The Crunch Bird: History and Key Facts

The Crunch Bird (El pájaro crujiente) is an animated short by Joe Petrovich, Len Maxwell, and Ted Petok. It won the 1971 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. The short revolves around a bird that has the ability to devour anything, and which acts on orders from its masters. Its new master accidentally instructs the bird to devour his own buttocks.

Joe Petrovich animated the cartoon. Len Maxwell provided the voices for the husband, wife, and pet shop owner. It was followed by the sequel Crunch Bird II in 1975. It is based on an old joke called "crunchy bird" which concludes in a similar way. The film softened the victim's fate by changing "crunchy bird, my eye" to "crunch bird, my ass", despite the language itself being coarser.

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