I Wanna Be a Sailor
| I Wanna Be a Sailor | |
|---|---|
| Merrie Melodies series | |
 The April 30, 1949 reissue card. | |
| Directed by | Fred Avery |
| Produced by | Leon Schlesinger (uncredited in reissue) |
| Story by | unknown |
| Voices by | Elvia Allman, Mel Blanc, Billy Bletcher, Bernice Hansen, Robert Wrinkler (all uncredited) |
| Music by | Carl Stalling, Milt Franklyn (uncredited) |
| Animation by | Bob Clampett |
| Studio | Warner Bros. Cartoons |
| Distributed by |
Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
| Release date(s) |
September 25, 1937 (Original release) April 30, 1949 (Blue Ribbon re-release) |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Running time | 7:00 |
| Language | English |
I Wanna Be a Sailor is a September 25, 1937 film directed by Tex Avery. It stars a little parrot who wants to be just like his father, a sailor.
Plot
A mother parrot is teaching her children to say, "Polly want a cracker". The first two kids, Patrick and Patricia, do so after some effort, but Peter doesn't want to say cracker, he wants to be a sailor like his dad. His mother refuses, telling him that his dad had really set sail for Catalina, after he and the others were born. Peter is not impressed and runs off. He takes a barrel and joins forces with a rather annoying duck, and the two set sail on the lake. They eventually find trouble in a thunderstorm, and Peter calls his "Momma". She comes running, but he is already saved by the duck, despite it all he still wants to be a sailor.
Notes
- The duck in this cartoon is theorized by some people as being the same duck that appeared in the cartoons It's an Ill Wind, Porky's Hotel, and She Was an Acrobat's Daughter.
- The voice of Peter Parrot was done by prolific child actor Robert "Bobby" Winckler, who had worked in over 80 films and over 200 radio shows with most of the stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood. His IMDB page is listed under his often credited name Robert Winkler.
- The mother parrot sang part of the chorus of the song Poor Old Joe as she is coming to rescue Peter.
- First cartoon to end with the 1937-38 Merrily we roll along.
- This cartoon is one of the many handful pre-1943 shorts to enter the public domain due to United Artists, the owners of the short at the time. The copyright was planned to be renewed, but they failed to renew the copyright in time.
Home Video
- LaserDisc - The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Volume 3, Side 5, unrestored
- DVD - Kid Galahad, dubbed version