tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4364805792882783170.post3521900661396438329..comments2023-11-03T09:20:52.837-04:00Comments on Disney Film Project: The Merry DwarfsRyanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126059549015204825noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4364805792882783170.post-48035137663151245872009-06-20T04:24:50.549-04:002009-06-20T04:24:50.549-04:00Any fan of the loopy Iwerks /Disney style of carto...Any fan of the loopy Iwerks /Disney style of cartoon mayhem dancing and goofy parading around will find a lot to cheer in this fun, cheeky short.<br />Once again a silly gayness is visited upon briefly when all of a sudden a male dwarf uses a leaf as a skirt and immediately becomes a female impersonator with his partner, another male dwarf with a long beard, gladly assuming the male's role to his friend's sudden female personality shift. It takes about the same amount of time to watch on screen as it takes to read this paragraph.<br />Just another goofy, silly FUN moment from Walt and Ub and their team.<br />How lucky we are to be able to reference these shorts on dvd as we read about them---when I was a kid obtaining a rare 16mm print of this early Disney/Iwerks Silly Symphony was really cause for celebration.<br />We are spoiled---and very lucky--- to have nearly every Disney sound short within easy reach. <br />I keep going back to this period of early Disney/Iwerks sound shorts for cartoon inspiration of the highest order---this brief period was over all too quickly yet caused a revolution in the entertainment world and forever put Disney on the map.<br />Plus , as I recall, Disney had great luck with goofy dancing and singing dwarfs just a years later when they helped support his first feature---they even got co-billing in the title with their leading lady!<br />Merry Dwarfs indeed!Kevin C.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4364805792882783170.post-88137599619780860682009-06-20T03:57:45.116-04:002009-06-20T03:57:45.116-04:00That's very true about animated films giving u...That's very true about animated films giving us access to worlds that couldn't exist in real life. In fact, this seems to be the first time in a Disney cartoon that we enter a world inspired by picture storybooks with details like pumpkin and mushroom houses. Disney had covered Fairytales in the Laugh-O-Grams, of course, but they never seemed like a storybook world come to life, as is starting to happen here.<br /><br />The details and logic of this world are of the kind that has inspired illustrators and animators for generations. A world that is similar to our own, but with certain differences to suit its inhabitants. Therefore, the people of this world still need blacksmiths, but their 'horses' are actually insects. In a film like 'Finding Nemo' the underwater world has houses, schools, and traffic, but it all works in a fanciful way that fits the aquatic life. I think this kind of thing is coming together for the first time in a Disney cartoon here. There are also touches to make the world more believable like the lighting effects in the blacksmith scene.<br /><br />I do wonder if the reissue version (as found on the DVD) fades to black just a few frames too early. I really like the wonky iris out of the drunken ending and wonder if everything crashed together a little more as the last beats of music suggest (maybe just a more sudden appearance by the end card to suit the cymbal crash, rather than that gentle fade from black)Machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17701967442508380462noreply@blogger.com