LAMBERT was nominated for the Best Animated Short Oscar but lost to THE TWO MOUSEKETEERS--a rather cutesy cartoon featuring Jerry the Mouse and his little slightly annoying sidekick, Tuffy. The MGM short isn't bad, but compared to Disney's LAMBERT is sure seems inconsequential. As for the only other nominated film, I'll try to be nice and only say that ROOTY, TOOT, TOOT was severely lacking....okay, fine, it was a horrible film, there I said it.
So why did I like LAMBERT THE SHEEPISH LION so much that I wished they'd given this cartoon the Oscar instead? Well, the quality of the animation was a bit better--as MGM had recently began drawing their Tom and Jerry cartoons with a much simpler and cheaper style. Also, the story of Lambert is just charming and cute--but not cloying or too cute for viewing by diabetics. It's just a very nice and rather original take on the classic tale of "The Ugly Duckling".
The film begins with Lambert (who is a lion) accidentally being delivered to a flock of sheep instead of his real mother. Poor Lambert actually thinks he's a sheep and is just as docile and harmless as a lamb. That is, until his flock is attacked and something primal within Lambert is released. No, he does NOT eat his flock-mates--just see the film for yourself to see how it all ends.
Lovely story, lovely animation and a lot of fun.
So why did I like LAMBERT THE SHEEPISH LION so much that I wished they'd given this cartoon the Oscar instead? Well, the quality of the animation was a bit better--as MGM had recently began drawing their Tom and Jerry cartoons with a much simpler and cheaper style. Also, the story of Lambert is just charming and cute--but not cloying or too cute for viewing by diabetics. It's just a very nice and rather original take on the classic tale of "The Ugly Duckling".
The film begins with Lambert (who is a lion) accidentally being delivered to a flock of sheep instead of his real mother. Poor Lambert actually thinks he's a sheep and is just as docile and harmless as a lamb. That is, until his flock is attacked and something primal within Lambert is released. No, he does NOT eat his flock-mates--just see the film for yourself to see how it all ends.
Lovely story, lovely animation and a lot of fun.