The Golden Touch (film)

Last updated
The Golden Touch
The Golden Touch.png
Title card
Directed by Walt Disney
Story byAlbert Hurter
Produced by Walt Disney
Starring Billy Bletcher
Music by Frank Churchill
Animation by Norm Ferguson
Fred Moore
Production
company
Distributed by United Artists
Release date
  • March 22, 1935 (1935-03-22)
Running time
10 minutes
CountryUnited States

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. [1] It was the last film directed by Disney.

Contents

Plot

The extremely rich King Midas never cares for women nor wine, and he never gets enough of his gold, wishing that one day, everything he touched would turn to gold. An elf named Goldie appears beside him and offers him the Golden Touch, demonstrating its magical powers by turning Midas's cat to gold, and then clapping his hands and snapping his fingers to change it back. Midas tries to offer everything he owns in exchange, but he is warned by Goldie that the Golden Touch will prove a golden curse. Midas derides this by exclaiming, "Fiddlesticks! Give me gold! Not advice!", so Goldie gives him the Golden Touch.

At first, Midas is happy with his newfound power. He turns his cat and several things in his garden to gold. Then he talks to himself in his mirror about turning the Earth, and then the universe, to gold, but then he finds out that he can neither eat nor drink anymore. Even his bite turns a roasted chicken to gold. Deprived of his food and fearing starvation, he asks himself in his mirror, "Is the richest king in all the world to starve to death?" His reflection in his mirror hallucinates into a golden skeleton that nods in reply to his question.

Horrified, Midas tries to flee the castle, but as he approaches the castle gate, he sees his shadow morph into a golden grim reaper. Then Midas flees back to his counting room, where the cartoon started. He summons the elf, crying, "Take away this golden curse! Don't let me starve! Take everything, my gold, my kingdom for a hamburger sandwich!" Goldie agrees to take back the Golden Touch in exchange for everything Midas possesses, including his castle, his crown (replacing it with a tin can), and even his clothes (only sparing his undergarments). In return, Midas is given the hamburger that he begged for (first touching it to see if Goldie kept his promise). Instead of bemoaning his poverty, Midas devours the hamburger (which came with onions) joyfully, simply because he can eat now.

Production

The Golden Touch was an attempt by Walt Disney to direct a cartoon, which he had not done for five years. Disney had been criticizing his cartoon directors, and decided to direct the cartoon himself. The short itself was an immediate failure. Reasons included that the short was stiff and lethargically paced, and that Midas came off as too one-dimensional and too unsympathetic for audiences to care about him. As such, Disney immediately disowned the cartoon and forbade anybody from ever bringing it up around the studio. This failure was also so hard on him that he gave up directing cartoons altogether, stepping aside to become a full-time producer.

Voice cast

Home media

The short was released on December 4, 2001, on Walt Disney Treasures: Silly Symphonies - The Historic Musical Animated Classics [2] [1] and on Walt Disney's Timeless Tales/Wave Two/Volume Three in 2006.

Related Research Articles

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>Mickeys Polo Team</i> 1936 Mickey Mouse cartoon

Mickey's Polo Team is a 1936 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by United Artists. The cartoon features a game of polo played between four Disney characters, led by Mickey Mouse, and four cartoon versions of real-life movie stars. It was directed by David Hand and was first released on January 4, 1936. The film was inspired by Walt Disney's personal love of polo. It was the 80th Mickey Mouse short film to be released, and the first of that year.

<i>Three Little Pigs</i> (film) 1933 short animated film directed by Burt Gillett

Three Little Pigs is a 1933 animated short film released by United Artists, produced by Walt Disney and directed by Burt Gillett. Based on the fable of the same name, the Silly Symphony won the 1934 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. The short cost $22,000 and grossed $250,000.

<i>Toby Tortoise Returns</i> 1936 animated Technicolor cartoon

Toby Tortoise Returns is an animated Technicolor cartoon in Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies series, directed by Wilfred Jackson. It is a sequel to the 1935 short The Tortoise and the Hare, and premiered on August 22, 1936.

