∇

troperville

∇

tools

∇

toys

SubpagesMain
Trivia
WesternAnimation
YMMV

---

main index

Narrative

• Universal
• Applied Phlebotinum
• Characterization
• Characters
• Characters As Device
• Dialogue
• Motifs
• Narrative Devices
• Paratext
• Plots
• Settings
• Spectacle

Genre

• Action Adventure
• Comedy
• Commercials
• Crime And Punishment
• Drama
• Horror
• Love
• News
• Professional Wrestling
• Speculative Fiction
• Sports Story
• War

Media

• Animation (Western)
• Anime
• Comic Book
• Fan Fics
• Film
• Game
• Literature
• Music And Sound Effects
• New Media
• Print Media
• Radio
• Sequential Art
• Tabletop Games
• Television
• Theater
• Videogame
• Webcomics

Topical Tropes

• Betrayal
• Censorship
• Combat
• Death
• Family
• Fate And Prophecy
• Food
• Holiday
• Memory
• Money
• Morality
• Politics
• Religion
• School

Other Categories

• British Telly
• The Contributors
• Creator Speak
• Creators
• Derivative Works
• Language
• Laws And Formulas
• Show Business
• Split Personality
• Stock Room
• Trope
• Truth And Lies
• Truth In Television

Silly Symphonies was a hugely popular and influential series of Disney short subjects from The Golden Age of Animation, generally themed around music and lushly animated fairy tales. They were a very important part of Disney's history, pioneering many of their animation techniques, as well as giving animators preparation for work in the feature length animated films that the studio would later become famous for. The series would have a massive impact on the animation industry, inspiring many imitators, some of which would later evolve into future competitors for Disney, such as the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies franchise.

In some ways, Fantasia and its sequel could be seen as the successors to these cartoons.

Silly Symphonies brought along many imitators, including the Warner Bros.. cartoon series Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, Max Fleischer's Color Classics, Ub Iwerks' Comi Color Cartoons, Columbia's Color Rhapsodies, Van Beuren Studios Rainbow Parade, Walter Lantz's Cartune Classics, and MGM's Happy Harmonies from former Disney employees Harman And Ising. The television series Mickey Mouse Works used the Silly Symphonies title for some of its new cartoons, but unlike the original cartoons, these did feature continuing characters. Disney also produced comic strips and comic books with this title.

On December 3, 2001, Disney released "Silly Symphonies" as part of its DVD series "Walt Disney Treasures". On December 19, 2006, "More Silly Symphonies" was released, completing the collection and allowing the cartoons to be completely available to the public.

---

---

Tropes Related To The Series:

