Peter and the Wolf (1946 film)

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Peter and the Wolf
Disney's Peter and the wolf.jpg
Directed by Clyde Geronimi
Story byEric Gurney
Dick Huemer
Based on Peter and the Wolf
by Sergei Prokofiev
Produced by Walt Disney
Starring Jimmy MacDonald
Pinto Colvig [1]
Narrated by Sterling Holloway
Music byEdward H. Plumb
Kurt Graunke (conductor)
Animation by Ollie Johnston
Ward Kimball
Eric Larson
John Lounsbery
George Rowley (effects)
Layouts byCharles Philippi
Hugh Hennessy
Backgrounds by Claude Coats
Production
company
Distributed by RKO Radio Pictures
Release date
  • August 15, 1946 (1946-08-15)(USA)
Running time
15 minutes
CountryUnited States

Peter and the Wolf is a 1946 animated short based on the 1936 musical composition/fairy tale by Sergei Prokofiev, produced by Walt Disney and narrated by Sterling Holloway. It was originally released theatrically as a segment in Make Mine Music . [2] It was re-issued the following year accompanying a re-issue of Fantasia (as a short subject before the film), then released separately on home video in the 1990s.

Contents

Background

Prokofiev, while touring the West in 1938, visited Los Angeles and met Walt Disney. Prokofiev performed the piano version of Peter and the Wolf for "le papa de Mickey Mouse", as Prokofiev described him in a letter to his sons. Disney was impressed, and considered adding an animated version of Peter and the Wolf to Fantasia, which was to be released in 1940. Due to the war, these plans fell through, and it was not until 1946 that Disney released his version of Peter and the Wolf. It is not known if Prokofiev, by that point behind the Iron Curtain, was aware of this. [3]

Plot

In Disney's animated adaptation of Prokofiev's masterpiece, in which every character is represented musically by a different instrument. The apparent setting is Russia. A young Peter decides to go hunting for the wolf that has been prowling around the village. Along the way, he is joined by his friends Sasha the songbird, Sonia the duck, and Ivan the cat. All the fun comes to end, however, when the hungry wolf makes an appearance. [4]

Differences from the original

This version makes several changes to the original story, for example:

In other media

An audio recording of this version with expanded narration by Sterling Holloway was released on Disneyland Records (DQ-1242).

Peter and the Wolf is featured on DVD in the Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection release of Make Mine Music and in Walt Disney's It's a Small World of Fun! Vol. 2 . It is also featured on VHS in Belle's Tales of Friendship , the Disney version of Peter and the Wolf is featured and narrated by Belle instead of Sterling Holloway. This version was featured in House of Mouse .

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References

  1. Scott, Keith (3 October 2022). Cartoon Voices of the Golden Age, Vol. 2. BearManor Media. p. 262. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  2. "Peter and the Wolf (1946) Sparky: Trivia". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  3. Bartig, Kevin (4 April 2013). Composing for the Red Screen: Prokofiev and Soviet Film. Oxford University Press. p. 61. ISBN   9780199967605.
  4. Rocher, Jean-Marc. "Peter and the Wolf (1946): Plot Summary". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 24 June 2014.