King Neptune (film)

Last updated

King Neptune
King Neptune (Disney film).jpg
Film poster
Directed by Burt Gillett
Produced by Walt Disney
StarringAllan Watson
Marcellite Garner
Music by Leigh Harline
Animation by Norm Ferguson
Johnny Cannon
Les Clark
David Hand
Dick Lundy
Ben Sharpsteen
Art Babbitt
Jack King
Hamilton Luske
Bill Roberts
Ed Love
Fred Spencer
Paul Fennell
Chuck Couch
Joe D'Igalo
Harry Reeves
Charles Hutchinson
Dick Williams
Charles Byrne [1]
Color process Technicolor
Production
company
Distributed by United Artists
Release date
September 10, 1932
Running time
7:14
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

King Neptune is a 1932 cartoon by Walt Disney, the second in the Silly Symphonies series produced in Technicolor. While Flowers and Trees was originally intended as a black and white cartoon, King Neptune was meant to be in colors already from the start, and was able to take full advantage of this. [2]

Contents

While the film is included in the 1980s VHS release of Silly Symphonies and the Walt Disney Treasures DVD, it was not selected for the Platinum Edition DVD collection, because of mermaid nudity and heavy drinking (due to the fact that the film was targeting adult audiences). [3] While the mermaids lack anatomical detail, they may be considered inappropriate for a modern audience.

Plot

King Neptune is holding court at the bottom of the ocean, being entertained by his various sea creature subjects. His favorites are a gaggle of mermaids (all brunettes with the exception of a single strawberry-blonde) who appear hand-sized next to the larger-than-life king. Once dismissed from the king's presence, the mermaids surface to lounge on a rock and relax. They are spotted by a band of lecherous pirates who attempt to capture them using a lasso. The mermaids all escape apart from the strawberry blonde who is lassoed and pulled onto the ship of jeering pirates. The frightened young mermaid is then attacked by the cruel pirates, jumping on her and pulling her hair, though she does a good job of fending them off. Enraged that one of his most beloved subjects has been taken hostage and suffering, King Neptune launches an assault on the pirates and a fantastic naval battle ensues. The sea creatures work together to mimic such war machines as airplanes and bombs, submarine torpedoes, and other such modern equipment. During the attack one pirate drags the mermaid and puts her into a treasure chest to keep as a valuable. The pirates do a fair job of fending off their attackers, so Neptune rises to the surface and summons a storm while stirring up huge whirlpools with his trident. In the end, he jumps on top of the pirate ship, plunging it straight to the bottom of the ocean.

There is no trace of the pirates except a single chest that begins to jump around on its own. The ginger mermaid pops out of it, decked in gold and pearls. Her friends hurry to festoon themselves with jewelry and they perform another beautiful water ballet for King Neptune's pleasure.

Production

According to the DVD of Walt Disney Treasures: More Silly Symphonies, Volume Two :

Impact

In 1933, Blue Ribbon Books published The Pop-Up Silly Symphonies, a pop-up book featuring full-color illustrations inspired by King Neptune and Babes in the Woods . [4]

Disney used the character of King Neptune again, in the 1936 Mickey Mouse short Thru the Mirror , as well as in The Cold-Blooded Penguin, a segment in the 1945 film The Three Caballeros . [1]

The director of the short, Burt Gillett, used a similar character design for King Neptune in a 1936 Felix the Cat cartoon, the Van Beuren Rainbow Parade Neptune's Nonsense. [1]

Several elements of this short (particularly Neptune's attack on the pirates) later served as reference for the final battle in the 1989 film The Little Mermaid . [5]

Voice cast

Home media

The short was released on December 19, 2006, on Walt Disney Treasures: More Silly Symphonies, Volume Two [2] in the "From the Vault" section, because of mermaid nudity and heavy drinking (due to the fact that the film was targeting adult audiences). [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Wise Little Hen</i> 1934 Silly Symphony cartoon

The Wise Little Hen is a 1934 Walt Disney's Silly Symphony cartoon, based on the fable The Little Red Hen. The cartoon features the debut of Donald Duck, dancing to "The Sailor's Hornpipe". Donald and his friend Peter Pig try to avoid work by faking stomach aches until Mrs. Hen teaches them the value of labor.

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.

<i>Flowers and Trees</i> 1932 Silly Symphony cartoon

Flowers and Trees is a Silly Symphonies cartoon produced by Walt Disney, directed by Burt Gillett, and released to theatres by United Artists on July 30, 1932. It was the first commercially released film to be produced in the full-color three-strip Technicolor process after several years of two-color Technicolor films. The film was a commercial and critical success, winning the first Academy Award for Best Cartoon Short Subject.

