Review of The China Shop

I always enjoyed the Silly Symphonies that tried out different themes and concepts, and this one certainly is no exception, being all about living ornaments that come to life and cavort and caper when the owner of the shop closes for the night! And just for a little drama, as a pair of Victorian dancers begin to dance together, there is of course an awfully devilish jade ornament that lurks in a more sinister corner of the place who is instantly green with envy and swipes the girl! I love the way that all of the characters have a certain look and movement to them, they have a reflective sheen to them that creations of pot and glass would, and that little detail just beautifully conveys that. I really appreciate how the animators went to the trouble of doing that, had they been lazy they wouldn't have bothered to include such a rich touch. It was mighty appealing to me, I enjoyed the different approach to some of the animation, it's very brightly textured and colourful. The shorts had really picked up in quality by this time, but they had yet to reach the best quality that they did. You can perhaps see very early echoes of what would later be expanded upon in Beauty and the Beast with the dancing plates and teacups of the legendary "Be Our Guest" song over fifty years later! I love how there isn't any dialogue whatsoever and everything we see is played out to wonderful music. It's like an adorable little ceramic opera! It is a very classic kind of story that most Disney shorts had at their core: A villain kidnaps a girl and a hero has to save her. And I'm not criticising that formula at all, it's one of the most easy to get into and simplest of stories that you could tell in such a short amount of time. I also liked the ending where the kindly old shopkeeper returns to find his wares mysteriously cracked and damaged and not knowing what to make of it, but deciding to re-label them as "antiques" and raising the prices as the female dancer bashfully giggles. It's a good short but there's nothing about it that I'd say makes it an outstanding one. It's very animated, that's just the best way to put it! Excellent idea and presentation, good short. Tally-ho!