• Abusive Parents: The mother duck towards her Unfavorite in the 1939 version of "The Ugly Duckling,"
  • The same could also apply to the mother hen in the 1931 version, although she later makes amends after the duckling rescues her chick babies from drowning.
• Actor Allusion: Pinto Colvig, then voice of Goofy, would sing the tune "The World Owes Me a Living" as Goofy, which was the song from "The Grasshopper and the Ants", where Pinto voiced the eponymous grasshopper.
• Adorkable: Toby Tortoise in both of his appearances. Hopelessly outclassed by Max Hare and afraid of his own shadow, but he's just so darn sweet about the whole thing. His hat's penchant for flipping above his head helps.
• Alcohol Hic: The jolly rum cookies in "The Cookie Carnival".
• All Just a Dream: The ending of "Wynken, Blynken and Nod".
• All of the Other Reindeer: Demonstrated in "Elmer Elephant".
• An Aesop: Due to the fairy-tale nature of many of the shorts, it was not uncommon to have morals attached to them.
• Anachronism Stew: In "The Golden Touch"—it's very unlikely that they had hamburgers around in Medieval Europe.
• Animation Bump: Later installments of the series. After all, part of the modus operandi of making the cartoons was to pioneer animation techniques. More specific examples in the shorts are given below:
  • One scene in "Egyptian Melodies" has a background that moves in perspective—think the Dungeons from the first Phantasy Star, but fully animated. This footage was so impressive that Disney would reuse it for the Mickey Mouse cartoon "The Mad Doctor".
  • "Frolicking Fish" is a progressive example—during the making of the cartoon, animator Norm Ferguson accidentally discovered the principle of "Follow Through and Overlapping Action"—prior to this short, the characters started and stopped in a cyclish, machine-like way, but Norm animated it so that when the fish were stopping one action, they were already beginning another action, creating a very smooth, lifelike effect. You can see Norm's work on the trio of fish doing an old vaudeville soft-shoe dance in the short. Walt was so pleased by this that he had his animators study Norm's animation.
  • "Cock O' The Walk" is one of the most impressively-animated shorts in the series, featuring successful re-enactments of Broadway dance routines, tricky drawing angles, and LOTS of crowd scenes. The most notable work is by Bill Tytla, who animated virtually all of the scenes with the rooster and the pullet dancing.
  • "Three Orphan Kittens" has several backgrounds—complete with reflections in the floor tiles—that moved in perspective.
• Anthropomorphic Food: All the characters in The Cookie Carnival are, well, cookies.
• Anti-Villain: King Midas from "The Golden Touch" arguably fits this category.
• Art Evolution: The series initially started off with the standard-issue rubberhose limb art style of the time period, but life drawing classes gradually evolved the series into a more naturalistic, lively art style that would go on to define Disney.
• Art Shift: A very mild example, but in the follow-ups to "Three Little Pigs", animator Grim Natwick managed to bring some of the East Coast style of design into the shorts, as evident in the designs of Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Wolves, which wouldn't look so out of place in a Fleischer cartoon. The girl from "Cookie Carnival" also has a Fleischer-esque look, due to her also being drawn by Grim.
• Babies Make Everything Better: Thrives in "Wynken, Blynken and Nod".
  • Simultaneously played straight and subverted in both the 1931 and 1939 versions of "The Ugly Duckling". The mother chicken in the 1931 version adores her chicken babies but is completely disgusted by the duckling whose egg somehow found its way into her nest. The 1939 version takes it even further when the ducklings hatch and the father is hugs and kisses all around, but then the Ugly Duckling hatches and his appearance alone is enough to cause a fiery marital spat between the duck parents.
• Baleful Polymorph: "Babes in the Woods" has the witch use potions to turn her captive children into all sorts of assorted creatures. They get better in the end, thankfully.
• Bears Are Bad News: Done in "Little Hiawatha" and earlier with the big vicious bear in "The Bears and Bees".
• Beary Funny: The bear cubs in "The Bears and Bees".
• Big Damn Hero: Cupid pulls this in the end of "Who Killed Cock Robin"—an ironic example, as he was the one who kicked off the murder plot in the first place.
