Bob Wickersham

Woodman, Spare That Tree

Bob Wickersham

The Fox, a lumberjack, sets off to chop down his daily tree. He decides on the Crow's but the Crow is determined to save his home. He tries appealing to the Fox's sympathies with poetry and singing but the Fox pays no heed. After agreeing to let the Crow move out his possessions first (getting the Fox crushed by an elevator and piano in the process), the Fox sets to work chopping the tree. The Crow removes the blade from his axe so the Fox then uses a saw which the Crow uses to propel the fox into orbit. Next he tries bashing down the tree with an elephant but the Crow scares the pachyderm away with a toy mouse. Finally, the Fox plans to crash a train into the tree but it turns out the tree is petrified (or is it?).

Concerto in B Flat Minor

Bob Wickersham

With Tschaikowsky's music on the sound track, this parody of long-hair, temperamental orchestra conductors and concert pianists is a long string of sight gags. The pianist has a new hair-do in every scene he is in, all designed to help him see the piano. One fat musician nonchalantly wanders in in the midst of the concert, takes off his hat, coat, muffler and gloves, unpacks his instrument, a triangle, hits one note, repacks, puts on his gloves, muffler, coat and hat, and goes home.

Willoughby's Magic Hat

Bob Wickersham

Delilah knits the hair from Samson into a hat. The hat gives its wearer super strength: Hercules, Samson, and in the modern day, the nebbishy Willoughby Wren. Willoughby decides he needs to put this power to good use, and sets about rescuing a fair maiden who is being menaced by a giant evil robot. The problem is, his hat keeps falling off at inopportune moments.

Toll Bridge Troubles

Bob Wickersham

Frank Graham

The fox is gaily driving down the highway on his motor-scooter. The Crow, using his "Sucker Detector", spots the Fox as an obvious sucker. He goes to work disguising a free public bridge as a "toll bridge" passing himself off as the toll man. The fox doesn't want to pay the two dollars and attempts to cross to the other side without paying. He tries going across on a raft but the crow attaches it to an anchor. He tries using a "roller-coaster" ramp but the crow detaches it. Lastly, he tries driving underwater using an oxygen tank but the Crow replaces it with a helium tank sending the Fox skyward. Finally, the fox pays the $2.00 at which point the Crow reveals himself, yelling, "Sucker!"... but Foxy gets even.

Tree for Two

Bob Wickersham

Frank Graham

The Fox is a tree surgeon, who provides his services to the weather-beaten old tree the Crow calls home and doesn't want fixed.

Mysto-Fox

Bob Wickersham

A Fox & Crow animated short. In this one, Mysto-Fox puts out a sign in front of the carnival for a rabbit audition. Guess who applies.

Plenty Below Zero

Bob Wickersham

Frank Graham

This entry in Columbia's "Fox and Crow" series (production number 5006) finds the Crow staying north instead of flying south for the winter, and steals his food from the Fox's meager supply.

Way Down Yonder in the Corn

Bob Wickersham

The fox, determined to keep the Crow away from his garden, reads a box, "How to Fox Crows", which explains, "Crows are allergic to scarecrows." So he offers to hire a scarecrow willing to take the job. The crow disguises himself as a scarecrow, is hired, and instantly devours the fox's entire farmyard crop and even gets the fox blown up in a dynamite trap. Later, the bandaged fox hears a radio broadcast saying the scarecrow he hired is really the crow and suggests he get even with the fowl. He disguises himself as "Sidney Scarecrow" and chases the crow to an amusement park where they eventually make up.

Room and Bored

Bob Wickersham

Fox has a furnished apartment which he desires to rent to a nice, quiet, respectable citizen like himself, and he especially wants no riff-raff tenant. What he wants and what he gets are two different things as along comes Crow with his own furnishings and decides to move in. Crow proceeds to make himself at home by tossing out Fox's fine furniture and fixings' and brings in his own junk, including a player piano, a juke box and a set of drums, all of which the jitter-bugging Crow plays all night. The Fox tries to evict him the next morning, but the crow simulates a raging snowstorm outside his window and the soft-hearted landlord allows him to stay. And then, although it is mid-July and hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk, Fox hustles down to the basement and starts shoveling coal into the furnace.

Phoney Baloney

Bob Wickersham

Frank Graham, Harry Lang

A $5,000 reward is put out for the capture of a notorious wolf. Two of the wanted posters are put on the trees where the Fox and the Crow live. When they see the posters, each thinks the other is the wanted one, and they try to capture each other for the reward money. After many attempts, they end up at a police station where their mistake is pointed out to them. They then punish themselves profusely for making the error. Re-released theatrically in 1956.

Be Patient, Patient

Bob Wickersham

The Fox is overweight and his doctor has put him on a light diet, which lasts only until the Fox arrives home hungry and prepares himself a large meal. The Crow, hungry as usual, decides to throw a fright into the Fox and get the meal for himself. The Crow does such a good job that the Fox imagines that he himself is dead.

Mr. Moocher

Bob Wickersham

Frank Graham

While doing their respective yardwork, the fox and crow (next-door neighbors) overhear a radio broadcast encouraging everyone to "love thy neighbor". The fox concludes, "I'm going to love my neighbor... if it kills me!" The crow tends to make a nuisance of himself as he borrows the fox's lawn mower and destroys it. Next, he borrows everything in sight the fox owns for an upcoming "Birthday" (at which point, the fox destroys his radio). The fox installs a security system but the crow still arrives at his house through an underground route. Finally, the fox travels to the Southwestern U.S. desert planting his home atop a high rock pillar... but the crow still returns. At this point, the fox freaks out borrowing something from the crow... "Some feathers 'cause I wanna be an Indian!". The naked crow concludes that the fox is "a mental case".

A-Hunting We Won't Go

Bob Wickersham

The crow is hunting for a fox as there is a $15.00 bounty on fox furs. Meanwhile, the fox discovers there is a $15.00 bounty on crow pelts and eventually the two discover each other. After introducing themselves, the crow gets wise and measures the fox head to toe to discover his "worth". The crow then tricks the fox into dancing until he's cornered against a wall while the crow gets ready to fire his musket. The crow finds out, however, that fox furs become worthless when riddled with buckshot so he runs to get a club instead. While he gets the club, the fox steals his musket and chases the crow with it, eventually cornering HIM against a tree and gets ready to fire. The crow, however, decides to take it like a man and the touched fox just doesn't have the heart to pull the trigger... or does he?

Song of Victory

Bob Wickersham

Bill Thompson

A vulture, a gorilla and a hyena (“with no small resemblances to actual dictators”) bully the woodland animals, who eventually fight back, using the letter V as their victory symbol.

Wolf Chases Pigs

Bob Wickersham

In this Columbia cartoon version of The Three Little Pigs, the wolf and the pigs have joined the army with the pigs becoming sergeants and the wolf's superior.

Cockatoos for Two

Bob Wickersham

Stan Freberg, Cal Howard

Story of a pigeon who takes the place of a rare bird delivered to be eaten by a Peter Lorre character.