Tag Archives: Silly Symphony

July 14, 1934 – The Silly Symphony The Flying Mouse is Released to Theaters

“Please, I wanna fly like the birds!”

On July 14, 1934, the Silly Symphony The Flying Mouse was released to theaters. It featured a popular song called “You’re Nothin’ But a Nothin’,” composed by Larry Morey and Frank Churchill, which would later be released on sheet music. The short was directed by Dave Hand.

The short opens on a warm spring day at a quaint pumpkin house, with a mother mouse giving her youngest child a bath while her children play see-saw on a mushroom. One of her children is sitting away from everyone, admiring the birds he sees fly high in the sky. His greatest desire is to fly, and he imagines himself soaring through the sky with a beautiful pair of wings. He comes up with the idea to attach leaves to his arms, then calls over for his brothers’ attention. He runs off a branch, attempting to fly, and falls like a rock face-first into a pit of mud. His siblings laugh, but he decides that all he needs is a higher jumping point, and climbs up a flower. As he lifts into the sky, a gust of wind comes his way, and he falls into the tub of water from his sister’s bath, splashing the water everywhere, which causes his sister’s clothes to shrink.

The astonished mouse meets the fairy, who wishes to reward him for his brave deed

After a good spanking from his mother, he runs away to cry as his other siblings laugh at his folly. Suddenly, the mouse hears a cry for help from a beautiful butterfly caught in a spider web, with the spider licking his chops. He saves the butterfly, who turns out to be a beautiful fairy, and offers to grant him one wish for his kindness. Without hesitation, he tells her that he wants to fly. She warns him that mice were never meant to have wings, but after he pleads again, she grants him his wish. He kisses her hand in gratitude, and goes to join the birds in their flying dances. However, although he can fly, he is not welcome at the birds’ party, and is soon all alone. He decides to go surprise his family.

As he flies down, the family members are startled by his shadow, thinking he’s a predator, and they hide inside and throw items at him until he flees. Alone, the mouse ends up in a cave full of bats, who welcome him as one of their own, calling him brother. When the mouse cries that he’s not their brother, they tell him that since he’s not a mouse, and if he’s not a bat, then he’s a nothing. He runs as fast as he can away from the cave, and cries, realizing the wings have only brought him unhappiness. From one of his tears, the fairy reappears, asking why he’s so sad. He tells her he wishes he could die. The fairy tells him to cheer up and be happy that he’s himself, and if he does so, life will smile on him. She then removes his wings, and he’s so happy he kisses her hand once again in gratitude before running home to greet his family.

June 29, 1935 – The Silly Symphony Who Killed Cock Robin? is Released to Theaters

“Who killed Cock Robin? Who got him with a shot and put him on the spot? Who killed Cock Robin and vanished like a phantom in the night?”

On June 29, 1935, the Silly Symphony short film Who Killed Cock Robin? was released to theaters. The short was a modern take on the popular nursery rhyme, which was believed to be a satirical comment on the fall of Sir Robert Walpole, who was falsely accused of corruption and imprisoned in the Tower of London. He was eventually released and became the first Prime Minister of Great Britain, but was met once again with opposition and was forced to resign. The short was directed by David Hand, and stars Billy Bletcher as the voice of the judge, and Martha Wentworth as the voice of Jenny Wren. The short is also notable for the many celebrity caricatures; Jenny Wren is a caricature of popular actress Mae West.

The short opens with Cock Robin whistling and playing a guitar outside the home of Miss Jenny Wren. Jenny steps out onto her balcony to listen to the music, and Cock Robin begins to croon. A shadow of a bird with a bow and arrow is seen against the trees, firing an arrow straight into Cock Robin’s chest. He swoons a bit, then plummets to the ground, with everyone looking. Everyone comes out, alarmed at what just happened, and the police are called in to investigate. The medics take Cock Robin away on a stretcher.

The Crow appears as the first witness, but keeps insisting that he doesn’t know anything

The court case begins, with the judge asking who killed Cock Robin. A scared crow is sitting in the witness box, and when asked, answers that he doesn’t know who killed him. When shown Cock Robin’s body, the crow turns deathly white and tries to flee. He reiterates that he knows nothing about the case, and is hauled off to jail as they pull out the next witness, Legs Sparrow. Legs won’t answer the questions, so the next witness, the Cuckoo Bird, is called. The Cuckoo Bird isn’t a reliable witness, however, so they decide to move on, with everyone rather frustrated that nobody knows.

