October 31, 1936 – The Silly Symphony The Country Cousin is Released to Theaters
“Come to the city and live in splendor with me.”
October 31, 1936, the Silly Symphony The Country Cousin was released to theaters. It would go on to win an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 9th Academy Awards. The short was directed by Wilfred Jackson.
The short begins with Abner Countrymouse receiving an invitation from his cousin Monty Citymouse, asking him to live in the city. Abner, taking Monty up on his offer, walks the railroad tracks and arrives at Monty’s place, with Monty quickly – but quietly – showing him around. Right away, Abner nearly gets caught in a mousetrap, but Monty saves him before showing him a spread of the finest foods laid out. Abner enthusiastically eats away, but Monty has to continue shushing the poor country bumpkin. After eating a spoonful of hot mustard, Abner rushes around and drinks some champagne to cool down his mouth, getting painfully drunk in the process and hiccupping. He tries to pull himself together, much to the annoyance of Monty, but ends up losing his umbrella in some toast points and knocking the entire stack down. Abner then ends up in a drunken fight with his reflection in a gelatin mold; although he decides to walk away from the fight, he slips on some butter on a plate and spins wildly around, breaking pieces of china as he spins out of control and taking his cousin with him. The two luckily do not garner the attention of the house cat, who is sleeping soundly, until Abner, with his drunken bravado, decides to kick the cat. Monty flees the scene, while Abner runs outside and ends up on the dangerous streets. After dodging feet and cars, Abner decides city life isn’t worth it for him, and he runs back to his country home.
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