The Legend of Rockabye Point is a 1955

1955 in film

The year 1955 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* November 3 - The musical Guys and Dolls, starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra, debuts.* June 27 - The last ever Republic serial, King of the Carnival, is released....

 Chilly Willy

Chilly Willy

Chilly Willy is a cartoon character, a diminutive anthropomorphic penguin living in Alaska, although the species is native only to the southern hemisphere. He was created by Paul J. Smith for the Walter Lantz studio in 1953...

 cartoon directed by Tex Avery

Tex Avery

Frederick Bean "Fred/Tex" Avery was an American animator, cartoonist, voice actor and director, famous for producing animated cartoons during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. He did his most significant work for the Warner Bros...

 and produced by Walter Lantz

Walter Lantz

Walter Benjamin Lantz was an American cartoonist, animator, film producer, and director, best known for founding Walter Lantz Productions and creating Woody Woodpecker.-Early years and start in animation:...

. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Animated Short Film

Academy Award for Animated Short Film

The Academy Award for Animated Short Film is an award which has been given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as part of the Academy Awards every year since the 5th Academy Awards, covering the year 1931-32, to the present....

, but lost to Speedy Gonzales

Speedy Gonzales (film)

Speedy Gonzales is a 1955 Merrie Melodies animated short directed by Friz Freleng from a story by Warren Foster. It is the second cartoon to feature the title character, but the first one to feature Speedy in his current design...

.

Plot

An old sailor tells the legend of a starving polar bear

Polar Bear

The polar bear is a bear native largely within the Arctic Circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear, together with the omnivorous Kodiak Bear, which is approximately the same size...

 (Maxie) who attempted to steal food but kept running into a vicious guard dog

Dog

The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...

. To placate the beast, the bear must sing "Rock-A-Bye Baby

Rock-a-bye Baby

Rock-a-bye Baby is a nursery rhyme and lullaby. The melody is a variant of the English satirical ballad Lilliburlero. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 2768.-Lyrics:...

" to him to make him nod off which served as running gag

Running gag

A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling....

. Unfortunately the dog wakes quickly at the slightest noise, and is cranky. The dog eventually chases the bear up a tall mountain. At the end of the picture the sailor says if you listen carefully you can to this day still hear the lullaby at night. Indeed, at the peak the pair stand—both very old and grey now—with the bear holding the dog tenderly and singing "Rock-A-Bye Baby".