Tag Archives: Silly Symphony

September 10, 1932 – The Silly Symphony King Neptune is Released to Theaters

“I’m Neptune, the King of the Sea, and a jolly old king am I!”

On September 10, 1932, the Silly Symphony King Neptune was released to theaters. This short briefly features the classical piece “Light Cavalry Overture” by Franz von Suppe. King Neptune was directed by Burt Gillett.

The short begins with Neptune introducing himself to the audience as a ruler with an iron hand who is friends with the sailors. A parade takes place with several sea creatures, and they bring forward some mermaids in a clam shell. They leave the shell and dance about before flirting with the King. The mermaids then travel to the surface and lounge as a pirate ship passes by with several bawdy, drunk pirates. One pirate spies the mermaids and calls out to the rest, and they quickly drop anchor in front of the rock. The mermaids scream in fright, alerting King Neptune, who is greeted with an anchor on the head.

The pirates quickly capture a mermaid and bring her on board

The pirates manage to capture a mermaid, who fights back once she is on deck. The other mermaids sound the alarm, and every sea creature nearby runs to her rescue. A pack of swordfish cut down the mast, but one of the pirates locks the mermaid in a treasure chest amongst all the confusion. The pirates are soon overtaken by the sea creatures, and Neptune finally frees himself from the anchor and sends the ship straight into a whirlpool of his creation. He laughs at the pirates’ misfortune as they are tossed about helplessly, and Neptune lands on top of the ship, causing it to sink to the bottom. The mermaid is freed from the chest, clad in jewels and pearls. The short ends with everyone once again happy in the sea, including jolly old Neptune.

September 1, 1934 – The Silly Symphony Peculiar Penguins is Released to Theaters

“There’s a place called Penguin Island in the cold Antarctic Sea, where there’s 50 million penguins in a penguin colony.”

On September 1, 1934, the Silly Symphony Peculiar Penguins was released to theaters. It was directed by Wilfred Jackson.

Set on a penguin island in the middle of the Antarctic Sea, two penguins named Peter and Polly are seen getting ready for a date. Peter prepares a snow cone for Polly, which she accepts happily, giving him an Eskimo kiss for his trouble. This affection has causes Peter to turn cartwheels. After he does so, he spots fish in a nearby hole in the ice, and dives in to catch one. He eventually does and brings it back to Polly, who swallows it down happily, although they eventually find that she has eaten a puffer fish, which starts puffing up inside her. Finally, the fish escapes Polly and jumps back into the pond, but Polly reacts badly to this, slapping Peter and walking away before diving in the water and swimming away.

Peter tearfully watches as Polly angrily swims away after the puffer fish incident

Peter watches tearfully as Polly swims away, and is soon alarmed to see a shark following her. He calls out after her, but she will have none of it, and continues to swim away. The shark gains on her and attempts to devour her, but Polly swims away, although the shark continues to follow her. Peter dives into the water to rescue her, and beats him in the nose with a club just as the shark has Polly in his clutches. The shark then follows Peter through the water, hoping to have the penguin for a snack, but Peter uses the club to keep the shark’s mouth from chomping down. As Peter dives out of the water, he pulls on a root that releases a large boulder. The boulder is accidentally swallowed by the shark, and he sinks to the bottom of the ocean, unable to swallow anyone ever again. The short ends with Peter and Polly happily reunited, holding each other close as the sky shines with a rainbow.

April 1, 1938 – The Silly Symphony Moth and the Flame is Released to Theaters

On April 1, 1938, the Silly Symphony Moth and the Flame was released to theaters. It was directed by Burt Gillett.

A lamp outside “Ye Olde Costume Shoppe” has attracted a swarm of moths who dance around the light. A pair lands on the windowsill and peer into the shop, thinking of the clothes inside as a massive feast. They find a way in and begin to eat, but unexpectedly attract the attention of the other moths, who quickly dive in and devour every piece of clothing in sight.

One young moth couple has a romantic date near a feathered hat, sharing a kiss. The girl tries to get the boy to chase her, and is rather put out when he decides to eat a bowler instead. Nearby, a flame on a candle spies the moth and laughs, then begins to dance, moving the girl moth’s shadow around and catching her attention. He draws her closer, and she dances dangerously close to the flame, burning the candle down to practically nothing. The flame jumps around, following her, and she puts him out with a fire insurance policy. However, he burns right through it and continues his pursuit, until she is stuck in a spider’s web.

The boy moth tries desperately to free his girlfriend, with the flame always close behind

The boy moth, seeing her in trouble, runs to her rescue, but is quickly chased away by the flame. He then uses a nearby glass of water to douse the flame, but is unsuccessful, then accidentally uses the highly flammable benzene, which gives the flame greater strength. Finally, he gathers the attention of all the other moths, who use a bagpipe filled with water to bring the flame down. Using other instruments in the shop, they work to quickly kill the flame, and the boy is able to free the girl. Together again, the two share a kiss.

February 24, 1939 – The Silly Symphony The Practical Pig is Released to Theaters

“He’s building another wolf machine – he must be crazy in the bean!”

On February 24, 1939, the Silly Symphony short film The Practical Pig was released to theaters. It is the fourth and final “Three Little Pigs” short film, and the second to last Silly Symphony ever made. Like the other sequels, it would never reach the level of popularity that The Three Little Pigs found. It was directed by Dick Richard.

Fiddler and Fifer Pig approach Practical Pig’s home, hearing him hammer away at his new invention. The blueprints reveal that he’s working on a lie detector, and the two laugh at his toil. As they reveal their plans to go swimming, the Practical Pig warns the two not to go, as the Wolf is nearby. They dismiss his concerns and run to the local swimming hole. From the nearby reeds, the Wolf spies on the two, salivating. He disguises himself as a mermaid on a rock, luring the two close before scooping them up in a net.

The Wolf ties up the two pigs and keeps them in a sack in front of his children

He brings the two pigs home to his family, but his kids aren’t allowed to eat the two until the Wolf captures the third pig. The kids promise not to eat the pigs until their father comes back home, but it’s an empty promise, as they start to fix them up in a pot the moment he leaves. The Wolf disguises himself as a messenger and takes a message to the Practical Pig, hoping to capture the pig when he rushes out to save his brothers. Unfortunately for the Wolf, the Practical Pig captures the wolf and uses his lie detector machine, which washes the Wolf’s mouth with soap or spanks him when he lies. The two pigs escape the kids’ clutches when too much pepper is sprinkled on them, and they sneeze, freeing themselves from the unbaked pie dough. They sprint home as fast as they can. Meanwhile the Wolf finally admits where the pigs are, and the Practical Pig sends him flying away on a firecracker before he attempts to rescue his brothers. The two pigs fly through the door, and when the Practical Pig chastises them for ignoring him, they sit down unknowingly on the lie detector and claim they never went swimming. The lie detector goes off, and the two are spanked.