This cartoon by David Hand (as part of his "Animaland" series) is slightly better than the one about the house cat. Here we see a father ostrich and his son (the father helps hatch the son)getting to know each other, and discovering some ancient ruins. That ostriches are not usually found in the Sahara desert seems to have escaped the attention of Hand's production crew, but they can live in desert areas so it is not a totally impossible situation. Also it leads to the best of the cartoon.
The cartoon lets us know (at the start) that infant male ostriches are smarter than their fathers. Here we see the father repeatedly seem more timid and duller than the son. Then they find these hieroglyphics on the wall of some ruins, and examine several closely. In particular they notice the drawings (in color, by the way - hieroglyphics were actually done in color, but the paint on most that were out in the open - like those in this cartoon - would have been flaked off by the winds centuries ago)of several lions. The young ostrich shows the older one this is a drawing, not a real lion. The older one is not certain until he lightly kicks one drawing and finds no response from it. But soon a second hieroglyph gets the older ostrich's attention: a female ostrich. It too does not react, but soon it begins to react to the smitten elder male ostrich, and pulls it into the drawing - much to the dismay of the younger male ostrich.
The rest of the cartoon (including accompanying musical number) involves all the various figures in the hieroglyphics (including the drawings of Pharoah and the Queen (Cleopatra?) dancing and singing. But the joy comes to an end when the foolish older ostrich sees the hieroglyphic figure of a lion, and purposely kicks it again to impress his new girlfriend. Unfortunately, now that he is in the land of the hieroglyphs, the lion and he are on the same physical plane the lion can attack him and any other figure among the hieroglyphs. He chases them, and only misses the older ostrich because the female ostrich hides both of them behind a palm tree hieroglyph. The pair get off the wall, but then the other side of their problem emerges: the female ostrich is two dimensional, and can not stand for long (visibly, anyway) in the three dimensional world of the real ostriches. She falls, and is supported by the elder ostrich. This leads the younger one to try to bury his head in the sand in humiliation. Except that the young ostrich knocks his head against some hard sand, not some soft sand that he can bury himself in.
The best parts of this cartoon are the singing and dancing hieroglyphs, which gave the animators somethings to joyfully play around with (including Pharoah holding his son and being surprised when the baby sings to him!). The two real ostriches are a nice couple for comparative humor purposes (the older one usually coming a-cropper. On the whole it is a first rate cartoon, and makes one wish Hand had done others on this Egyptian theme.
The cartoon lets us know (at the start) that infant male ostriches are smarter than their fathers. Here we see the father repeatedly seem more timid and duller than the son. Then they find these hieroglyphics on the wall of some ruins, and examine several closely. In particular they notice the drawings (in color, by the way - hieroglyphics were actually done in color, but the paint on most that were out in the open - like those in this cartoon - would have been flaked off by the winds centuries ago)of several lions. The young ostrich shows the older one this is a drawing, not a real lion. The older one is not certain until he lightly kicks one drawing and finds no response from it. But soon a second hieroglyph gets the older ostrich's attention: a female ostrich. It too does not react, but soon it begins to react to the smitten elder male ostrich, and pulls it into the drawing - much to the dismay of the younger male ostrich.
The rest of the cartoon (including accompanying musical number) involves all the various figures in the hieroglyphics (including the drawings of Pharoah and the Queen (Cleopatra?) dancing and singing. But the joy comes to an end when the foolish older ostrich sees the hieroglyphic figure of a lion, and purposely kicks it again to impress his new girlfriend. Unfortunately, now that he is in the land of the hieroglyphs, the lion and he are on the same physical plane the lion can attack him and any other figure among the hieroglyphs. He chases them, and only misses the older ostrich because the female ostrich hides both of them behind a palm tree hieroglyph. The pair get off the wall, but then the other side of their problem emerges: the female ostrich is two dimensional, and can not stand for long (visibly, anyway) in the three dimensional world of the real ostriches. She falls, and is supported by the elder ostrich. This leads the younger one to try to bury his head in the sand in humiliation. Except that the young ostrich knocks his head against some hard sand, not some soft sand that he can bury himself in.
The best parts of this cartoon are the singing and dancing hieroglyphs, which gave the animators somethings to joyfully play around with (including Pharoah holding his son and being surprised when the baby sings to him!). The two real ostriches are a nice couple for comparative humor purposes (the older one usually coming a-cropper. On the whole it is a first rate cartoon, and makes one wish Hand had done others on this Egyptian theme.
