It's A Bird (1930)

[GReedDiamond]

Excerpt from a bizarre early stop-motion animation piece featuring Charley Bowers and a metal-eating bird.
The creature devours junk from an auto scrapyard, then lays an egg that hatches and grows into a brand new car!
Very impressive FX and way before CGI.
Directed by Harold L. Muller.

[msongs]

1. amazing. thx for posting nt

[GReedDiamond]

2. Thanks, yw! - nt

[2naSalit]

3. That's quite impressive!

Love the audio too!

The shoes on the bird are great.

[Donkees]

4. THE WEIRD AND WONDERFUL WORLD OF CHARLEY BOWERS

Bowers had a persistent fixation with eggs and the process of metamorphosis. The mysterious transformations that take place inside an egg proved a source of immense fascination for him and this was reflected in his animations, which often involved strange creatures hatching out of eggs or morphing into something else. In Bowers’ world, forms and the state of being are transient and dreamlike at best, nightmarishly inconsistent at worst. He would find himself an innocent victim caught up amongst strange creatures, out-of-control machinery and impossible circumstances as he wandered through a bizarre poster paint dreamland. Here was a hostile place where figures in portrait leapt from their frames to attack you.

Perhaps he was just too far ahead of his time in the 1920s to really succeed in the mainstream. Surrealists like André Bréton claimed ‘IT’S A BIRD’ as an influence, and his eccentric gadgets are an acknowledge influence on Aardman Animations and their ‘WALLACE AND GROMIT’ films. Mysteries and falsehoods may cloud Bowers’ biography but one certainty is his talent as a trailblazing animator and creator of comedy. With his co-conspirators, he trod a unique path and created some unforgettable short films that are unlike anything else in the silent comedy canon.

https://thelostlaugh.com/silentclowns/charley-bowers/

[marble falls]

5. Flawless animation, the animation with the flame from the lantern at the same time, great stuff!

[Martin Eden]

7. Now THAT's entertainment!

Thanks for sharing.