Christopher Crumpet

An artist is talking to his dog and tells the story of a little boy who gets angry and turns into a chicken. He is quite spoiled and this is unsettling to his family. As time progresses, he makes serious demands on his mother and father., including the purchase of a new rocket ship. Eventually, there seems to be an acceptance that the chicken/boy is what they have and treat him the same, no matter what he is that day. There's a cool ending that you don't want to miss.

Animated short starts off with a guy talking to his dog and drawing him a story about Christopher Crumpet. He's an energetic little kid who has a temper. When he doesn't get his way he turns into a chicken. (Hey--it's a cartoon). One day he makes it clear he wants a rocket ship. His dad says no--so he becomes a chicken. He refuses to change back into a boy and his dad is a nervous wreck on what to do. Nothing can persuade the kid to remain a kid. It leads to a very clever ending.

The animation itself isn't Disney. It's kind of messy actually but it fits the story. Also there are many funny visual jokes all throughout the short. Well worth catching. I have nothing more to say but we need ten lines to get a review published so...

Christopher Crumpet (1953)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Clever UPA short has an artist telling his dog the story of a little boy wanting a rocket ship from his father but when he doesn't get it he decides to turn into a chicken. The father brings home a doctor who doesn't believe his story until he sees it for himself and then others are brought in to see what's going on. CHRISTOPHER CRUMPET isn't the best animated short you're going to see but I think there are enough clever moments to make it worth watching. I must admit that I really didn't care for the animation here as I found some of it just to be a bit too cheap for its own good, although at the same time I can admit that I liked how most of the action took place in the same frame with only the drawing part actually changing. Having all the action appear to take place in one from was a nice touch. I thought the ending, which I won't ruin, was extremely good and it's pretty much strong enough to make the entire film worth sitting through.