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Silly Symphonies

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The opening title for the first Silly Symphony cartoon, The Skeleton Dance (1929).
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The opening title for the first Silly Symphony cartoon, The Skeleton Dance (1929).

Silly Symphonies was an acclaimed series of animated short subjects produced by Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1938. Unlike the Mickey Mouse series it served as a sister series to, Silly Symphonies did not usually feature continuing characters. Donald Duck got his start in a Silly Symphonies cartoon (The Wise Little Hen, 1934), and Pluto's first appearance without Mickey Mouse was also in a Silly Symphonies cartoon (Mother Pluto, 1936).





Contents





About the series




A scene from The Skeleton Dance (1929).

Enlarge

A scene from The Skeleton Dance (1929).






The original black-and-white entries in the Silly Symphonies series, produced from 1929 to 1932 and released by Celebrity Productions (1929 - 1930) and Columbia Pictures (1930 - 1932), were only mildly successful, with the exception of the pilot film, The Skeleton Dance. Most theatres were unwilling to run cartoons without star characters, and the Silly Symphonies were relegated to a distinctly secondary status in most regards. In fact, when Disney began distributing his product through United Artists in 1932, United Artists refused to distribute the Silly Symphonies unless Disney associated Mickey Mouse with them somehow, resulting in the "Mickey Mouse presents a Silly Symphony" title cards and posters that introduced and promoted the series during its five-year run for U/A.


Shortly after the switch to U/A, however, the series' fortunes quickly turned around. Walt Disney had seen some of Dr. Herbert Kalmus' tests for a new three-strip, full-color Technicolor process, which would replace the previous, two-tone Technicolor process. Disney signed a contract with Technicolor which gave the Disney studio exclusive rights to the new three-strip process through the end of 1935, and had a 60% complete Symphony, Flowers and Trees, scrapped and redone in full color. Flowers and Trees was a phenomenal success, and within a year, the now-in-Technicolor Silly Symphonies series had popularity and success that matched (and later surpassed) that of the Mickey Mouse cartoons. Several Silly Symphonies entries, including Three Little Pigs (1932), The Grasshopper and the Ants (1934), The Tortoise and the Hare (1934), The Country Cousin (1936), The Old Mill (1937), Wynken, Blynken, and Nod (1938), and The Ugly Duckling (1939, originally made in black and white in 1931), are among the most notable films produced by Walt Disney.


Within the animation industry, the Silly Symphonies series is most noted for its use by Walt Disney as a platform for experimenting with processes, techniques, characters, and stories in order to further the art of animation. Among the innovations developed and/or improved upon in the series are Technicolor filmmaking, true and believable character animation, special effects animation, and dramatic storytelling in animation. Disney's experiments were widely praised within the film industry, and the Silly Symphonies won seven Academy Awards for Best Short Subject (Cartoons), maintaining a six-year-hold on the category after it was first introduced. This record was matched only by MGM's Tom and Jerry series during the 1940s and 1950s.


The names of the Warner Bros. cartoon series, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, were derived from the "Silly Symphonies" name. The television series Mickey Mouse Works used the Silly Symphonies title for some of its new cartoons, but unlike the original cartoons, these did feature continuing characters. Disney also produced comic strips and comic books with this title.



Filmography











  • Summer. Directed by Ub Iwerks, first released on 6 January, 1930.
  • Autumn. Directed by Ub Iwerks, first released on 13 February, 1930.
  • Cannibal Capers. Directed by Burton Gillett, first released on 13 March, 1930.
  • Frolicking Fish. Directed by Burton Gillett, first released on 8 May, 1930.
  • Arctic Antics. Directed by Ub Iwerks, first released on 5 June, 1930.
  • Midnight in a Toyshop. Directed by Wilfred Jackson, first released on 3 July, 1930.
  • Night. Directed by Walt Disney, first released on 31 July, 1930.
  • Monkey Melodies. Directed by Burton Gillett, first released on 10 August, 1930.
  • Winter. Directed by Burton Gillett, first released on 5 November, 1930.
  • Playful Pan. Directed by Burton Gillett, first released on 28 December, 1930. Featuring the Greek god Pan.

























  • The Tortoise and the Hare. Directed by Wilfred Jackson, first released on 5 January, 1935. Featuring Max Hare and Toby Tortoise. The former has been suggested as an early influence to Looney Tunes character Bugs Bunny.
  • The Golden Touch. Directed by Walt Disney, first released on 22 March, 1935. Featuring Midas and Goldie the elf.
  • The Robber Kitten. Directed by David Dodd Hand, first released on 13 April, 1935.
  • Water Babies. Directed by Wilfred Jacksom, first released on 11 May, 1935.
  • The Cookie Carnival. Directed by Ben Sharpsteen, first released on 25 May, 1935.
  • Who Killed Cock Robin?. Directed by David Dodd Hand, first released on 26 June, 1935.
  • Music Land. Directed by Wilfred Jackson, first released on 5 October, 1935.
  • Three Orphan Kittens. Directed by David Dodd Hand, first released on 26 October, 1935.
  • Cock o' the Walk. Directed by Ben Sharpsteen, first released on 30 November, 1935.
  • Broken Toys. Directed by Ben Sharpsteen, first released on 14 December, 1935.





  • Elmer Elephant. Directed by Wilfred Jackson, first released on 28 March, 1936.
  • Three Little Wolves. Directed by David Dodd Hand, first released on 18 April, 1936. Featuring the title characters along with their father the Big Bad Wolf and his rivals the Three Little Pigs.
  • Toby Tortoise Returns. Directed by Wilfred Jackson, first released on August 22, 1936. Featuring Max Hare and Toby Tortoise.
  • Three Blind Mousketeers. Directed by David Dodd Hand, first released on 26 September, 1936.
  • The Country Cousin. Co-directed by David Dodd Hand and Wilfred Jackson, first released on 31 October, 1936.
  • Mother Pluto. Directed by David Dodd Hand, first released on 14 November, 1936. Featuring Pluto mothering a number of newly-hatched chicks.
  • More Kittens. Co-directed by David Dodd Hand and Wilfred Jackson, first released on 19 December, 1936.

















Walt Disney Specials


In 1938, Disney released the first of several Walt Disney Specials, a fairly significant number of shorts which featured no continuing characters, and yet were not labeled Silly Symphonies. However, animation fans generally find them similar in nature to the previous series and occasionally reference them as unofficial entries or successors to it. The following list should not be taken as official:





External links













 




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