For International Owl Awareness Day: A Parliament of Owls

For International Owl Awareness Day (August 4), we add to our growing store of animal themed posts with a survey of famous owl mascots and screen characters.

The association of owls with wisdom in Western European culture goes at least as far back as the Greeks, who associated owls with Athena, who was among other things the Goddess of Wisdom. (The Romans did same with Minerva, their Athena-equivalent). As Athena was also the Goddess of Athens itself, it’s speculated that her identification with the bird may also have to do with the proliferation of that branch of the avian tree in the area around the city. There is a quality of vigilance that the owl seems to have — sitting on its perch, watching over things, which makes the creature a perfect emblem for a polity. He’s monitoring things, he’s keeping things safe, he’ll alert us if something bad happens during the night. But the roots of myth and lore surrounding the bird in European culture are surely older than Greece. And of course nearly every culture in the world has its own traditional folk beliefs about the owl, less applicable to the history of mainstream American popular culture.

We anthropomorphize owls of course. They look sage and contemplative and philosophical, but are surely not smarter than parrots or crows, which have proven themselves to be unsettlingly clever. But owls are indeed remarkable for all sorts of reasons, e.g., their sharp night vision, their head-turning capacity, and their distinctive call.

Here are some examples of familiar owl representations I felt like writing about. Know of some others? I encourage you to write about them on your own blog, and don’t bother me none about it!

White Owl Cigars (1887)

Look, they must be okay — the Bambino smokes em! And apparently so does his wife?

Wise Potato Chips (1921)

The company was founded by a deli owner named Earl Wise. The adoption of the owl logo was inspired by his name. I’d love to be able to include Bert Lahr here, but he did commercials for Lay’s Potato Chips, not Wise. But see? I mentioned him anyway.

Owl Jolson (1936)

This characters from the 1936 Warner Brothers cartoon short I Love to Singa is a tribute to two Al Jolson movies, also released by Warner Brothers: The Jazz Singer (1927), from which it takes its plot, and The Singing Kid (1936), which was surely the immediate inspiration for the cartoon, and was definitely the source of the Yip Harburg–Harold Arlen song referenced in the title. (In The Singing Kid, it is performed by Jolson, Cab Calloway, and The Yacht Club Boys. The short also contains references to Major Bowes Amateur Hour and to Jack Benny. Directed by Tex Avery, it’s one of the most charming and adorable of classic cartoon shorts. The Owl Jolson character is played as a little boy — he’s not obnoxious like his namesake.

Owl (1926/1966)

This character was originally created by A.A. Milne in the first Winnie the Pooh book in 1926. The wider, non-reading public may know him best from the Disney film versions, which began 40 years later. Though respected as an counselor in the stories, like the other characters, he spells things wrong and gets facts wrong, which this fallible blogger finds to be a trait eminently endearing and forgivable.

Dr. Blinky (1969)

This character on the kid’s show H.R. Pufnstuf was voiced by Walker Edmiston to sound like Ed Wynn. He is a sort of “foolish professor” type, abstracted, silly, book-smart but impractical. For this reason, the other characters on Living Island are reluctant to place themselves under his medical care.

Charlie (1972-77)

Character on the syndicated kids show The New Zoo Revue. More than any other I’m aware of, this one goes all in on the “wise” thing, with the graduation cap, starched collar. The other two characters on the show, Freddy the Frog and Henrietta Hippo were grating simpletons, however, so, as they say, in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

Bubo (1981)

Among the many WTF features of the 1981 movie Clash of the Titans was an anachronistic seeming mechanical owl character. The rational was that Zeus (Laurence Olivier) wanted Athena (Susan Fleetwood) to lend her owl to Perseus (Harry Hamlin) for his mission. Instead, she has Hephaestus (Pat Roach) make a robot substitute. The owl and several other creatures in the film were animated by stop-motion wizard Ray Harryhausen.

The Staircase Murderer (2001)

I am a strong proponent of the “owl theory” in the case of the Kathleen Peterson murder. Her husband Michael Peterson is a sketchy and unlikable dude, but I honestly do think this freak explanation explains the Durham murder case better than any other. For those who don’t follow such things, I refer you to The Staircase, both the 2004 French documentary series and the 2022 HBO dramatization with Colin Firth and Toni Collette, and also The Staircase Murders (2007), the Lifetime film with Treat Williams, Samaire Armstrong, and Kevin Pollak. I’m kind of obsessed.

Duolingo (2011-)

Yes, I know it isn’t the best, but I contend that it can be a useful piece of your language learning puzzle, just like sugar-sweetened cereals can be a “part of a nutritious breakfast”. I became addicted during the Covid lockdown, and I strongly object to the pills who claim the app is worthless. Ce n’est certainement pas le cas.

Ah, ma chouette!