I ordered the Animaland disc off of NetFlix, and watching the Cuckoo short, thought something off with the ending. I could've sworn I'd seen a version before that continued a bit longer and had a darker ending (I think he swallows the sparrow bird?), but on the disc the Cuckoo bird just swallows the stew pot and then a clearly post-release ending card fades in - even as the soundtrack continues to play, complete with additional sound effects.
Does anyone know whether this is definitely the original ending? Am I mistaken in thinking it's been cut? Does anyone know of any other releases of the cartoon with the "real" ending? If I did see an alternate ending somewhere, it was on TCM's "Cartoon Alley".
Thanks.
The only version I've seen of it is posted online on Thad K's Animation ID blog :
The Cuckoo
It has the same ending you describe. One of the comments on Thad's blog says that the original ending continued past the Cuckoo swallowing the cauldron to show "the cuckoo trying to squeeze through a hole and gets stuck; "The End" appears on his rear."
"EustaceScrubb" has left the building
Odd that they'd cut such an innocent ending - I assumed it would have to be a bit more outlandish to deserve the edit. Anyway, thanks for clearing that up, Applefrittersmightytasty.
Brilliant work in these Animaland shorts! A shame the studio lasted only a few years.