“Silly Symphonies”是迪斯尼在1929-1939十年期間推出的一系列動畫短片，當時是迪斯尼在米老鼠系列動畫以外的一個非常重要的動畫系列。雖然近期迪斯尼也出過一些名為“Silly Symphony”的動畫，但早已失去這個系列在當年的意義，所以不能歸為這個系列中。上世紀三十年代的這個系列的動畫，對後來的迪斯尼乃至整個動畫界都有很深遠的影響。短小而緊湊的故事情節，配上優美的音樂，至今仍被世界各國動畫迷津津樂道，第一部獲得奧斯卡最佳動畫短片的作品“Flowers and Trees”就是出自這個系列。
DISC-1： 01 三隻小豬 THREE LITTLE PIGS 02 老磨坊 The Old Mill 03 三隻小狼 THREE LITTLE WOLVES 04 飛蛾與燈火的故事 MOTH AND THE FLAME 05 春日的小鳥 BIRDS IN THE SPRING 06 聖誕節的前一夜 THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS 07 遊走公雞 COCK O'THE WALK 08 春天女神的故事 THE GODDESS OF SPRING 09 大灰狼的故事 THE BIG BAD WOLF 10 老國王科爾 OLD KING COLE 11 餅乾嘉年華 The COOKIE CARNIVAL 12 木頭世界咖啡廳 WOODLAND CAFE 13 北極的滑稽表演藝術家 ARCTIC ANTICS 14 秋天 AUTUMN 15 大熊與蜜蜂 THE BEARS AND BEES 16 賣鳥的商店 THE BIRD STORE 17 兩隻相愛的小蟲子 BUGS IN LOVE 18 離家的小貓 THE CAT'S OUT 19 鐘錶店 THE CLOCK STORE DISC-2： 01 醜小鴨 UGLY DUCKLING 02 鄉下來的表弟 The COUNTRY COUSIN 03 三隻瞎老鼠 Three Blind Mouseketeers 04 花衣魔笛手 THE PIED PIPER 05 海神的故事 KING NEPTUNE 06 聖誕老人的工作室 SANTA'S WORKSHOP 07 瓷器鋪的故事 THE CHINA SHOP 08 壞掉的玩具 BROKEN TOYS 09 農場交響樂 FARMYARD SYMPHONY 10 誰殺了公雞羅賓 WHO KILLED COCK ROBIN 11 諾亞方舟 FATHER NOAH'S ARK 12 一隻醜陋的小鴨子 THE UGLY DUCKLING 13 獵狐狸去 THE FOX HUNT 14 活潑頑皮的魚 FROLICKING FISH 15 地獄的鐘聲 HELL'S BELLS 16 猴子音樂會 MONKEY MELODIES 17 夜晚 NIGHT 18 愛玩的阿潘 PLAYFUL PAN DISC-3： 01 龜兔賽跑 THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE 02 小象艾爾莫 ELMER ELEPHANT 03 烏龜托比再次亮相 TOBY TORTOISE RETURNS 04 小飛鼠 THE FLYING MOUSE 05 土匪小貓 The ROBBER KITTEN 06 蚱蜢和螞蟻 The Grasshopper and the ANTS 07 雲肯 布林肯與諾德 WYNKEN,BLYNKEN AND NOD 08 聰明的小母雞 THE WISE LITTLE HEN 09 可愛的小兔子 Funny little bunnies 10 奇特的小企鵝 PECULIAR PENGUINS 11 布魯托當媽媽 MOTHER PLUTO 12 春日時光 SPRINGTIME 13 夏日 SUMMER 14 冬天 WINTER 15 蜘蛛與蒼蠅 THE SPIDER AND THE FLY 16 食人族跳跳舞(最終版本) CANNIBAL CAPERS 17 冒牌鬥牛士 EL TERRIBLE TOREADOR 18 快樂的小矮人 THE MERRY DWARFS DISC-4： 01 小小印第安 Little HIAWATHA 02 花與樹 FLOWERS AND TREES 03 點金術 THE GOLDEN TOUCH 04 三隻流浪小貓 THREE ORPHAN KITTENS 05 鵝媽媽童謠 MOTHER GOOSE 06 森林裡的小寶貝 BABES IN THE WOODS 07 搖籃曲的樂土 LULLABY LAND 08 小貓的另一個故事 More Kittens 09 人魚小寶貝 MERBABIES 10 水寶貝 WATER BABIES 11 音樂王國 MUSIC LAND 12 鵝媽媽之歌 MOTHER GOOSE MELODIES 13 一根羽毛的鳥 BIRDS OF A FEATHER 14 忙忙活活的海狸們 THE BUSY BEAVERS 15 狗的故事 JUST DOGS 16 埃及之歌 EGYPTIAN MELODIES 17 玩具店的午夜狂歡 MIDNIGHT IN A TOY SHOP 18 食人族跳跳舞 CANNIBAL CAPERS劇照
內容簡介
鵝媽媽曲調 Mother Goose Melodies (1931) (8:11)
Old King Cole leads the proceedings as a book full of Mother Goose fables is set to lively music. Several tales are cleverly referenced both musically and visually, and the short is overall quite entertaining for all of its simplicity.