Jenny Wren steps forward as the next witness, entrancing the entire court. She tells the judge that she wants to see justice done, as somebody took out her Robin. When she suggests that somebody ought to be hanged for the crime, the judge, very taken with Miss Wren, demands that all three suspects be hanged for the crime. Out of nowhere, another arrow flies in, taking the judge’s hat and nailing it against a tree. The judge looks up to see the real culprit, Cupid. Cupid informs them all that he shot Cock Robin, but Robin isn’t dead, he’s just fallen for Jenny and landed on his head. Jenny asks Robin to kiss her, and he wakes up, giving her a smooch.

May 25, 1935 – The Silly Symphony The Cookie Carnival is Released to Theaters

“Here they come, freshly baked, covered with spice and candy flake, marching along in this parade at the Cookie Carnival.”

On May 25, 1935, the Silly Symphony The Cookie Carnival was released to theaters. The idea for the short came from the parades and bathing beauty contests held in Atlantic City during this time. The short was directed by Ben Sharpsteen, and starred the vocal talents of Pinto Colvig (best known as the voice of Goofy) as the wandering gingerbread man.

The short opens on the grand day of the Cookie Carnival, with a gingerbread marching band playing down the street, and one member holding a sign: “Beauties on Parade.” The procession of potential Cookie Queens begins with Miss Peppermint, who is followed by others the likes of Miss Cocoanut and Miss Banana Cake. All sorts of sweet treats have shown up for the festivities.

The gingerbread man decorating the girl, helping her to be the next Cookie Queen

On the peppermint railroad tracks, a wandering gingerbread man carrying a hobo sack enters the town, whistling the carnival tune. He hears crying and turns to see a young girl in rags sitting on a stump. He asks her what’s wrong, and she tells him that she’d love to be in the parade, but she doesn’t have anything pretty to wear. He tells her not to be so down, and begins to fix her up in true Cinderella fashion, telling her that she’s going to be the Cookie Queen.

Back at the parade, the judges look at each contestant, but still haven’t selected a queen. As the carnival comes to a close, the gingerbread man places the girl at the end, and upon seeing her, the judges declare her the queen. They knock the gingerbread man down to get to their queen, and the crowd carries her through the street to her throne. The judges then declare that the queen must have a king, and they pull out a collection of potential bachelors, known as the Candy Dates.

The gingerbread man is spotted by the soldiers and has to make a break for it while the Candy Dates are performing

The dates include from the Dandy Candy Kids, the Old-Fashioned Cookies, the Angel Food Cakes, the Devil’s Food Cakes, the Upside-Down Cakes, and the Jolly Rum Cookies. While the Queen is presented with the dates, the gingerbread man, who has been trying to watch the show and see the Queen, has been caught by the soldiers and is chased around the pavilion. Meanwhile the Queen rejects all the dates, and the judges conclude that she should marry one of them, or all three.

The gingerbread man steps out of his hiding place, thinking he’s safe, only to find himself pursued once more. He slips under the red carpet leading to the Queen’s throne, and has his hat broken into pieces as he steps onto the stage, bringing some of the red carpet with him. The Queen tells them to stop, that they shouldn’t crown the King that way, and everyone begins to celebrate the arrival of the new King. The Queen and King are spotted kissing, and they shyly hide behind a lollipop, which melts when they kiss again.

May 15, 1937 – The Silly Symphony, Little Hiawatha, is Released to Theaters

“Mighty hunter Hiawatha. Mighty warrior Hiawatha. Mighty chieftain Hiawatha. Mighty Little Hiawatha.”

On May 15, 1937, the Silly Symphony, Little Hiawatha, was released to theaters. The short was directed by Dave Hand, and distributed by United Artists. Walt once had the idea of turning the story into a full-length feature film, but the idea was shelved, as it never developed the way Walt wanted, story-wise.

