Singed Duck a la Sutherland

John Sutherland Productions produced some enjoyable animation during its lifetime, paying good money to get top people who had worked at other studios.

Here’s a neat little scene from later in the studio’s life called “A Missile Named Mac” (1962) made for Bell Labs. A coonskin-hatted hunter fires his rifle, nicking a duck casually sailing through the air in the butt. The duck isn’t happy. Here are some of the drawings.



Animation on this short is done on twos by Gerald Baldwin and Lefty Callahan. If the designs remind you of either UPA or Jay Ward, it’s because they’re by Bob Dranko, who worked at both studios. Baldwin was a Jay Ward vet as well, while Callahan went on to a long career at Hanna-Barbera, having assisted the funny Irv Spence at MGM in the ‘50s.