The Ballad of Nessie

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The Ballad Of Nessie
The Ballad of Nessie poster.jpg
Poster for The Ballad of Nessie
Directed by Stevie Wermers-Skelton
Kevin Deters
Screenplay byRegina Conroy
Steve Wermers-Sckelton
Kevin Deters
Story by Stevie Wermers-Skelton
Regina Conroy
Produced by Dorothy McKim
Tamara Boutcher
Narrated by Billy Connolly
Edited by Jeff Draheim
Music by Michael Giacchino
Production
companies
Distributed by Walt Disney Studios
Motion Pictures
Release dates
  • March 5, 2011 (2011-03-05)(Belgium)
  • July 15, 2011 (2011-07-15)(U.S., with Winnie The Pooh )
Running time
6 minutes [1]
LanguageEnglish

The Ballad of Nessie is a 2011 traditionally animated short film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. It was directed by Stevie Wermers-Skelton and Kevin Deters, and produced by the team behind Disney's 2007 animated short film How to Hook Up Your Home Theater .

Contents

The short, narrated by Billy Connolly, is a Disney adaptation of the origin of the Loch Ness Monster, Nessie. [2]

Plot

A gentle creature named Nessie lives happily in a small pond with her best friend MacQuack, a rubber duck. When rich developer MacFroogal destroys the pond and land surrounding it to build a giant miniature golf course, Nessie is forced to search for a new home. She finds rejection everywhere and is always ordered to keep a stiff upper lip whenever she feels like crying. Finally, Nessie loses all hope and starts crying for weeks on end. She cannot cry anymore when she finds that her tears have created Loch Ness, a new home for her and MacQuack.

A mid-credits scene reveals that MacFroogal's golf course is flooded out as well. MacFroogal breaks down in tears as he and his assistants sail away on part of a large sign, while the water knocks off some of the letters on the remaining part, leaving the word "MacFool" behind.

Release

The short premiered on March 5, 2011, at Anima 2011, the International Animation Film Festival of Brussel. [3] In the United States, it accompanied the theatrical release of Winnie the Pooh , which premiered on July 15, 2011.

Home media

The short was released on October 25, 2011, as a bonus feature on the Blu-ray, DVD, and digital download release of Winnie the Pooh. [4] The Ballad of Nessie was released on the Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection Blu-ray on August 18, 2015. [5]

Accolades

The Ballad of Nessie was nominated for a 2012 Annie Award for Best Animated Short Subject. [6]

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References

  1. "The Ballad of Nessie". Amazon. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  2. Grover, Ron (4 May 2007). "Disney Bets Long on Film Shorts". Business Week . Archived from the original on 8 May 2007. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
  3. "Anima Rss feed (Dutch)".
  4. "All the beloved characters from the Hundred Acre Wood are back". The Walt Disney Studios via Toon Zone. 9 September 2011. Archived from the original on 18 September 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  5. Doty, Meriah (4 June 2015). "'Frozen Fever' (and Easter Eggs!) Coming Soon on Disney Shorts Blu-ray (Exclusive)". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  6. "39th Annual Annie Nominations & Winners!". The Annie Awards. International Animated Film Society. Archived from the original on 4 December 2009. Retrieved 29 October 2012.