The Mother Robin is a character featured in the 1933 Silly Symphony short Birds in the Spring.
Background[]
Otto's mother is an adult robin living with her husband and three children - consisting of Otto and his two sisters. She has yellow coloration located on her head between his eyes as well as being located on his neck as well as a pale light brown ruffle on his torso resembling his son's plumage. Despite her happy personality with her three children born, she often becomes worried when danger occurs such as when Otto wanders far away from home or whenever there are hornets passing by her family's nest.
Appearances[]
Birds in the Spring[]
The mother robin is first seen sitting on her nest where she is worried that neither of her three children have hatched yet. Just as she knocks on some of her eggs, she finds out that they are not ready to hatch yet, which her husband feels worried that the eggs are taking a while for them to hatch. Suddenly, all three hatchlings begin to hatch from their eggs. After they hatch, the mother robin and her husband happily react to see their adorable children while the father tells all the other birds to meet their adorable children - consisting of Otto and his two sisters. Shortly later, the father robin conducts his children, teaching them to sing while his wife happily watches them sing. As the hatchlings sing together, Otto's father conducts his children while Otto's mother happily enjoys their singing; however, Otto's father becomes frustrated with his son for singing off-key and singing with a bee that he swallowed (which he later spat out).
After a singing lesson, Otto's father teaches his children how to fly like an adult bird independently; Otto's mother and father are excited to see their children fly for the first time, only for them to fall. Otto's mother and father both use a nest to protect their children from falling, except for Otto who lands on a patch of mushrooms. Worried that Otto is not home, Otto's mother is worried that Otto is not present in the nest, so Otto's father decides to look for his son exploring the world around him in a carefree manner.
Later, when Otto is chased by a swarm of hornets, his parents and sisters notice him who is in danger as Otto's father comes to the rescue and saves his son from the hornets just as Otto and his family hide under their nest to avoid getting stung. After the hornets pass by, Otto walks out of the nest, much to his mother's worry that her son would get into more dangerous but not before her husband scolds him for wandering too far away.
Other appearances[]
Archived footage from Birds in the Spring was used in the song "Let's All Sing Like the Birdies Sing" in the Disney's Sing-Along Songs volume Fun with Music.
Trivia[]
- During the part where the hornets pass by the robins' nest, Otto's mother briefly has a yellow coloration on her head between her eyes with a red ruffle just like her husband as a result of an animation error. However, after the hornets pass through, her colors briefly turn red again