It's Tough to Be a Bird
| It's Tough to Be a Bird | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Ward Kimball |
| Produced by |
Walt Disney Ward Kimball |
| Story by |
Ted Berman Ward Kimball |
| Voices by |
Ruth Buzzi Richard Bakalyan John Emerson Jim Swain, Ann Lord Hank Schloss Walter Perkins, Rolf Darbo |
| Music by | George Bruns |
| Animation by |
Eric Larson Art Stevens |
| Studio | Walt Disney Productions |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Distribution Company |
| Release date(s) |
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| Color process | Technicolor |
| Running time | 21 minutes |
| Language | English |
It's Tough to Be a Bird is a 1969 educational animated short made by Walt Disney Productions. It won the Academy Award for Best Short Subject, Cartoons in 1970 and was nominated for a BAFTA Film Award for Best Animated Film in 1971. This was the last animated short film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios to win an Academy Award, until Paperman in 2013.
In the short, a red bird explains how birds have contributed to human culture, even as people often try to kill them. He claims this may be because humans were jealous that birds could fly but people cannot, mentioning the legend of Icarus and films of early unsuccessful flying machines.
In D-TV Disney in the 1980s, clips from this short were set to Bobby Day's cover of "Rockin' Robin".