Lambert the Sheepish Lion

When the stork delivers a crop of lambs, one of the ewes is left out. But there is a lion cub who is named Lambert. He was apparently mismarked. So he is inadvertently given to the mother. She decide to keep him and chases the stork away. Of course, the lion cub is rejected by the others, not recognizing his being for what it is. The conclusion is predictable. Still, it is well worth seeing and the song is very memorable.

Raised by sheep, LAMBERT THE SHEEPISH LION wants to live a life of gentle peace & quiet. Then one night, a wicked wolf carries off his foster mother...

Winner of the 1952 Oscar for Best Animation, this is a very enjoyable little film. Bill Peet, eventually a popular children's author in his own right, was one of the writers here. The title tune is infectious, and Sterling Holloway is perfect as the Narrator.

Lambert the Sheepish Lion (1952)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Delightful Disney short has a stork accidentally dropping off a lion cub to a group of sheep. At first the sheep laugh at the lion who they name Lambert but soon they come to need him when a hungry wolf shows up. This Disney short is probably one of the best remembered films that the studio ever did because from the time it was released to today, it seems like it's been all over the place. I remember watching it at least twice a week when I was a kid and it appears everyone knows the tale of the lion who got dropped off to the sheep. As you'd expect, the animation is extremely good and there's no doubt that the story itself is quite clever. I think one thing that fails to get enough attention is the vocal work of Sterling Holloway who is simply wonderful and adds a lot to the material.

This short is one of the more successful Disney produced in the 1950s. Nominated for an Oscar in 1951, it has one of the more memorable one-shot characters Disney created in Lambert. Some of the visual gags, particularly toward the end of the cartoon are hilarious! Toward the end of the 1940s, Disney slipped behind UPA and MGM and even Warner Brothers in terms of shorts. The quality was still there, but the energy seemed to fade a bit. Cartoons like Lambert show that Disney could still more than hold its own. Highly recommended

One of the award-winning shorts produced by Disney in the studio's heyday, this charming cartoon is the tale of a lion who is accidentally placed by the stork (shades of Mr Stork from 'Dumbo' here) with a flock of sheep along with the new lambs. He grows up to be a figure of fun for his sheep cousins who tease him for being unable to baa like them and for not being either a lamb or a lion.

Of course, Lambert saves the day by being a real lion when he has to be and becomes the hero of his flock. The baby Lambert is a little cute thing who grows up to be a slightly dumb looking lion, always hiding behind his 'mother'. The piece is narrated by Sterling Holloway, who had the perfect voice for this kind of thing, and has a catchy little title tune which recurs throughout.