quite the smartaleck and leads Willie on a chase. This attracts the attention of the fox who catches Willie and starts to make himself a blackbird sandwich. The worm saves the little bird by siccing an angry bumblebee on the fox. The fox's bottle of ketchup shatters on his head, and the fox runs off thinking he is bleeding to death. The worm and bird make amends and Willie hops back into bed just as Mammy comes in to wake him up. While his brothers both ask for worms for breakfast, Willie replies that he doesn't want any worms. "Neither does I, Mammy!" exclaims the worm.

Credits
Supervision: Fred Avery Story by: Jack Miller Animation: Robert Cannon Music: Carl W. Stalling

Video Availability:
The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Vol. 3 Laserdisc - Side 10: Politically Incorrect (MGM/UA; 1992) Various public domain compilations

Video
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Links
Public Domain: Available for Download on Archive.org