The Sissy Duckling

The Sissy Duckling is a 1999 animated short film about a duckling named Elmer ( voiced by Harvey Fierstein, who also wrote this) who is ostracized by his flock for being what his father refers to as a "sissy". Or, to be blunt, obviously gay.

The film adopts a fairly typical approach in that eventually circumstances work out in such a way that - due to his actions during a crisis - the flock accepts Elmer as he is, but that predictability doesn't detract from what a terrific idea this is.

There's genuine value in a program that helps younger viewers who may have questions about themselves understand there's nothing wrong with not being like everyone else. In addition to incorporating messaging about acceptance and self respect, The Sissy Duckling admirably addresses the power of words when they're weaponized. It also isn't shy about depicting bullying and associated violence.

Unfortunately, none of that really matters because this movie makes some inexplicably critical narrative errors right out of the gate which undermine the intent and from which it never fully recovers.

The first is a supporting character we see being hatched at the same time as Elmer to a neighboring duck. The character is clearly meant to be developmentally disabled and the story repeatedly targets him for ridicule, including moments where even Elmer condescends to him. It's kind of hard to take a message of acceptance seriously when in the same breath the film is telling us homophobia is wrong, it gleefully mocks a character with a mental disability. Even worse, having nothing to say about this character, the story eventually has him fall in with the bullies. The hypocrisy at play here is grotesque.

The other big issue is Elmer himself. There's no kind way to frame this: He's a jerk. He's hyper-critical and condescending. His first scene has him berating the narrator (Sharon Stone) with an angry rant because she chose the word "different" rather than "unique".

Since the idea here is to direct this at younger viewers, I have to filter my review through a perspective of what the story is saying to kids, begging the question of what Fierstein and crew hoped to say with this scene? That kids should angrily demand everyone cultivate their speech at all times to avoid potentially offending someone and, should that person innocently employ a word as innocuous as "different", it's acceptable to publicly chastise them over it?

A better approach would have been to suggest kids wear the label "different" with pride and embrace it. It's not as if the word is a slur. It can be transformed into a source of personal power.

As presented, this program suggests it's okay to be over sensitive and expect everyone around us to walk on eggshells for fear of crossing some boundary , whether it's intentional or not. It's a terrible message, one the film unfortunately doubles down on in the closing moments.

If you're going to tell a story like this, the protagonist has to be sympathetic. Aside from the bizarre decision to mock the mentally challenged, the biggest detriment to The Sissy Duckling is the audience will likely spend much of the time early on thinking that the flock wouldn't like Elmer even if he were a typical alpha male, which makes it more difficult to invest in the character when he really does begin to be specifically targeted by harassing behavior.

The animation is good enough and it doesn't overstay it's welcome. I enjoyed the vocal work and there's also a really entertaining moment - my favorite in the film- when Elmer breaks into a song , proudly declaring he's comfortable being who he is.

That's about the highest praise I can give this.

It's a great concept, but in execution The Sissy Duckling is a swing and a miss.

Guy Gilchrist published a "Silly Shape Book" in 1989 titled "Strummer, the One-of-a-Kind Duck." I've always loved it and have thought it should be made into a production of some sort, and last night saw "The Sissy Duckling" on HBO. WOW! I liked it. It expanded on the theme of the small board book, but the music was sweet and the voices were great. All children should grow up knowing the lesson of these stories. Hurray for the self esteem builders!

I have to say I totally loved the movie. It had it's funny moments, some heartwarming parts, just all around good. Me, personally, really liked the movie because it's something that finally i can relate to my childhood. This movie, in my opinion, is geared more towards the young gay population. It shows how a young gay boy would be treated while growing up. All the taunting, name-calling, and not knowing is something I, like most other young feminine boys, will always remember, and now finally a movie that illustrates how hard it really is to grow up gay. So, I would definitely recommend seeing this movie. Probably shouldn't really watch it until a person is old and mature enough to understand it

I've been watching a lot of cartoon or animated movies because I have a baby girl who likes to watch TV. I began to watch this movie to see if I would like my little one to watch it... and no. At the beginning I thought it was such a cute movie like the Bambi movie, but all the way it was like insinuating the ducky was a homosexual. The info said that they were making fun of him because he wasn't good at sports, but that was not the case. It just seems like a movie made for kids to learn to be okay being gay. It was also very sad, as far as the ducky's dad and all. I don't know, I guess if you're gay you'd like it, but I don't think I'm going to watch it again with my little one.

I saw this by accident one lazy summer afternoon. It was playing on the family programming channel of HBO. At first I was drawn in, by what I thought was a Disney animation. But then, after a few minutes, I found myself searching for the remote, so I could find the 'INFO BUTTON', to find out what in the world was on my TV. I have nothing against Harvey F., I enjoy him in many of his films, but one thing he is not, is a voice-over artist. Sure he has one of the more unique voices in Hollywood, but it works only as a part of a bigger visual package. Attaching his voice to a cute duck made watching somewhat difficult. As for the rest of the cast, uninspired. I suppose working on this film didn't appeal to the really good voice over talent out there.

So, weak voice talent, strong animation...who was this film targeting? Gay adolescent ducks? I don't get it. Is there really such a dearth of role-models for young up and coming homosexuals, that we must resort to animated ducks? Cute story, and like the title, this movie I found hard to love, just like an ugly duckling.