• Bittersweet Ending: The end of "The Golden Touch". Sure, King Midas may have lost his entire kingdom and fortunes, but hey, at least he dosen't have the Golden Touch anymore so he can eat—AND he got his hamburger—with onions, no less!
• Black Comedy: In the climax of "Who Killed Cock Robin?", when the three suspects are going to be hanged, the jury sings an eager ditty about hanging them, all to the tune of "The Farmer in the Tell".
• The Boxing Episode: Two of them: "Cock o' the Walk" and, more obvious, "Toby Tortoise Returns".
• Bragging Theme Tune: "The World Owes Me a Living" from "The Grasshopper and the Ants".
• Breakout Character: Donald Duck, incidental character in "The Wise Little Hen", would become one of (if not THE) most famous and beloved characters in the Disney pantheon. And according to the book "Mickey and the Gang: Classic Stories In Verse", Walt Disney even had the foresight to realize Donald could be his next big star, having press kits ready by the time "The Wise Little Hen" hit the theaters.
• The Cameo: Pluto (the character from "The Goddess of Spring") would make a cameo in a Floyd Gottfredson Mickey Mouse comic, when Mickey was trying to call Pluto (the dog), who had been spirited away by a magic spell. This comic can be found in the book "Mickey and the Gang: Classic Stories in Verse".
  • "Toby Tortoise Returns" has several cameos of characters from the Silly Symphonies series.
  • Some Silly Symphonies characters would also make cameos in the Mickey Mouse short "Mickey's Polo Team".
• Camp Gay: Cupid from "Who Killed Cock Robin?", but only because of his exaggerated mannerisms, curly hair, beak modeled to resemble red lips, large eyelashes, effeminate voice, obsession with giggling, and making his entrance on a heart-shaped space formed by pink flowers. Aside from that, he barely qualifies.
• Camp Straight: The angel food cakes in "The Cookie Carnival".
• Captain Ersatz: It's quite possible that Tom And Jerry borrowed many elements of its shorts from "The Country Cousin", which features full pantomime action and slapstick, and its protagonist mouse bears a startling resemblence to Jerry in both appearance and personality. Also, Max Hare from "The Tortoise and the Hare" could be considered a prototype for the later Merrie Melodies character Bugs Bunny—Tex Avery even admitted that the idea for Bugs came from Max Hare.
  • Mammy Two-Shoes of Tom And Jerry also makes her first appearances in the short "Three Orphan Kittens" and its follow up "More Kittens".
• Chekhov's Gun: In "Babes in the Wood", the witch uses a potion to turn a child-turned-cat into stone. At the climax of the short, the creatures-turned-back-into-children use it to defeat her when she falls off her broom and into the cauldron containing it.
• Clumsy Copyright Censorship: From comments gathered from some sources, in old VHS releases of "Cock O' The Walk", the song used in the middle of the the short, "The Karaoka", was dubbed out of those prints and replaced with a much more generic instrumental tune due to copyright issues. Fortunately, the original print and song was brought back for the Walt Disney Treasures: More Silly Symphonies DVD set.
• Country Mouse: Used in "The Country Cousin". Abner Mouse even provides the page image.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Toby Tortoise is pretty much hopeless against beating Max Hare in "Toby Tortoise Returns"—it's only when Max Hare stuffs him full of fireworks and firecrackers and accidentally turns Toby into a makeshift rocket that the turtle finally gets the upper hand.
• Dem Bones: "The Skeleton Dance", obviously.
• The Determinator: The flame from "The Moth and the Flame".
• Digital Destruction: A very mild example—in the Treasures sets, there are some mild hints of DVNR every now and again, but you usually have to look for it to notice. Also, the aforementioned VHS edit of "Cock O' The Walk".
• Disney Acid Sequence: Arguably the entirety of "Wynken, Blynken and Nod".
• Disney Death: Done in the end of "The Busy Beavers".
• Disney Fication: The fairy tales presented are toned down from their source material. Justified, as Walt claimed in one interview that times and tastes were changing and the stories couldn't have been presented as they originally were.
• Dis Proportionate Retribution: The Pied Piper, from the eponymous short, is so angered at being swindled out of his money, that he uses his music to take the town's children away forever.
