Silly Symphony is an American animated series of 75 musical short films produced by Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1939. As the series name implies, the Silly Symphonies were originally intended as whimsical accompaniments to pieces of music. As such, the films usually did not feature continuing characters, unlike the Mickey Mouse shorts produced by Disney at the same time. The series is notable for its innovation with Technicolor and the multiplane motion picture camera, as well as its introduction of the character Donald Duck making his first appearance in the Silly Symphony cartoon The Wise Little Hen in 1934. Seven shorts won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.
Education for Death: The Making of the Nazi is an American animated propaganda short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released on January 15, 1943, by RKO Radio Pictures, shown in theaters with Fighting Frontier. The film is directed by Clyde Geronimi and principally animated by Milt Kahl, Ward Kimball, Frank Thomas, and Bill Tytla. The short is based on the non-fiction book of the same name by American author Gregor Ziemer. The film features the story of Hans, a boy born and raised in Nazi Germany, his indoctrination in the Hitlerjugend, and his eventual march to war.
Mr. Duck Steps Out is a Donald Duck cartoon produced by Walt Disney Productions, which is released on June 7, 1940, and featured the debut of Daisy Duck. The short was directed by Jack King and written by Carl Barks, Chuck Couch, Jack Hannah, Harry Reeves, Milt Schaffer, and Frank Tashlin.
The Story of Ferdinand (1936) is the best-known work by the American author Munro Leaf. Illustrated by Robert Lawson, the children's book tells the story of a bull who would rather smell flowers than fight in bullfights. He sits in the middle of the bull ring failing to take heed of any of the provocations of the matador and others to fight. The Story of Ferdinand was published in 1936 by Viking Books. Later, after the Spanish Civil War, it was viewed as having a political agenda. During World War II, the British Air Transport Auxiliary started flying into Europe after D-Day and their pilots, who were non-combatants, used Ferdinand the Bull as their call sign. The book has been adapted into two films, the 1938 animated short Ferdinand the Bull and the 2017 computer-animated feature film Ferdinand.
Milton Erwin Kahl was an American animator. He was one of Walt Disney's supervisory team of animators, known as Disney's Nine Old Men.
Chicken Little is a 1943 short film created by Walt Disney during World War II and directed by Clyde Geronimi. The short was based on the European folk tale "Henny Penny", known in the United States as "Chicken Little". It is an anti-Nazi film showing the evils of mass hysteria.
Academy Award Review of Walt Disney Cartoons is an American animated package film released in the United States on May 19, 1937, for a limited time to help promote the upcoming release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It was a collection of five Oscar-winning Silly Symphonies shorts, bridged together with title cards and a narrator. Like The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, each of the cartoons had been released on their own at first before being collected together as one film. The separate cartoon shorts are now available on DVD. In addition, the film is 41 minutes long, just like Saludos Amigos. However, while this film is fully animated, Saludos Amigos would be far shorter without the live-action sequences. It is considered the first film in the Walt Disney Pictures filmography.
"The Capital of the World" is a short story by American writer Ernest Hemingway. The story takes place in Madrid and follows Paco, a young waiter apprentice, and his desire to become a matador.
Lambert the Sheepish Lion is a Disney animated short film that was released in 1952. It was directed by Jack Hannah.
The first wave of Walt Disney Treasures was released on December 4, 2001. It includes four different DVD sets.
Spanish-style bullfighting is a type of bullfighting that is practiced in Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, as well as in parts of southern France and Portugal. This style of bullfighting involves a physical contest with humans attempting to publicly subdue, immobilize, or kill a bull. The most common bull used is the Spanish Fighting Bull, a type of cattle native to the Iberian Peninsula. This style of bullfighting is seen to be both a sport and performance art. The red colour of the cape is a matter of tradition – bulls are color blind. They attack moving objects; the brightly-colored cape is used to mask blood stains.
Goliath II is a 1960 American animated comedy short film produced by Walt Disney Productions. Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman and written by Bill Peet, it is narrated by Sterling Holloway and stars the voices of Kevin Corcoran, Barbara Jo Allen and Paul Frees. It was released theatrically in the United States on January 21, 1960, alongside the live-action film Toby Tyler.
The Ugly Duckling is an animated short film by Walt Disney, based on the 1843 fairy tale "The Ugly Duckling" by Hans Christian Andersen. The film was directed by Jack Cutting and Clyde Geronimi, and released in theaters on April 7, 1939. Music was composed by Albert Hay Malotte, who was uncredited for the film. The animated short was first distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, and was shown with Love Affair.
Pigs Is Pigs is a 1954 animated film by Walt Disney Studios. Based on the story "Pigs Is Pigs" by Ellis Parker Butler, it relates the tale of a railway agent and his problems with a shipment of two guinea pigs that proceed to breed rapidly. The cartoon was animated in the flat, colorful UPA style. The melody of the traditional Irish jig "The Irish Washerwoman" is repeated throughout the short.
Mickey's Circus is an animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released August 1, 1936. Known crew include director Ben Sharpsteen and animators Milt Kahl, Frank Thomas, Al Eugster, Shamus Culhane, and Errol Gray. It was the 87th Mickey Mouse short film to be released, the eighth of that year.
The Ugly Duckling is an animated black-and-white cartoon released by Walt Disney in 1931 as part of the Silly Symphonies series. This cartoon was later remade into a color version released in 1939, which follows the original Andersen story much more faithfully. This gives The Ugly Duckling the unique distinction of being the only Silly Symphony to be made twice. This film was then sold to reach about 4,000 dollars per month at the most profit, because it slowly climbed up the scale of growth.
Morris the Midget Moose is a Walt Disney animated short, based on a 1945 picture book published by G.P. Putnam's sons, written and illustrated by Frank Owen, originally released to theaters on November 24, 1950, from Walt Disney Productions, originally released by RKO Radio Pictures and then, Buena Vista Distribution for its re-release.
Mickey's Good Deed is a 1932 animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by United Artists. Set during the Christmas season and the contemporary Great Depression, the cartoon centers on Mickey's act of charity to bring Christmas to a poor family. The film was directed by Burt Gillett and features the voices of Walt Disney as Mickey and Pinto Colvig as Pluto. It was the 50th Mickey Mouse short, and the 14th of that year.
The Truth About Mother Goose is an animated film released on August 28, 1957, by Walt Disney Productions. The short was directed by Wolfgang Reitherman in his directorial debut, and Bill Justice, and written by Bill Peet.
Pluto's Christmas Tree is a 1952 Mickey Mouse cartoon in which Pluto and Mickey cut down a Christmas tree that Chip n' Dale live in. It was the 125th short in the Mickey Mouse film series to be released, and the second for that year. While the chipmunks are usually antagonists of Donald Duck, they have pestered Pluto before, in Private Pluto (1943), Squatter's Rights (1946) and Food for Feudin' (1950).
