The Chicken of Tomorrow

Yes, it's easy to imagine that chickens have idealistic lives on farms. We know that in reality they get cramped into tiny spaces in which they can barely move their wings, while they get pumped full of hormones to make their breasts giant. "The Chicken of Tomorrow" looks ridiculous now that we know all this. So it makes perfect sense that "Mystery Science Theater 3000" tore the movie to shreds. The Satellite of Love crew has a lot of fun with the short.

Oh, and what I mean by my title is that the answer to that age-old question is a simple matter of understanding evolution. Birds evolved from dinosaurs. Therefore, the a dinosaur had to lay an egg one day, and out hatched a avian. It's really easy when you think about it.

The funny thing is....in spite of the title, my father worked with chickens so long, he actually got an allergy to chicken feathers, so he had to leave the business. but everything in here is pretty accurate. Dad worked on research for larger chickens and larger eggs. more bang for the buck. buck buck buck! yummmm. it's very dry! HAH ! but yawn. this short just goes on and on. true but boring. go find something else to w.atch. shown on both Turner Classics and Pluto channels.... yawn. did i mention that its b..o.r..i..n..g...

Oh my god. Too think I've seen it all, I then have the pleasure of seeing 'The Chicken Of Tomorrow'. Trust me, this film will take you off your feed for a week. Narrated by Lowell Thomas. It starts out by him intoning "Did you know that poultry is the nation's third largest crop" in such a way that it's hard to figure out whether he's very bored or very excited. And THEN, the fun starts as we see chickens, dead and spread eagled on the production line in the hundreds. The whole film is about the farmer's never ending quest to find a better chicken, and we see a contest to see who can make a better chicken. From incubations (with cross section of eggs during that process ewww) to the birth, to growth, to shipping to the processing plant (the chickens being thrown into cages is really hard to watch) and finally to it's assembly.. better make that disassembly line as we see shots of chirpy (excuse the pun) females merrily ripping out chicken guts. (no really, why are they smiling?) Finally, the judging takes place, (the chicken pieces all look the same). Lowell THomas says "Dressed White Hocks representing Mrs H W Lindhart of Chillicoffy, Missouri had the best skin texture, the least dark meat, and the best covering of fat." Were they talking about Mrs. Lindhart's chickens? Or Mrs. Lindhart? Thankfully, this movie ends, as we all gag. "Mmm. boy that makes me hungry!" A MUST see. But I'll probably won't see it again. :P

Lowell Friggin' Thomas narrated this? I never knew that before. I'm not really sure what the point of it is; I mean, except maybe farmers, what would the average American need to know about chickens? And why would Lowell Thomas - a pioneer in journalism and broadcasting, a world traveler who made T.E. Lawrence a household name - be involved in such a poultry. . . er, I mean PALTRY film? Next I'm gonna learn that Sir Alec Guinness narrated an instructional video for a British chimney sweeping service. . .

I saw this on MST3K, as I'm sure most everyone here did, and got a lot of laughs out of it. Eight stars for their effort.

This short documentary discuses life on a chicken farm in the late 1940's, showing off all the advances they had at the time to produce chickens and make chickens better. The narrator is obscenely cheerful and the pictures are quite boring. Not surprisingly, in the credits it says they consulted with some people from Texas A&M university. For those of you outside the Lone Star state, T A&M graduates are often the but of jokes saying they're not too bright. Skewered on MST3K for being bad, and rightly so. The feeble attempt at humor in the end falls flatter than a pancake.

Avoid this one unless you're watching the MST3K version.