The Talking Magpies
The Heckle and Jeckle Theatrical Cartoon Series kicked off on this date in 1946 with The Talking Magpies. This short featured a very late appearance of Farmer Al Falfa, and a rare appearance in color.
Two magpies (billed in this cartoon as “Man and Wife”) are looking for a nesting place at the Magpies’ Hotel. Nowhere is there a vacancy.
Finally they rent a nest in a treetop just outside the bedroom window of an old man (Farmer Al Falfa). His sleep disturbed, he asks them to be a little quieter. Instead, the magpies squawk on relentlessly. Try as they might, those birds just can’t stay quiet.
Farmer Al Falfa starts after them with his gun. As he rounds the corner, one of the magpies has slipped into the radio and is broadcasting a show on “how to rid your farm of magpies.” The farmer realizes that he has been tricked, and the hunt is on. The magpies trick him into a barrel and turn his own gun on him.
