Release Date : February 8, 1952
Running Time : 8:18
The short even acknowledges it's kinship with "Dumbo" in it's beginning, with the stork delivering babies. This time, instead of elephants though, he's delivering lambs to a certain flock. The lambs are instructed each to pick out the Momma sheep they like best, which they do; each passing by one particular momma. But there is one baby left: Lambert, who picks the rejected Momma sheep as his. The Momma is overjoyed, and refuses to give up Lambert, even when informed that he's actually supposed to be delivered to the jungle.
Growing up, Lambert realizes that he might be a little different from the rest of the flock. As the song says, he "can't even baa" or "can't even bleat." He's hopelessly outmatched at the sheep games: too shy and sheepish to be too agressive. (Do I detect shades of "Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer?") But time passes and eventually after a few months the sheep reach their adolescence, and Lambert reaches his full lionhood, still as shy as ever. His Momma couldn't be more proud.
And it's a good thing, because unbeknownst to the flock, there is a hungry wolf watching carefully closeby. When it tries to drag away Lambert's mom, something snaps inside him. He suddenly becomes territorial and ferocious, attacking the wolf, rescuing his mom, and becoming the envy of the flock. And the wolf? Well, we won't worry about him as he has plenty of food on the branch that he is hanging onto from the side of a cliff. At least for a short time.
1) The obvious pride Lambert's "mother" shows in having such an enormous "lamb".
2) The wolf's face when he first sees Lambert.
3) After discovering his Lion-Roots and trapping the wolf at the end of a log over-hanging a cliff. He roars ferociously and lunges at the cowering wolf only to head-butt the hapless wolf off the log. (Priceless)
The rest, I agree is quite ordinary/standard for Disney but even now thinking of these three scenes I'm smiling to myself.
Even lately I'd asked friends if they remember Lambert the Sheepish Lion, and people thought I was making up stories. ... then I sang part of the song to them... then they'd all laugh when I'd do the... LLLaaaammbert part. Most would remember at the point. Then my husband stumbled across this site, and had to let me know right away.
Reminds me of how much fun you can still have amongst this chaotic world. Disney's fun for all ages!
On a personal note, Lambert is my favorite cartoon (though I've only seen it a few times years ago) and I still get goose-bumps when he finally roars at the end!
This is a great cartoon for shy people -- young or not-so-young. It teaches that there's a brave, "raging, roaring lion" in each of us, no matter who we are or where we came from.
I give this cartoon highest ratings. It is a classic in every sense of the word, and it never gets old.
I'm 26 now and that tune still pops up now and then in my mind. I think I may even go so far as to say that that story, along with a slew of others, inspired me to pursue my interest in animals and pursue a wildlife degree. I love it. Thanks Lambert!
I am 61 and saw this cartoon as a young man. My wife and son have never seen the cartoon and do not believe it could be as good as I think it is. The expression on the face of the wolf when Lambert roars has stuck with me all these years.
Review after review on this site notes strangely intense reactions like mine. Why? Perhaps because many children, like Lambert, are born into irrelevant and often cruel societies that have no use for them. Such a child might well identify with Lambert, and draw secret hope from Lambert's remarkable breakthrough. No, that isn't an original concept, but rarely if ever has it been presented in a way so well attuned to a child's way of thinking.
In adult terms, Lambert introduced me to the intuition that I might be more than a blank slate on which the whole of truth had been carved by others. That oneself might be more than one's society accepts in a person is a rather subversive concept, but such ideas are embedded in many of Disney's works. Roger Waters, Saki in Sredni Vashtar, and Rowling in Harry Potter explore similar themes.