| Lambert the Sheepish Lion | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Jack Hannah |
| Story by | Bill Peet Ralph Wright Milt Banta |
| Produced by | Walt Disney |
| Starring | Clarence Nash Jimmy MacDonald The Jon Conlon Singers[1] |
| Narrated by | Sterling Holloway |
| Music by | Joseph Dubin |
| Animation by | Eric Larson John Lounsbery Don Lusk Judge Whitaker |
| Layouts by | Yale Gracey |
| Backgrounds by | Ray Huffine |
| Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 8:15 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Lambert the Sheepish Lion is aDisneyanimatedshort film that was released in 1952.[2] It was directed byJack Hannah.
Astork (the same stork fromDumbo) delivers a flock of newbornlambs to their expectant mothers, but finds that he had mistakenly brought along alion named Lambert (apparently misinterpreting its name), which was supposed to go toSouth Africa; one of the mother sheep, who was heartbroken at not receiving a lamb, forcefully demands the stork leave Lambert with her.
Lambert lives his life thinking he is a sheep, but is ostracized by his peers for being and acting different; he is also defenseless against the other lambs' head-butts. One night, a hungrywolf (the same wolf from the "Peter and the Wolf" segment fromMake Mine Music), attacks the flock. At first timid like the other sheep, Lambert's lion instincts kick in when the wolf corners Lambert's mother; with an aggressive roar, Lambert butts the wolf off a ledge.
Thereafter, the now-adult Lambert is wholeheartedly accepted by the other sheep as one of the flock and the narrator tells us to not worry about that wolf, which hangs precariously from a bush—the berries on the bush will sustain him.
The voice of the narrator and the stork was provided by actor andDisney legendSterling Holloway.[3] Holloway was also the voice for the stork inDumbo, in which the character plays a very similar role in the plot. Uncredited roles includeJune Foray, who made the sounds of the sheep, Lambert's sheep mother and Lambert's purrs and growls, andStan Freberg, who voiced Lambert's only spoken line, "Mama!"
In 1952, the film was nominated for anAcademy Award in the categoryBest Short Subject, Cartoons but lost toThe Two Mouseketeers, aTom and Jerry cartoon which shared one of 7 Oscars for theTom and Jerry series. A picture book adaptation for children was also released in the 1970s as part of the "Disney's Wonderful World of Reading" series.
It has been claimed the original print of the film was given as a gift to EmperorHirohito ofJapan because it was his favorite Disney cartoon, but there is no source to this claim.
The short aired as a prelude to Disney'sThe Lion King when originally released on the big screen in some countries. In the late 1980s it was seen onNBC television as a prelude to the network's prime-time airing ofDumbo, likely because of the presence of the stork character in both films.
The short was released on December 6, 2005, onWalt Disney Treasures: Disney Rarities - Celebrated Shorts: 1920s–1960s.[4]
Additional releases include:
