The Grasshopper and the Ants | |
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Directed by | Wilfred Jackson |
Story by | Bill Cottrell |
Produced by | Walt Disney |
Starring | Pinto Colvig Dorothy Compton |
Music by | Leigh Harline |
Animation by | Art Babbitt Dick Huemer Albert Hurter |
Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | |
Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date |
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Running time | 8 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Grasshopper and the Ants is a 1934 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by United Artists. Part of the Silly Symphonies series, the film is an adaptation of The Ant and the Grasshopper , one of Aesop's Fables. It was directed by Wilfred Jackson and stars Pinto Colvig as the voice of the grasshopper Hop. [1]
The film introduced the song "The World Owes Me a Living" (later "I Owe the World a Living") by Leigh Harline and Larry Morey, [2] which later became associated with the character Goofy who was also voiced by Colvig. According to Leonard Maltin on the Walt Disney Treasures: Silly Symphonies DVD, this was an early example of the idea of having a character turn blue with cold, when full-spectrum Technicolor was still new at the time.
The cartoon is believed to be a commentary on the Great Depression and the New Deal, which at that time had just been introduced by the Roosevelt administration. [3] [4]
The grasshopper is playing his fiddle, dancing and eating leaves. He notices some ants working hard collecting food. He laughs and calls an ant to him. He tells the ant that there is food on every tree and he sees no reason to work. He dances and sings that The world owes us a living. The ant begins to dance too. The queen ant arrives, carried in a sedan chair, and sees the ant playing instead of working. The ant notices the queen and immediately goes back to work. The angry queen warns the grasshopper that he will change his tune when winter comes. The grasshopper blithely dismisses the queen's warning, saying that winter is a long way off.
Autumn passes and winter arrives. The grasshopper trudges through the snow, cold and hungry. He finds one withered leaf, but it blows away before he can eat it. Meanwhile, the ants are feasting on their stored food. The grasshopper knocks on their door and collapses. The ants carry him inside and warm and feed him. The queen ant approaches him, and the grasshopper begs to be allowed to stay. She tells him that only those who work may stay, and tells him to take his fiddle. Thinking that he is being dismissed, the grasshopper starts to leave, but when the queen tells him to play the fiddle, he happily does and sings that I owe the world a living!, having acknowledged the ants were right.
The short was released on December 4, 2001, on Walt Disney Treasures: Silly Symphonies - The Historic Musical Animated Classics , [5] [1] in 2005 on Walt Disney's Timeless Tales Volume 1 and again on Walt Disney Animation Collection: Classic Short Films Volume 5: Wind in the Willows in 2009.
It was released on Blu-Ray in 2009 as a bonus feature on A Bug's Life .
Goofy is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. He is a tall, anthropomorphic dog who typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled fedora. Goofy is a close friend of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, and is Max Goof's father. He is normally characterized as hopelessly clumsy and dim-witted, yet this interpretation is not always definitive; occasionally, Goofy is shown as intuitive and clever, albeit in his own unique, eccentric way.
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.
Vance DeBar Colvig Sr., known professionally as Pinto Colvig, was an American voice actor, cartoonist, and circus and vaudeville performer whose schtick was playing the clarinet off-key while mugging. Colvig was the original performer of the Disney characters Goofy and Pluto, as well as Bozo the Clown and Bluto in Popeye. In 1993, he was posthumously made a Disney Legend for his contributions to Walt Disney Films, including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Fun and Fancy Free.
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.
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.
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.
Mickey's Delayed Date is a 1947 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions, distributed by RKO Radio Pictures and released on October 3, 1947. The film was directed by Charles Nichols and was animated by Jerry Hathcock, George Kreisl, George Nicholas, Harry Holt, Bob Youngquist, Marvin Woodward, and Max Cox with effects animation by Jack Boyd and Andy Engman. It was the 120th short in the Mickey Mouse film series to be released and the only one produced that year.
Music Land is a Silly Symphony animated Disney short released in 1935.
The Big Bad Wolf is an animated short released on April 13, 1934, by United Artists, produced by Walt Disney and directed by Burt Gillett as part of the Silly Symphony series. Acting partly as a sequel to the wildly successful adaptation of The Three Little Pigs of the previous year, this film also acts as an adaptation of the fairy-tale Little Red Riding Hood, with the Big Bad Wolf from 1933's Three Little Pigs acting as the adversary to Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother.
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.
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.
Tea for Two Hundred is an American animated short film directed by Jack Hannah. Part of the Donald Duck film series, the film was produced in Technicolor by Walt Disney Productions and released to theaters by RKO Radio Pictures on December 24, 1948. The cartoon stars a picnicking Donald Duck who faces an army of African ants trying to steal his food. Clarence Nash stars as Donald while the ants were voiced by Pinto Colvig. The film includes original music by Oliver Wallace.
Mother Pluto is a Silly Symphonies cartoon released on November 14, 1936, directed by Wilfred Jackson. The cartoon features Pluto.
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 Pointer is an American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures on July 21, 1939, shown in theaters with Way Down South. The short was directed by Clyde Geronimi and animated by Fred Moore, Frank Thomas, Lynn Karp, Seamus Culhane, Ollie Johnston, Preston Blair, Lester Norvi, John Lounsbery, Claude Smitha, Art Palmer, and Josh Meador. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoon) in 1940. It was the 106th short in the Mickey Mouse film series to be released, and the third for that year.
Just Dogs is a 1932 animated film part of the Silly Symphony series, directed by Burt Gillett. It marked the first solo appearance of Pluto.
The Goddess of Spring is a 9-minute Silly Symphonies animated Disney short film. The Symphony is imbued with operatic themes and is often cited as melodramatic. It was released in 1934, and its production was important to the future development of Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs animation. Each Silly Symphony was a technological marvel at the time and proceeded to further advancements in the animation industry.
Woodland Café is a Silly Symphonies animated Disney short film. It was filmed in Technicolor and released by United Artists in 1937 and was re-issued by RKO Radio Pictures in 1948. While it contained no on-screen credits, Wilfred Jackson was the director and Leigh Harline was the musical director.
Mickey's Service Station is a 1935 animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by United Artists. The film, which stars Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy as car mechanics, was also the final black-and-white appearance of Donald, Goofy, and Pete and the penultimate animated black-and-white film produced by Disney after Mickey's Kangaroo which was released later the same year. It was also the first team-up of the classic trio of Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. Mickey's Service Station was directed by Ben Sharpsteen, who at the time had directed only Silly Symphony shorts, and starred the voices of Walt Disney, Clarence Nash, Pinto Colvig, and Billy Bletcher. It was the 74th Mickey Mouse short film to be released, and the third of that year.