April 16, 1931 – The Silly Symphony Mother Goose Melodies is Released to Theaters
“Oh, I’m King Cole, I’m a merry old soul, and a merry old soul am I, ha ha ha!”
On April 16, 1931, the Silly Symphony Mother Goose Melodies was released to theaters. The short is based on the Mother Goose nursery rhymes, which dates all the way back to the 16th century. The short also features a cameo by Clarabelle Cow. It was directed by Burt Gillett.
The short opens with a parade dedicated to Old King Cole, with a turtle rolling out a carpet for the very portly king. He sits in his throne and, in a variation of the nursery rhyme, he calls for his pipe, his book, and his fiddlers three, who happen to be the Three Blind Mice. Mother Goose pops out of her book and starts dancing with her goose before they go into the story of Little Miss Muffett. Little Miss Muffett is scared off by the spider, who finishes the contents of her bowl, but crashes into it when he tries to haul it up a tree. This is followed by Jack and Jill, who run up a hill and meet Simple Simon, who scares them when he reveals bats flying out from under his hat and pulls an octopus out of his fishing bucket. The children are scared so much that they end up rolling down the hill, their bucket landing on Mother Goose’s pet goose’s head.
Humpty Dumpty laughs at the goose, unaware of his own pending misfortune
The page in the book then turns to Humpty Dumpty, who laughs at the misfortune of the goose, who takes the bucket and knocks Humpty Dumpty off the wall. Little Jack Horner sings his poem about pulling out his plum from his pie, his voice changing when he announces what a big boy he is. The plum, however, is a blackbird, who flies about and lets all the other birds out of the pie. Suddenly, Little Bo Peep is seen weeping, as she has lost her sheep. Little Boy Blue is seen snoring in the fields, and wakes up to blow his horn, bringing Bo Peep’s sheep back to her. One lamb falls into the mud and turns black, and “Baa Baa Black Sheep” is heard in the background. The lamb starts skipping about, and slips out of the grasp of the goose, who tries to put it back in the book. Lastly, the King is entertained by Hey Diddle Diddle, with all the animals in the rhyme playing a merry tune. All the characters escape the book and begin to dance, including King Cole.
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