<i>The Practical Pig</i> 1939 American film

The Practical Pig is a Silly Symphony cartoon. It was released on February 24, 1939, and directed by Dick Rickard. It was the fourth and final cartoon starring The Three Pigs. Like its predecessors, The Practical Pig incorporates the song "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?". Unlike its predecessors however, its title cards labeled it as a standalone Three Little Pigs cartoon, suggesting that they were to get their own series of cartoons. It is also the second-to-last Silly Symphony cartoon.

<i>Three Little Wolves</i> (film) Three Little Wolves film

Three Little Wolves is a Silly Symphony cartoon. Released on April 18, 1936, and directed by Dave Hand. It was the third Silly Symphony cartoon starring the Three Little Pigs. It is loosely based on The Boy Who Cried Wolf. It introduces the Big Bad Wolf's sons, the Three Little Wolves, all of them just as eager for a taste of the pigs as their father.

Elmer Elephant is a Silly Symphony cartoon short produced by The Walt Disney Company, directed by Wilfred Jackson and released on March 28, 1936.

Owen Earl Duvall was an American artist and animator best known for his work on Disney comic strips in the early 1930s and for a handful of animated short films he directed at Warner Bros. Cartoons.

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

<i>The Tortoise and the Hare</i> (film) 1935 film

The Tortoise and the Hare is an American animated short film part of the Silly Symphony series, released on January 5, 1935, by United Artists, produced by Walt Disney and directed by Wilfred Jackson. Based on an Aesop's fable of the same name, it won the 1934 Oscar for Best Short Subject: Cartoons. This cartoon is also believed to be one of the inspirations for Bugs Bunny by Warner Bros., who first appeared in 1940.

<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 Country Cousin</i> 1936 film

The Country Cousin is a Walt Disney animated short film released on October 31, 1936 by United Artists. The winner of an Oscar at the 9th Academy Awards for Best Animated Short Film, the film was produced by Walt Disney, directed by Wilfred Jackson, and animated by Art Babbitt and Les Clark. As is true for most cartoons in the Silly Symphonies series, The Country Cousin was built around a musical score, which was written by Leigh Harline. The film's story was based on one of Aesop's Fables, The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse. It was accompanied by a storybook for young children, which was common for many of the Silly Symphonies.

The China Shop, based on the fairy tale "The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep" by Hans Christian Andersen, is a short animated Disney cartoon, part of the Silly Symphonies series. The cartoon was released on January 13, 1934. The short was directed by Wilfred Jackson.

<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.

The Flying Mouse is a Silly Symphonies cartoon produced by Walt Disney, directed by David Hand, and released to theatres by United Artists on July 14, 1934. The use of color here was rather innovative as it is set during the course of a single day.

<i>The Robber Kitten</i> 1935 film

The Robber Kitten is a 1935 Walt Disney Silly Symphonies cartoon, directed by David Hand.

Who Killed Cock Robin is a Silly Symphonies short released on June 26, 1935, by United Artists, produced by Walt Disney and directed by David Hand. It is based on the nursery rhyme Who Killed Cock Robin?. It was nominated for the Best Short Subject (Cartoons) Oscar but lost to Disney's own Three Orphan Kittens.

Lullaby Land is a Silly Symphonies animated Disney short film released in 1933. The quilt from Lullaby Land inspired the garden section of the Storybook Land Canal Boats ride at Disneyland California.

Silly Symphony is a weekly Disney comic strip that debuted on January 10, 1932, as a topper for the Mickey Mouse strip's Sunday page. The strip featured adaptations of Walt Disney's popular short film series, Silly Symphony, which released 75 cartoons from 1929 to 1939, as well as other cartoons and animated films. The comic strip outlived its parent series by six years, ending on October 7, 1945.

References

  1. 1 2 3 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. 156–157. ISBN   978-1-4847-5132-9.
  2. ↑ "Silly Symphonies: The Historic Musical Animated Classics DVD Review". DVD Dizzy. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
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.