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Short animated comedy

Rocket-bye Baby (1956): Cast & Plot

Rocket-bye Baby (1956) movie poster

Rocket-bye Baby is a 1956 short animated comedy directed by Chuck Jones, starring Daws Butler as Narrator / Joe Wilbur / Capt. Schmideo / Lecturer (voice) (uncredited) and June Foray. It runs 7 minutes.

Rocket-bye Baby (1956) movie poster
Released
Runtime
7 min
Director
Chuck Jones
Genres
Animation , Sci-Fi , Comedy
Original language
English
After the credits
No No extra scene
The story

What Is Rocket-bye Baby About?

The premise of Rocket-bye Baby without spoilers. The whole story is in the plot summary further down.

A cosmic mix‑up swaps a Martian infant with an Earth baby. Joseph Wilbur and his wife must raise the clever, green‑skinned Martian as if he were their own child. When the alien boy constructs a spaceship and bolts, Wilbur races to retrieve him before the exchange with the Martian parents can be completed, hoping to get his son back.

Rocket-bye Baby Themes & Keywords

· 50 tags
  • 1950s
  • outer space
  • mars the planet
  • planet earth
  • alien on earth
  • waiting room
  • antenna
  • bee
  • husband wife relationship
  • baby carriage
  • old woman
  • income tax
+38 more
  • reference to albert einstein
  • genius
  • blueprint
  • reference to the theory of relativity
  • watching tv
  • t square
  • spaceship
  • rocket
  • letter
  • mix up
  • hotel
  • lecture
  • sleep
  • dream sequence
  • science magazine
  • earth
  • it was all a dream
  • nightmare
  • dream
  • man sleeps
  • magazine
  • space ship
  • man laughs
  • man crying
  • day
  • night
  • house
  • fatal fall off building
  • baby alien
  • cradle
  • baby extraterrestrial
  • city
  • model of the solar system
  • space alien
  • alphabet blocks
  • martian
  • baby
  • surrealism
Cast & crew

Rocket-bye Baby Cast & Characters

Daws Butler leads the cast as Narrator / Joe Wilbur / Capt. Schmideo / Lecturer (voice) (uncredited), with June Foray as Hospital P.A. / Martha Wilbur / Old Lady (voice) (uncredited). Directed by Chuck Jones.

  • Daws Butler as Narrator / Joe Wilbur / Capt. Schmideo / Lecturer (voice) (uncredited)
  • June Foray as Hospital P.A. / Martha Wilbur / Old Lady (voice) (uncredited)
Plot

Rocket-bye Baby Plot Summary

What happens in Rocket-bye Baby from start to finish, spoilers included, with a timeline of 11 key events. The opening is below; the full summary is a 4-minute read.

Spoilers ahead

The film opens with a vivid depiction of Mars and Earth, showing how close the two planets came during the summer of 1954. The narrator, voiced by Daws Butler, explains that this unusual proximity caused a “cosmic force disturbance,” leading to a bizarre baby switch: a baby destined for Earth was diverted to Mars, and conversely, a Martian baby was sent to Earth. This story unfolds visually through two comet-like bodies colliding and then diverging along different paths, one heading towards Earth and the other to Mars. The green comet, in particular, travels through Earth’s atmosphere, passing over numerous homes with strange-looking TV antennas before finally arriving inside a hospital.

Full summary

The whole story of Rocket-bye Baby, scene by scene

Read the full summary
Quiz

How Well Do You Know Rocket-bye Baby?

9 questions about the story, each with a hint if you get stuck. Pick an answer to see whether you were right.

Question 1 of 9

  1. Question 1: not answered
  2. Question 2: not answered
  3. Question 3: not answered
  4. Question 4: not answered
  5. Question 5: not answered
  6. Question 6: not answered
  7. Question 7: not answered
  8. Question 8: not answered
  9. Question 9: not answered

What planet is the baby originally destined for in Rocket-bye Baby?

Seen Rocket-bye Baby?

FAQ

Rocket-bye Baby FAQ: Cast, Runtime & Release Date

Runtime, release date, director, cast and post-credit scenes of Rocket-bye Baby, each answered in a sentence.

How long is Rocket-bye Baby?

Rocket-bye Baby runs 7 minutes.

When was Rocket-bye Baby released?

Rocket-bye Baby was released on August 4, 1956.

Who directed Rocket-bye Baby?

Rocket-bye Baby was directed by Chuck Jones.

More films by Chuck Jones

Who is in the cast of Rocket-bye Baby?

Rocket-bye Baby stars Daws Butler as Narrator / Joe Wilbur / Capt. Schmideo / Lecturer (voice) (uncredited) and June Foray as Hospital P.A. / Martha Wilbur / Old Lady (voice) (uncredited).

Does Rocket-bye Baby have a post-credit scene?

No. Rocket-bye Baby has no extra scene during or after the credits.

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