  • It's not really disproportionate as his primary motivation was to spare the children from growing up to be as selfish and corrupt as the adults of Hamlin.
• Do Not Touch the Funnel Cloud: Demonstrated in the 1931 version of "The Ugly Duckling".
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Demonstrated in "The Golden Touch" (where King Midas is forced to give up his kingdom—castle and all—just for a hamburger) and the 1939 version of "The Ugly Duckling".
• Easter Bunny: "Funny Little Bunnies" is a classic example of this.
• Everything's Better with Monkeys: "Monkey Melodies" and "Elmer Elephant" demonstrate this.
• Everything's Better with Penguins: In "Peculiar Penguins"
• Everything's Even Worse with Sharks: Demonstrated in "Peculiar Penguins".
• Everythings Worse With Bees: In the climax of "Birds in the Spring".
• Fire and Brimstone Hell: As depicted in "Hell's Bells" and "The Goddess of Spring".
• Follow the Leader: This is hands down one of the most influential series of cartoons in the History of Animation...and also one of the most ripped-off as a result. Almost every studio in the 1930's, sans Terry Toons, was trying to rip off of these cartoons—none of them were successful, however.
  • The Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies cartoons, by virtue of improvement of the shorts, with a certain Expy of Max Hare, might be considered an exception.
• Getting Crap Past the Radar: This gem from "Toby Tortoise Returns", when Toby is knocked out of the ring and falls onto Jenny Wren's lap and needs some, er, encouragement:
  "I like a man that takes his time."
  • In "Santa's Workshop", in the first minute or two, if you look in the background, you can see er...reindeer chocolate being scooped out of one of the stalls.
  • In the 1939 version of "The Ugly Duckling", after the titular character hatches; the father duck looks to the normal-looking ducklings, then angrily back to the ugly one before engaging the Mother Duck in a heated argument that culminates with her slapping him and the Father Duck storming off in anger. Although the two of them are quacking rather than speaking, their gestures and tone of voice indicate that the Father Duck is claiming that the Ugly Duckling couldn't possibly be his and that the only reason the Ugly Duckling looks so different from the others was if the Mother Duck was having an extra-marital affair.
• Good Is Dumb: Toby Tortoise, although its arguable whether he's genuinely stupid or just slow to act.
• The Grim Reaper: A golden version of him appears in the climax of "The Golden Touch".
• Hammer Space: In "Toby Tortoise Returns", his small shell is demonstrated to be able to hold himself, a mouse-trap, dozens of fireworks and firecrackers, and a diving helmet.
• Hijacked By Jesus: In a feat that would be echoed 63 years later by Disney, "The Goddess of Spring" flanderizes the mythical Greek figure Pluto, from a merely fearsome but noble being into an ersatz for Satan.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Demonstrated in "Flowers and Trees" and "Toby Tortoise Returns".
• Instant Plunder, Just Add Pirates: Done in "King Neptune".
• Ironic Echo: From "The Golden Touch", "Give me gold, not advice!" comes back to bite King Midas in the back minutes later.
• Karmic Trickster: Goldie the Elf from "The Golden Touch".
• Mickey Mousing: Part of why the series was made was to take the sound and animation mixing of Steamboat Willie one step further.
• Monkey Morality Pose: Featuring in a china figure of the three Good Little Monkeys (no relation) in "The China Shop".
• Ms. Fanservice: Parodied with Jenny Wren from "Who Killed Cock Robin?".
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Jenny Wren from "Who Killed Cock Robin?" is a shameless caricature of actress Mae West—but was such a successful caricature of her that Mae herself praised it! Cock Robin might be a caricature of the then-popular crooner Bing Crosby. The crow from the short is also a caricature of black actor Stepin Fetchit, and Harpo Marx of the Marx Brothers is caricatured here as a woodpecker.
  • "Elmer Elephant" has a throwaway gag with three pelicans doing a Jimmy Durante impression.
• Officer O'Hara: Parodied in "Who Killed Cock Robin?"
• Panty Shot: Several shots of Tilly Tiger's garments are displayed in "Elmer Elephant".
  • The blonde moth from "The Moth and the Flame", due to the wide, curvy shape of her skirt and the length being above the knees. This allows to give views of her white (or light blue) undies, such as when she puts on a show by doing the can-can for the male flame and she also flashes by bending over, and lifting the back on her skirt.
