Walky Talky Hawky (1946)

. . . for the first time in their local Chinese eatery remark, "It tastes like chicken." After gnawing off Evander Holyfield's ear in their heavyweight boxing bout, Michael Tyson observed, "It tasted like chicken." Asked what kind of taste eating crow left in his mouth as he watched Middle Tennessee cut down the nets after triumphing over his Michigan State Spartan Hoopsters, a squad he was touting as the sure national champs in the run-up to March Madness 2016, MSU star Denzel Valentine croaked, "Sort of like chicken." Whenever humans bite into fowl-tasting things, their initial thought is that "This tastes just like chicken!" That's why Col. Sanders' 57 secret ingredients are carefully selected to insure that KFC's namesake dish NEVER tastes like chicken! WALKY TALKY HAWKY's title character, Henery Hawk, decides that the tail of the dog that bit him--or even horse meat--are more desirable fates than tasting chicken. It's small wonder that the term "chicken" is one of Western Civilization's most derisive insults, as it originated as an epithet directed at folks afraid to taste chicken!

One of my favorite cartoon characters and he brings his frenemies Barnyard Dog and Henery Hawk. "Walky Talky Hawky" is a 7-minute cartoon from 70 years ago that was made right after World War II and its success resulted in many more films with these characters. Director is McKimson, writer is Foster and voice actor is Mel Blanc of course, all very prolific for Warner Bros. This one may have lost the Oscar, but it was still a success. The story is about Foghorn tricking the chicken hawk into thinking that Barnyard Dog is actually the chicken, a storyline that has been used in other films as well with these characters. It was okay, even if some of the jokes were really just pure action with little comedic value. However, all in all, I felt it was a decent watch with a nice ending too that was actually funny. And you hear Foghorn making chicken sounds, which does not happen too often in these cartoons. I recommend the watch.

Foghorn Leghorn is not my favourite of the Looney Tunes characters. He is however a very funny one and one of their most distinctive(Pepe LePew probably gets the top spot on that front. Walky Talky Hawky was Foghorn and Henery Hawke's first cartoon, and while it's their first it's also one of their better ones. The animation is beautifully done, Foghorn is a little overweight here as he was in his early cartoons but the colours are vibrant with a good amount of depth and the backgrounds are fluid and detailed. The music has always been one of the main reasons why Foghorn's and Looney Tunes' (in general) cartoons score so well with me. It is lushly orchestrated, it is hugely energetic and very catchy and jazzy, it enhances the action so well and keeps you in a good mood throughout and afterwards. The writing would get wittier later on- as you'd expect for a first time there is the sense that it's trying to find its feet still, perfectly natural- but it is still very funny and fresh with the Foghorn series' writing style(ie. Foghorn's repetition and crazy similes) evident. The gags are clever and well timed. The two characters come off against each other very well, they're not at their best, their personalities got stronger as the series evolved, but they are still like the characters that we know. Mel Blanc does a great job, spot on as Foghorn as always and while he's fine as Henery there are times where he sounds as though he's experimenting with which voice he used before settling with a hybrid of Bugs Bunny, Speedy Gonzales and Tweety. In conclusion, a great promising start in introducing a character that is funny and sticks out from the crowd. 9/10 Bethany Cox

From director Robert McKimson comes "Walky Talky Hawky", a very good Foghorn Leghorn/Henery Hawk/Barnyard Dog cartoon. The plot? Henery's tummy craves a chicken, but Henery doesn't know what a chicken looks like! Foggy tries to persuade Henery that Barnyard is a chicken, and vice versa.Two scenes from "Walky Talky Hawky" that I especially like. First, after Barnyard crowns Foggy with a watermelon, he rushes back to his doghouse and feigns snoring; Foggy beats his behind and does the "Aaaaaah, shaddup!" bit. And second, Henery rings Barnyard's "doorbell" and the dog emerges from his house stepping in a jazzy rhythm (WHY, I don't know, but it's terrific) before getting caught in a series of booby traps.Watching "Walky Talky Hawky" recently reminded me of a 1980s television commercial for Kentucky Fried Chicken that featured Foghorn Leghorn and Henery Hawk. Henery tells Foggy in his nasally arrogant voice, "I'm a chicken hawk and you're a chicken! Now are you coming or do I have to muss you up?" Foggy then explains, "You've gotta go to Kentucky Fried Chicken if you want the world's best chicken!"