<i>Santas Workshop</i> (film) 1932 Disney short film

Santa's Workshop is a Disney short film directed by Wilfred Jackson, first released on December 10, 1932 in the Silly Symphonies series. The film features Santa Claus and his elves preparing for Christmas in Santa's workshop. A sequel, The Night Before Christmas, partially based on the 1823 poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas", was made the year after, portraying Santa leaving the toys in a house with nine children.

The first wave of Walt Disney Treasures was released on December 4, 2001. It includes four different DVD sets.

The sixth wave of Walt Disney Treasures was released on December 19, 2006. It contains four separate DVD sets.

Music Land is a Silly Symphony animated Disney short released in 1935.

<i>Three Orphan Kittens</i> 1935 American film

Three Orphan Kittens is a 1935 animated short film in the Silly Symphonies series produced by Walt Disney Productions. It was the winner of the 1935 Oscar for Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons). It was followed in 1936 by a sequel, More Kittens.

Egyptian Melodies is a 1931 Silly Symphonies animated short subject produced by Walt Disney and directed by Wilfred Jackson.

<i>The Cookie Carnival</i> 1935 film by Ben Sharpsteen

The Cookie Carnival is an animated short produced by Walt Disney Productions and originally released May 25, 1935. It is a Cinderella story involving a cookie girl who wishes to be queen at the cookie carnival, and a homage to the Atlantic City boardwalk parade and bathing beauty contest of the 1920s and 1930s. Contrary to the claim in Film Superlist: 1894-1939, the film is not in the public domain as its copyright was renewed in 1964. It will enter the public domain in 2031 in accordance with current copyright laws.

<i>The Golden Touch</i> (film) 1935 American film

The Golden Touch is a Walt Disney Silly Symphony cartoon made in 1935. The story is based on the Greek myth of King Midas, albeit updated into a Medieval setting. It was the last film directed by Disney.

<i>The Pied Piper</i> (1933 film) 1933 American film

The Pied Piper is an American Pre-Code animated short film based on the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. The short was produced by Walt Disney Productions, directed by Wilfred Jackson, and released on September 16, 1933, as a part of the Silly Symphonies series.

<i>Three Blind Mouseketeers</i> 1936 American film

Three Blind Mouseketeers is a Silly Symphonies cartoon based on the nursery rhyme Three Blind Mice and the 1844 novel The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. Directed by Dave Hand and Jack Cutting, it stars Billy Bletcher.

Mother Goose Melodies is a 1931 Silly Symphonies animated film, directed by Burt Gillett. Two years later it was semi remade in Technicolor as Old King Cole.

The China Plate is a 1931 Silly Symphonies animated film.

Frolicking Fish is a Silly Symphonies animated Disney short film. It was released in 1930.

<i>Father Noahs Ark</i> 1933 film

Father Noah's Ark is a Walt Disney Silly Symphonies animated film. It is based on the story of Noah's Ark. The short's musical score is an adaptation of the first dance in Ludwig van Beethoven's 12 Contredanses. The cartoon was released on April 8, 1933.

Merbabies is a Silly Symphonies animated Disney short film. It was released on December 9, 1938. It is a collaboration between Walt Disney and Harman and Ising, the latter studio having donated artists to Disney to work on the production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). It is one of the last shorts of the Silly Symphonies series.

<i>The Night Before Christmas</i> (1933 film) 1933 film by Walt Disney

The Night Before Christmas, also known as Santa's Toys, is a 1933 American pre-Code animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by United Artists. Part of the Silly Symphony series, the film is an adaptation of Clement Clarke Moore's 1823 poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas", popularly called "The Night Before Christmas". The film was directed by Disney animator Wilfred Jackson.

<i>The Haunted House</i> (1929 film) 1929 Mickey Mouse cartoon

The Haunted House, also known as Haunted House, is a 1929 Mickey Mouse short animated film released by Celebrity Productions, as part of the Mickey Mouse film series. The cartoon was produced by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by Celebrity Productions. It was the fourteenth Mickey Mouse short to be produced, the eleventh of that year.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Disney's Silly Symphony "King Neptune" (1932)". Cartoon Research. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
  2. 1 2 Merritt, Russell; Kaufman, J. B. (2016). Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series (2nd ed.). Glendale, CA: Disney Editions. pp. 116–117. ISBN   978-1-4847-5132-9.
  3. 1 2 Figueiredo, Rodney. "Walt Disney Treasures: More Silly Symphonies". Animated Views. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Disney Silly Symphonies pop-up". PB Galleries. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
  5. ↑ "Disney's Silly Symphonies Part Three - The Coming of Color". Inside the Magic. March 19, 2018. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.