Tag Archives: Black and white

August 22, 1929 – The First Silly Symphony, The Skeleton Dance, is Released to Theaters

On August 22, 1929, the first Silly Symphony, The Skeleton Dance, was released to theaters. After the success of Steamboat Willie, musical director Carl W. Stalling suggested that Walt work on a cartoon series with an accent on music, rather than character. The short was drawn mostly by Ub Iwerks.

On a dark, windy night in a graveyard, the bells toll midnight. Two cats argue as they stand perched on graves, only to be scared out of their wits when a skeleton appears. The skeleton looks around, then begins to skip merrily around the graveyard, only to be scared by the hoot of an owl. He throws his head at the bird, and it bounces back to his hiding place behind a gravestone.

The skeletons come out from the ground for a night of dancing

More skeletons come out to join him, and the four begin to dance as a merry tune is played in the background. One skeleton uses another as a xylophone, playing eerie music on the skeleton’s vertebrae. Another uses a cat’s tail as a sort of cello. After a bit of musical celebration, the rooster crows, signaling that the party is over. The skeletons frantically look around and crash into each other as they dive back into their grave.

July 28, 1931 – The Silly Symphony The Cat’s Out is Released to Theaters

On July 28, 1931, the Silly Symphony The Cat’s Out was released to theaters. It has been copyrighted as The Cat’s Nightmare, but the studio now refers to it by its original name. The short was directed by Wilfred Jackson.

A cat is put out for the night outside a country home, and howls at the door before going off to explore.­­ As he perches on a fence, still howling, neighbors begin to throw shoes, and one lands on the cat’s head. He runs away in a flurry, falls off the fence, and lands in a washtub. After drying himself, the cat hears a bird chirping from its perch on a weathervane.

The cat carefully stalks his prey, which is perched on the weathervane

The cat, now suddenly hungry, stalks the bird, waiting for his chance to attack. He catches the bird by the tail just as it takes off, and tries to remain on the roof by wrapping his tail around the weathervane. Unfortunately, he loses his balance and falls, ripping the vane from the roof. As he lands on the ground, the vane falls soon after, landing on his head. The cat’s lives begin fleeing to heaven, but he is able to grab his last one and save it. The bird he chased shows up, and as he is about to grab it again, it triples in size and begins to taunt the cat.

The cat, annoyed by the taunting, punches the bird. As his feathers fly off, the feathers become more birds, which circle the cat and taunt him mercilessly, trying to peck him with their beaks. Suddenly, the birds disappear, and a herd of owls in the trees scares the cat. He runs to hide behind a bucket, but the water pump, now alive, dumps water on him. The startled cat runs into a pole and knocks down a scarecrow. As the cat hides behind a pumpkin, the scarecrow comes to life and begins to dance. The multiple dancing scarecrows appear and dance together before they merge back into one scarecrow again, who climbs back on his pole.

A bat appears from under the scarecrow’s hat and begins to dance in the moonlight, which frightens the already scared cat

From under the scarecrow’s hat, a bat appears and begins to dance in the moonlight. The terrified cat throws the pumpkin at the bat, which turns into a flock of bats that swarm the cat. The cat flees, only to find himself trapped at the mercy of giant spiders. As they attack, he is able to escape them, but everywhere he goes, he finds more trouble: trees come to life and beat him, and the bird laughs at the cat’s misfortune.

The cat wakes to find that it has all been a dream, and it’s now morning. He goes to the door of his house and howls, hoping the owner will let him in. The owner opens the door and the cat steps inside while the owner grabs the bottle of milk, then shoves the cat back outside. Angrily, the cat paws at the welcome mat, then blows his master a raspberry before haughtily walking away.

July 9, 1932 – The Silly Symphony The Bears and the Bees is Released to Theaters

On July 9, 1932, the Silly Symphony short film The Bears and the Bees was released to theaters. The short was directed by Wilfred Jackson.

The short opens in the woods, where a bear and her two cubs are seen sleeping next to a river. The cubs wake up and begin to tussle, in turn waking up their mother, who roars at them before returning to her sleep. The cubs run off to play in the woods, and one of the cubs falls head first onto a rock and gets a rather large bump on his forehead. The other cub runs over and soothes the sibling’s injury before finding a berry bush and pulling off berries for a snack.

The cubs are bullied by a big black bear and take to hiding in a hollow log nearby

A nearby roaring alerts them, and a large black bear emerges from his cave, growling angrily. He runs to attack the two cubs before eating from what appears to be his berry bush. When the cubs approach to grab just one berry to eat, the black bear startles them and sends them hurrying to a nearby log, where one of them begins to cry at the meanness of the other bear. The other cub tries to cheer the sibling by giving it flowers to eat. When a bee emerges from one of the flowers and begins to buzz around, the cubs follow it curiously.

The cubs spot a flower garden, with bees buzzing all around collecting nectar and taking it back to their hive in a hollowed-out tree. After the bees leave the hive, the cubs poke around inside it, delighted to know that the hive contains honey. They begin to eat the honey in the hive eagerly, until a bee comes back and sees them and sounds the alert to the other bees. Angrily, the swarm grows and immediately heads back to protect the hive.

Meanwhile, the angry black bear has spotted the cubs and their honey, and decides he wants it for himself. He charges at the tree and throws the cubs aside, where they can only watch as the swarm heads for the hive and the black bear. The bees attack the bear, covering him with stings while his head is stuck in the hole in the tree. The bees continue their attack, stinging him with points from a plant and a tree branch, before delivering the final blow, sending the bear running for his life. The cubs take advantage of the bees’ disappearance and continue to eat from the now destroyed hive, enjoying all the leftover honey.