The Early Worm Gets the Bird

The Early Worm Gets the Bird
Production company	Leon Schlesinger Productions
Distributor	Warner Bros. Pictures; The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date	January 13, 1940
Run time	7:49
Starring	Mel Blanc; Sara Berner
Music composed by	Carl W. Stalling
Story by	Jack Miller
Animation	Robert Cannon
Director(s)	Fred Avery
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The Early Worm Gets the Bird is the one hundred and fortieth Merrie Melodies theatrical short. It was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Vitaphone Corporation on January 13, 1940. It was written by Jack Miller, produced by Leon Schlesinger, and directed by Tex Avery.

Detailed summary

Legend
Character debut	Speaking debut	Ep. debut	No lines	Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character	Actor
Ms. Blackbird	Sara Berner
Willie	Mel Blanc

The music was composed by Carl W. Stalling.

Dates are in order of release:

United States: January 13, 1940 in theatres; October 2, 1943 (first reissue); November 29, 1952 (second reissue)

The title is a play on "the early bird gets the worm." You're welcome.
It was reissued twice; once during the 1943-44 season, and another in the 1952-53 season.
This short fell in the public domain in 1969, due to United Artists (it's then-recent copyright owners) failing to renew the rights at the time.
It has not aired on American television since the 1960s due to its use of Black stereotypes, though it's officially not part of the "Censored Eleven."