The short opens with a small Indian boy paddling his canoe down the river as the narrator begins to tell the story of Little Hiawatha, as if reciting a poem. As birds begin to sing around him, Little Hiawatha grabs his bow and arrow, with the intent to shoot, but loses his balance when the canoe passes through a small bit of rapids, and the birds fly away. He pulls his canoe up to a patch of rocks on the shore and gets out of the canoe, searching for his prey, and ends up falling in the river.

Little Hiawatha begins to track a grasshopper

The animals in the forest spot Little Hiawatha’s fall and begin to laugh. Angered, he pulls out his bow and begins to chase the forest creatures, although the end up taunting him and eluding his capture. He then spots some strange tracks on the ground and, with all the animals watching him curiously, he decides to track the creature, although the tracks were made by a grasshopper instead of anything vicious. Little Hiawatha loses the fight with the grasshopper, causing all the animals to laugh once again.

As Little Hiawatha chases the animals once again, he corners a baby bunny, who stands on a stump, frightened, as the boy begins to cheer. As he draws back his bow, the animals of the forest watch with trepidation, unsure if the boy would actually kill the innocent rabbit. Lucky for the rabbit, Little Hiawatha is touched by the bunny’s sadness, and decides to then duel the rabbit, only the rabbit is too afraid to comply. Annoyed, the boy lets the rabbit get away, much to the joy of the animals in the forest. Angry at his failure, Little Hiawatha breaks his bow and arrow and tosses it aside, but then hears all the animals in the forest cheering. As the boy tries to hide with his shame, he spots bear tracks nearby, and decides to track down the bear.

A fawn volunteers his efforts to help Little Hiawatha escape from the bear

As Little Hiawatha is tracking down the bear, a cub crawls out from another side of a boulder, tracking the same tracks. The two run into each other, and flee in fear, but Little Hiawatha turns around to chase the cub, only to run across the mother. He tries to hide from the angry bear, but is almost paralyzed in fear. Three beavers notice that the boy is in trouble and sound out an alarm, causing all the animals in the woods to come to attention. As Little Hiawatha does his best to flee, the animals step in to help as best they can. In the end, Little Hiawatha stopped wishing to hunt the animals, but became their friend instead.

May 11, 1935 – The Silly Symphony, Water Babies, is Released to Theaters

“…it was inspired by the story Water-Babies, written in 1863 by Charles Kingsley, the great English writer and naturalist.” – Walt Disney

On May 11, 1935, the Silly Symphony Water Babies was released to theaters. It was loosely based on the children’s novel The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby by Reverend Charles Kingsley, which was published in 1863. The short was directed by Wilfred Jackson. Merbabies, released in 1938, is considered to be its sequel.

The short opens just as the sun is beginning to rise over a quiet pond. Two birds wake and begin to chirp, flying over the lilypads and trying to rouse the water babies sleeping inside. Once the water babies wake, the jump into the pond and begin to swim away. One baby has decided to remain sleeping, until the flower he’s sleeping in gives him a harsh slap to wake him. With a yawn, and trepidation over the temperature of the water, the baby joins the others as they splash and play around in the pond.

The Water-Babies riding of the back of a swan during a mini parade

As they play, they all hear the trumpets sound and excitedly swim in that direction. A parade has begun, with babies playing flower trumpets and ride on the backs of turtles and swans. Some travel on leaves, and a trio is seen riding on fish. The festival leads the babies to a patch of land where they begin to play in the weeds and with the frogs that live there. Three babies are seen using a spiderweb as a trampoline, and another trio are seen riding bullfrogs as if they were at a rodeo.

Another baby is seen preparing for a bull(frog) fight, pulling down a red petal to use as the red flag. The bullfrog gets his head caught in a flower, and uses the stem as a horn to try and attack the baby. Luckily, the baby sneaks back into the bullfrog’s cage before it can attack him.

All the Water-Babies heading home after the day’s festivities

The trumpets sound again soon after the fight finishes, and the babies all head back to the pond to travel home at the end of a long eventful day. As the sun begins to set, the babies crawl into their lilypad beds after saying their prayers, and quickly fall asleep as the flower petals close up protectively, leaving the audience with a beautiful moonlit night on the pond.