30 Awesome Movie Birds
Feathery delights
Up (2009)
The Movie Bird: Kevin, a big bird based on the male Himalayan monal pheasant.
The Awesome: He’s a BFB – that’s 'big friendly bird' to you and I – and possesses a winning penchant for cheekiness (see his initial chocolate thievery).
Also, he’s got the nattiest multi-coloured feathers this side of Joseph's technicolour dreamcoat. And he's called Kevin. Which frankly is the best name we've ever heard for a bird.
If We Had To Cook Them: We’d be able to feed a family of five for a week.
The Crow (1994)
The Movie Bird: Funnily enough, a black crow that shares its name with a returned-from-the-dead avenger-guitarist named Eric.
The Awesome: As legend tells it, crows are blessed with the power to return a soul to its body even after a person has died.
Which is exactly what this crow does for Eric, whose fiancée has been murdered by druggy thugs. Crow slow-mo never looked so beautiful.
If We Had To Cook Them: We wouldn’t dare.
Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert (1994)
The Movie Bird: Three very tall, glittery ostriches.
The Awesome: Okay, they’re not real birds, but inanimate costumes worn by performing drag queens Tick, Bernadette and Adam.
But there’s no denying the detail is amazing – not to mention the audacity of such outlandish stage garb.
If We Had To Cook Them: These are rather better suited to table placings than actual food.
The Little Mermaid (1989)
The Movie Bird: A seagull, this one called Scuttle.
The Awesome: An adorable nincompoop, Scuttle likes to think he’s ever-so educated when it comes to human affairs.
Sign up for the Total Film Newsletter
Bringing all the latest movie news, features, and reviews to your inbox
Instead, his attempts to explain the use for items that mergirl Ariel fishes out of shipwrecks are completely off the mark – but admirably inventive.
If We Had To Cook Them: He should come with a side of crab.
The Birds (1963)
The Movie Bird: A menagerie of different types, though mostly evil-looking black ones.
The Awesome: Thanks to an unexplained phenomena, the birds in a small California town all become homicidal maniacs, killing the town’s residents in various gory ways.
If We Had To Cook Them: We’d have to survive their pecking little beaks first. But a nice pie would probably serve them well, with lots of sugar to balance out their bitter evil after taste.
The Jungle Book (1967)
The Movie Bird: A quartet of opportunistic, flesh-eating vultures.
The Awesome: Because, yes, they really are based on The Beatles. Funny Northern accents, a grumpy one, a funky one, a sociable one and one with a really cool crop...
Plus, they do like to harmonise just a little bit.
If We Had To Cook Them: They’d no doubt be really stringy and tasteless.
Black Swan (2010)
The Movie Bird: The titular black swan.
The Awesome: Not just any swan, this dark beauty is an anthropomorphic crossbreed of a ballet dancer and a bird.
Also, clearly, it’s all a figment of the dancer’s fractured psyche as she transforms into the role she’s attempting to wrangle. Looks stunning, though.
If We Had To Cook Them: She’d taste seriously bitter. Best with lots of cinammon and apple sauce - that tends to overpower the tang of crazy.
Kes (1969)
The Movie Bird: Kes, a pet falcon.
The Awesome: Kes is a ray of sunshine in young Billy Casper’s rather bleak and miserable life.
Pre-destined to become a coal miner and bullied at home and at school, Billy tames Kes and the feathery one becomes his best (and only) friend.
If We Had To Cook Them: We’d serve him on a platter to owner Billy. Fnar.
The Rescuers (1977)
The Movie Bird: Albatross Orville, who aids agents Bernard and Miss Bianca in their quest to rescue a little girl from evil Madame Medusa.
The Awesome: Impressive wingspan, very professional goggles and an endearingly goofy disposition. Just what we like in our pilots.
If We Had To Cook Them: We’d have to gag him first – sheesh he likes to talk.
Home Alone 2: Lost In New York (1992)
The Movie Bird: Just your common collection of grubby New York pigeons.
The Awesome: They’re the wild-as-the-wind pets of a Central Park-dwelling tramp lady, and are pivotal in helping young tearaway Kevin McAllister escape wayward goons Harry and Marv.
If We Had To Cook Them: We’d serve them to our worst enemies. Who knows what kind of diseases they’re harbouring.
Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.
The Inside Out 2 panic attack scene is one of the best depictions of anxiety ever – and something Pixar director Kelsey Mann is incredibly proud of: "I couldn't be happier"
There was "no version" of Sonic 3 that wouldn't include Live and Learn according to director Jeff Fowler: "The fans would hunt me down"