The Tale of How on AllMovie

The Blackheart Gang's hallucinatory animated short The Tale of How involves a monstrous, threatening octopus who lives in a subaquatic realm, with a giant tree extending from his back, high above the seascape. Little white birdies perch in the tree, and the octopus periodically extends his tentacles above the water to grab one, tear it in half, and devour it. Before long, however, the surviving birds decide that they've had enough, and plot a delicious revenge that will put an end to the creature's menace once and for all, by luring it into a slow death. An operatic chorus sings the narration to the film.