What's Buzzin' Buzzard? (1943) User Reviews

Look out for the steak!

[andyjg · 8/10 · 2 September 2006]

A very fast paced 'toon from the master of mayhem, Tex Avery

Nothing is sacred as fun is poked at all the wartime shortages as 2 buzzards search high and low for something to eat, fighting over the rabbit they have caught, the stone painted to look like a rib eye steak resorting to even eating each other, watch out for the "drooling time" allowed for the picture of the steak dinner. The 'toon is probably not politically correct in these modern times so it is doubtful if it will get shown on t.v today, but keep an eye out for it, it is available in the DVD format as part of a Tex Avery box set issued in France where Tex has a big following......Enjoy !

Buzzard rationing

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 3 November 2017]

Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons.

Also have much admiration for Tex Avery, an animation genius whose best cartoons are animated masterpieces and some of the best he ever did. 'What's Buzzin Buzzard?' may not be one of Avery's best, or among his funniest or most imaginative cartoons, but it's still well made, a lot of fun and an interesting look at rationing during the war. A war period cartoon that succeeds at entertaining and informing. Even when Avery was not at his best (like understandably when he was first starting out), he still delivered, have yet to see a bad cartoon from him.

'What's Buzzin Buzzard?' has great animation as always for Avery. Very rich in colour, the backgrounds are meticulously detailed and the character designs are distinctively Avery in style and are fluid in movement. The music, courtesy of Scott Bradley, is lushly and cleverly orchestrated, with lively and energetic rhythms and fits very well indeed, even enhancing the action.

Even with the serious subject of rationing there is enough of Avery's wild deliciously looney humour to make it a very funny cartoon, which helps things from not getting preachy. All the content is paced in a lively fashion, and the dialogue is both witty and informative.

Can't fault Avery, whose style is all over, nor the dynamic voice acting and the very engaging characters (the Jimmy Durante Buzzard being particularly well done).

In conclusion, very well done. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Don't They Know There's A War On?

[boblipton · 7/10 · 22 May 2021]

Hungry because of wartime meat rationing and their inability to catch a rabbit -- no points! -- two buzzards attempt to kill ad eat each other in this typically hilarious Tex Avery cartoon.

Modern audiences may be bemused by references to ration points and meatless Tuesdays, but the increasing level of mayhem that the two buzzards attempt to wreak on each other is timeless .

I didn't know they had such big teeth.

bird teeth are weird

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 22 May 2021]

It's the Painted Desert. Jimmy Durante Buzzard and Joe Buzzard are starving. Then they spot a rabbit but he gets away. It's a Tex Avery cartoon. I don't know these characters. I would think that they would want Jimmy Durante to do the Jimmy Durante voice or else he would make a stink about that. As for the cartoon designs, I don't think that birds should have teeth especially when they open wide. The rows of teeth are weird. The premise is fine and the gags are good. The teeth is weird. I don't get the Meatless Tuesday gag. Was that a government suggestion during the war? It was probably a funnier punchline back in the day. The real stake visual is probably another one.

Closed for the duration

[guyburns · 8/10 · 8 September 2016]

Entertaining, lively, over the top, breakings of the fourth wall –- yes, a typical Tex Avery cartoon, but this is one of his better productions.

Aimed at the male audience of the war years -- there is short wolf-whistle sequence -- the cartoon is made more interesting by its references to food rationing and the war:

• The juicy steak at the start and end -- an expensive commodity during the war

• A sign that says "No Points", referring to a particular food (a rabbit in this case) requiring no points

• Meatless Tuesday -- a reference to President Wilsons call during World War 1 for every Tuesday to be meatless.

• One of the buzzard's mouths is "Closed for the Duration" – a reference to the WW2 poster that people's mouths should be closed because loose talk can cost lives.

A informative short called "Point Rationing of Foods", explains the rationing system, and is worth a look.

Edgy and topical

[gbill-74877 · 7/10 · 21 July 2021]

This Tex Avery cartoon looks ahead of its time with how edgy it is, with the two buzzards literally trying to hack each other to pieces and eat the other one out of hunger. It also had great significance for audience members forced to eat less during the war, with references to rationing, Meatless Tuesdays, and the narrator breaking in a couple of times to show the audience a picture of a giant steak. I loved the Jimmy Durante impersonation for one of the buzzards, and the overall anarchy of the thing.

Two vultures trying to eat each other in a Tex Avery cartoon....what more could you want?!

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 22 May 2021]

"What's Buzzin' Buzzard" is an early Tex Avery cartoon with MGM. I mention early as his later films tended to be a lot weirder...and funnier. Though clearly this is still a very funny cartoon.

Two buzzards are hungry and can't find much to eat. So soon they start eyeing each other and they spend much of the cartoon either trying to eat each other OR fighting over what food they've found.

This is a very funny and cute cartoon....not among Avery's best but still VERY good, very enjoyable and quite crazy. Well worth seeing.

Anyone who has read about "bully" in Mr. Burgess' Wanting Seed . . .

[tadpole-596-918256 · 7/10 · 26 May 2021]

. . . or heard Fraudster Heston yelling about "Soylent Green is People!" will recognize a pattern emerging with the genesis for these later offerings, WHAT'S BUZZING BUZZARD? Like the latter film (directed by one of the cartooning Fleischer Brothers), BUZZARD is a product of the American Pachyderm Political Party's official Propaganda Program, the Many Greedy Mobsters studio. This bot-driven corporation has been preaching the gospel for decades that there are just too many people on Planet Earth, and that the sooner we start eating each other, the better. "Bon appetit!" as they say in Frog Land.

To the editors:

[dnmotley-635-631172 · 13 July 2021]

This page is redundant and should be merged with the original one for this cartoon.