• Pint-Sized Kids: All of the children in "Babes in the Wood".
• Public Domain Soundtrack / Standard Snippet: Often featured in the cartoons.
• Poorly Disguised Pilot: "Mother Pluto" is a Silly Symphony In Name Only. The music is there almost by compromise, it plays exactly like Pluto's previous appearances, and his official solo series launched the next year. Pluto had starred on his own, as the first time without Mickey Mouse, in another short in this series: Just Dogs.
• Recycled IN SPACE!: "Cock O' The Walk" is a collection of Broadway dance routines WITH CHICKENS!
• The Remake: "The Ugly Duckling", originally released in 1931, was a fun little action short, that had almost nothing to do with its inspirational source. Eight years later, the 1939 version completely revamped the art and the story to be both more believable and more faithful to the original tale; by being one of the most polished shorts, it effectively served as the series' Grand Finale.
• Rhymes on a Dime: Not uncommon in the shorts.
• Rubberhose Limbs: Mostly in the early shorts.
• Santa Claus: Gets two shorts to himself: "Santa's Workshop" and "The Night Before Christmas".
• Satan: A very cartoony version of him appears in "Hell's Bells".
• Screw The Rules I Have Plot: So when Toby Tortoise was knocked out of the ring in "Toby Tortoise Returns", why didn't the match automatically go to Max Hare?
• Shaped Like Itself: The "Nothin' But a Nothin'" song from "The Flying Mouse" demonstrates this:
  You're nothin' but a nothin', a nothin', a nothin', you're nothin' but a nothin', you're not a thing at all!
• Shout Out: In the shorts "Birds of a Feather" and "Egyptian Melodies", a character will shout "Mammy!" as a gag.
• Something Completely Different: "Toby Tortoise Returns", "Mother Goose Goes Hollywood" and "Mother Pluto".
• Stock Footage: "Egyptian Melodies" has some animation of a hallway moving in perspective that would later be reused in the Mickey Mouse cartoon "The Mad Doctor".
  • Portions of "The Skeleton Dance" were re-used a few months later in the Mickey Mouse cartoon "Haunted House".
• Super Speed: A trait of Max Hare from "The Tortoise and the Hare".
• Sweet Dreams Fuel: "Wynken, Blynken and Nod" is full of this.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Delivered to the mouse in "The Flying Mouse", although it's more of a Reason You Suck Song.
• The Twelve Principles of Animation: The series was important in developing and refining these principles.
• Through a Face Full of Fur: This happens with both furry and non-furry animals, including the following such as:
  • The Hobo Cookie from "The Cookie Carnival", who turns red in the face after kissing the Cookie Queen (who's now real and no longer a gingerbread), when he realizes they're being watched. He grabs a lollipop and they kiss once again while trying to hide behind it, but they can still be seen since the candy part is transparent and their literal heated passion causes it to melt at the end.
  • The grasshopper from "The Grasshopper and the Ants", who is blue from the wintry cold as he's caught in a blizzard and he trudges through the snow, seeking shelter.
• Turtle Power: Toby Tortoise from "The Tortoise and the Hare" and its follow-up "Toby Tortoise Returns".
• The Unfavorite: In "The Ugly Duckling"...well, guess.
• Anti-Villainous Breakdown: King Midas goes through this in "The Golden Touch" when he discovers everything he touches will turn to gold.
• Villain Song: "You're Nothin' But a Nothin'" from "The Flying Mouse" (although the bats are more along the lines of bullies) and "Hades" from "The Goddess of Spring".
• Visual Pun: In "Cookie Carnival", we get a glimpse of two figures representing the Devil's Food cake—they being actual devil-like figures.
• Wheel o' Feet: A proto-example is featured in "The Tortoise and the Hare".
• Woodland Creatures: Would often pop up in the shorts.
• Wraparound Background: Seen during the Toy Parade sequence of "Santa's Workshop".
• Zany Cartoon: "Toby Tortoise Returns", arguably one of the earliest examples, even predating Tex Avery's landmark short "Porky's Duck Hunt".

---

Humphrey The Bear

The Golden Age of Animation

Miscellaneous Disney Shorts

Brave Little Tailor

The Great Depression

Flowers And Trees

The Secret Of NIMH

Creator/United Artists

Since You Went Away

Sidney The Elephant

Western Animation

Silverhawks

Steamboat Willie

The Roaring Twenties

The Skeleton Dance