November 5, 1937 – The Silly Symphony The Old Mill is Released to Theaters
On November 5, 1937, the Silly Symphony The Old Mill was released to theaters. The short film is notable for being the first film to use the multi-plane camera, which helped create a new three-dimensional look to the Disney films. The film won an Academy Award for Best Cartoon; Disney also took home a special Scientific and Technical Class II plaque for the design and application of the camera.
An old mill stands abandoned at the side of a pond at sunset, while all the animals around head to their nests for the day. A pair of bluebirds have made a nest in the old cogs, waiting for their eggs to hatch. Many animals have made the mill their home, from mice, to owls and bats. Out in the pond, frogs peek out from their lily pads and begin to croak, until they are interrupted by the sound of crickets. Fireflies also appear in the night, with one of the frogs anxious to eat one. As he does, his stomach glows from the firefly.
The windmill begins to spin again as storm clouds gather and the wind picks up ferociously
Suddenly, the wind begins to howl, and the windmill starts to turn. The bluebird who made her home in the cogs can’t bear to leave her eggs – luckily, the cog she is sitting under is missing, and she and the eggs ride through unharmed. The storm grows stronger, with the rain dripping through the leaky roof and open windows. A pair of doves sit together, weathering the storm on an open ledge. A group of mice shiver after the lightning strikes. Parts of the mill begin to fall apart. Without warning, the mill is struck by lightning, shifting it from its base.
The storm settles, and the bats return to the mill as dawn approaches. The bluebirds’ eggs have hatched, and mother and father return with food. As life returns to normal, the animals begin their day once again in the abandoned mill on the side of the peaceful pond.
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