8/10
Visually beautiful adaptation of the Eugene Field poem
6 May 2015
Warning: Spoilers
This is one of the Silly Symphonies series of shorts produced by Disney. There will be spoilers ahead:

This is going to be somewhat familiar to anyone who knows the poem by the same title by Eugene Field. There isn't much of a plot per se, which makes it perfect for a seven minute cartoon. The gags are basic and somewhat repetitive, but the purpose of the Disney shorts in general and the Silly Symphonies series in particular was to stretch the animators' skills and abilities and work out the kinks, rather than flying blind when working on features. Some of what they did on shorts like this one stood them in good stead on Dumbo, Pinocchio and other features. Disney trained a whole host of animators, in-betweeners and others in the best "class" they could get, namely, actually working on the shorts to learn their craft.

The three boys are seen in a wooden shoe, trying to fish for stars. The one in the pink sleeper keeps getting into trouble, falling overboard more than once. As fishermen, the boys have a lot to learn. they wind up getting tangled up in all sorts of ways, hooking themselves and each other. Having the hooks be candy canes is a cute touch.

They wind up "catching" a comet in their net and getting hauled around until they bump into a rather jovial sleeping cloud, which blows them into another, less pleased sleeping cloud. The resulting windstorm sends them tumbling down into the ending of the short, which is cute, though predictable if you know the poem. I won't spoil it here if you don't. The short punctuates a running gag with the ending.

This short is available on the Disney Treasures Silly Symphonies DVD set and is well worth having. Recommended.
1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed