Bill and Coo

{{Short description|1948 film by Dean Riesner}}

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}

{{Infobox film

| name = Bill and Coo

| image = billandcoo.gif

| director = Dean Riesner

| producer = Ken Murray

| writer = Dean Riesner
Royal Foster

| music = David Buttolph

| cinematography = Jack Marta

| editing = Harold Minter

| released = {{Film date|1948|3|28}}

| distributor = Republic Pictures

| runtime = 61 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

}}

Bill and Coo is a 1948 film directed by Dean Riesner, filmed in Trucolor, and conceived to showcase George Burton's trained birds (Burton's Birds). The 61-minute live-action film stars many types of birds, including budgies (commonly known in the US as parakeets) and lovebirds. The film also features other trained animals, including cats, dogs and a crow. Except for three humans (producer Ken Murray, bird trainer George Burton, and Elizabeth Walters) in a short set-up segment before the opening credits, the film features an all-animal cast. The film was shot on the world's second smallest film set, a miniature village built onto a {{cvt|15|by|30|ft|m}} tabletop.

The film received an Honorary Academy Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences "In which artistry and patience blended in a novel and entertaining use of the medium of motion pictures." It also one of the first films to be released to cinemas on slow-burning cellulose acetate safety film instead of the dangerously flammable nitrate stock used up until then. Initially, projectionists reported film damage due to the acetate base being less 'slippery' than that of nitrate (celluloid) based film. Before long it was found that a thin coating of wax applied along the film edges solved this problem. The copyright on the film lapsed and is in the public domain.{{cite web |title=The Bootleg Files:Bill and Coo |url=https://filmthreat.com/uncategorized/the-bootleg-files-bill-and-coo/ |website=filmthreat.com |date=27 June 2008 |publisher=Film Threat |access-date=23 January 2021}}