Title Card with Beaky Buzzard and Leo the Lion
The Lion's Busy is a seven minute Looney Tunes cartoon released in 1950 by Friz Freleng. It features Leo The Lion and Beaky Buzzard.
The title is another play on a telephone line, as with the earlier entry, Hold the Lion, Please.
Leo the Lion (who previously had appeared in Hold the Lion, Please) returns, however Leo talks with a Scottish accent.
Synopsis
Leo the Lion and his friends are celebrating his tenth birthday during which he reads a book he receives from Beaky that lions generally do not live longer than ten years. The ensuing animated sequence centers around Beaky attempting to eat the lion, regardless of the fact that he has not yet died. In conclusion, Leo takes a rocket to the moon where Beaky is waiting for him. Leo then traps himself in a cave for many years, and by the time he agrees to surrender to Beaky, both he and Beaky have both become so old that they can only eat marshmallows.
Trivia
- This is the only cartoon to pair the dimwit characters Beaky Buzzard and Leo Lion. This cartoon however proves Leo to be dumber than Beaky. Beaky appears to be much smarter in this cartoon than in his earlier outings, and seems to move incredibly fast (asking Leo "What kept ya?" when the lion arrives on the moon, presumably having outrun the buzzard).
- This is the only Beaky Buzzard cartoon directed by Friz Freleng.
- Bugs Bunny makes a cameo as a background character with other jungle animals in the beginning; here in this case his head has been superimposed on a small grey rabbit's body.
Availability
The Lion's Busy is available with its original titles restored on Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2.
Gallery
Video
The Lion's Busy