Mother Was a Rooster

Mother Was a Rooster is a 1962 Merrie Melodies short directed by Robert McKimson.
== Plot ==
Late one night, Barnyard Dawg breaks into an ostrich hatchery to steal an egg, the intent being to place it under Foghorn Leghorn and make him believe that he laid the egg, as a prank. Barnyard Dawg justifies this by explaining, "It's been kind of dull around here lately."
Foghorn awakens and taking the bait, discovers the egg underneath him. When the egg doesn't immediately hatch, Barnyard Dawg decides to speed up the process by whacking Foggy over the head with a mallet. The egg hatches an ostrich chick, to which Foggy immediately warms up to as his own son. Foggy proudly shows off his "son" to the Barnyard Dawg as a gesture of goodwill, but the Barnyard Dawg insults the ostrich, making fun of his appearance and voice. The ostrich buries his head in the ground in shame.
After an attempt with a booby-trapped bone to get back at Barnyard Dawg fails, Foggy tries to bond with his son, showing him how to play various sporting activities such as baseball and football. Despite these efforts to build the bird's self-esteem and forget Barnyard Dawg's maliciousness, the dog continually and unmercifully mocks the ostrich. The ostrich buries his head with each insult, agitating Foggy even more. Eventually, Foggy has enough of the bullying and decides to defend his son's honor in a boxing match.
The bout takes place in a makeshift ring, contained beneath the farm's wooden water tower. When Barnyard Dawg decides to cheat, including walking over to Foghorn's corner to throw a cheap-shot sucker punch at him before the match starts, Foggy decides to forget the rules and — using a loose floor plank as a catapult — hurls his canine foe into the bottom of the water tank. Barnyard Dawg returns the favor, and the process repeats several times until the tank becomes dislodged and crashes on top of the ring, leaving both Foggy and Barnyard Dawg with their heads buried in the ground. The ostrich, who had been watching the match, remarks, "They've left me all alone. Where did everybody go?"
== Availability ==
=== Streaming ===
Screenshot 2021-02-07 at 10.16.26 PM.png|Amazon Instant Video (2017 - )
Lt boomerang.jpg|Boomerang App (2018 - )
Lt hbo max.jpg|HBO Max (2020 - 2022) (restored)
Lt itunes.jpg|iTunes ( - ) (restored)
== Censorship ==
* On CBS, the part where Barnyard Dawg cheap-shots Foghorn Leghorn as he says, "Okay, son, ring the bell," during the first part of the boxing match was cut.https://web.archive.org/web/20240228021817/https://www.intanibase.com/gac/looneytunes/censored-m.aspx
== Notes ==
* This was the last-released cartoon scored by Milt Franklyn; Bill Lava would take over as composer for Warner Bros. cartoons starting with "Good Noose" until the cartoon department's closure in 1969.
** This was also one of the seven cartoons (not counting "The Jet Cage", as William Lava also did music for that short) that were released after Milt Franklyn's death, alongside "Mexican Boarders", "Bill of Hare", "Zoom at the Top", "The Slick Chick", "Louvre Come Back to Me!", and "Honey's Money".
* This cartoon was used in The Bugs Bunny Mother's Day Special.
== Gallery ==
Screenshot 2021-01-08 at 4.40.03 PM.png
Screenshot 2021-01-08 at 4.40.12 PM.png
MotherRoosterRestoredSmall.jpeg|Cropped screenshot of 2020 restoration
Mother was a rooster.jpg
MWARLC.JPG|Lobby card
Mwar.jpg|Lobby card
Mother-rooster-foghorn2-600.jpg|Lobby card
MotherWasARoosterLeadSheet1.jpg|Animator draft
MotherWasARoosterLeadSheet2.jpg|Animator draft
MotherWasARoosterLeadSheet3.jpg|Animator draft
MotherWasARoosterLeadSheet4.jpg|Animator draft
== References ==
Category:1962
Category:Cartoons directed by Robert McKimson
Category:Foghorn Leghorn Cartoons
Category:Shorts
Category:Looney Tunes Shorts
Category:Barnyard Dawg Cartoons
Category:Merrie Melodies Shorts
Category:Cartoons with music by Milt Franklyn
Category:Cartoons animated by Keith Darling
Category:Cartoons animated by George Grandpré
Category:Cartoons animated by Warren Batchelder
Category:Cartoons written by Dave Detiege
Category:Cartoons animated by Ted Bonnicksen
Category:Cartoons with layouts by Robert Gribbroek
Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Robert Gribbroek
Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc
Category:Cartoons produced by David H. DePatie