孩子們在森林裡 Babes in the Woods (1932) (7:42)
A Technicolor take on the Hansel and Gretel story of old, this version has the siblings detour to a village of friendly gnomes before being taken by the two-faced witch. In addition, the children (and many others before them) are turned into animals rather than fattened on the witch's candy house. Before Gretel is bewitched into a rat, however, the gnomes come to the rescue, and she and her brother turn all the imprisoned animals back into children.
催眠曲國度 Lullaby Land (1933) (7:24)
A surreal dreamscape is the chosen setting for this short, as a baby, being rocked to sleep by his mother, enters into "a Lullaby Land of Nowhere." He and his plushie dog companion explore the toy-filled landscape, and soon wander into the Forbidden Gardens - an area full of hazardous things like knives, tacks, matches, and fountain ink pens. After a frightening encounter with three Boogey Men, the baby is discovered by the friendly Sand Man and lulled into a deep sleep.
三隻小豬 Three Little Pigs (1933) (8:42)
This famous Symphony tells the simple and well-known Western story of the three little pigs. The short gained an unusual amount of popularity after its debut however; many saw its featured song "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" as an anthem for hardy souls to live by in the Depression era which was occurring at the time. Unfortunately, this is the only short on the set to suffer censorship; the original depiction of the wolf as a stereotypical Jewish peddler to trick the pigs was not reinstated in the full short, though you can see a short clip of it in Leonard Maltin's intro.
聰明的小母雞 The Wise Little Hen (1934) (7:41)
Adapted from the classic Aesop fable The Little Red Hen, this short tells the story of a hen and her chicks in search of help for planting and growing a field of corn. She first appeals to Peter Pig, then later visits Donald Duck - also marking the first appearance of Donald in any Disney film. Neither of them find the task appealing, so they malinger their way out of not one, but two requests. The hen gets the last laugh however - cooking, baking and boiling all of the corn for she and her family to eat by themselves.
大壞狼 The Big Bad Wolf (1934) (9:22)
The first of three sequels made for the highly popular Three Little Pigs, this features a spin on the Little Red Riding Hood story, as the two foolish pigs advise the girl to take a shortcut through the forest to get to her grandmother's house. The third, Practical Pig, strongly warns against this - but alas, the shortcut is taken anyway. Sure enough, the wolf appears and though he tries (and fails) to capture a meal in the woods, he makes a second attempt at Red Riding Hood's grandmother's house. Though the cowardly Fifer and Fiddler pig have run away, Practical Pig comes to the rescue by... popping popcorn in the wolf's pants? Less entertaining than its predecessor, the inclusion of the pigs in the story also feels arbitrary and contrived, and done solely to profit on their popularity.
想飛的老鼠 The Flying Mouse (1934) (9:19)
This short chronicles the story of a daydreaming mouse who badly wants to fly - so much so that he'll try it with leaves on his paws. When he rescues a fairy from a spider web, his reward wish is spent on - what else? - wings! To his unfortunate discovery, however, he finds himself unable to fit in anywhere, and upon his pleading the fairy reverses the wish. The moral of this short is rather ambiguous - whether it's faulting the mouse for dreaming of something more, or encouraging the 'be yourself' mantra - it is really unclear.
三隻小狼 Three Little Wolves (1934) (9:21)
A second sequel to Three Little Pigs, this one depicts the wolf as a father of three delinquent cubs - and he is wasting no time teaching them the location of various tasty bits on the body of a pig. This short is also a spin on The Boy Who Cried Wolf, as the irresponsible Fifer and Fiddler Pigs use the emergency wolf horn to fool their brother into a false alarm. When the two are eventually captured by the wolf and his boys, help is long in coming since they've lost Practical Pig's trust. The most dynamic Pigs short in terms of action and character movement, this one still pales in comparison to its original.
蚱蜢和螞蟻 The Grasshopper and the Ants (1934) (8:25)
Yet another Aesop fable, this Symphony short spawned a catchy song and featured some of Pinto Colvig (Goofy)'s early voice work. A hedonistic grasshopper frolics and plays in the summer rays and laughs at a colony of hard-working ants. But once the dead of winter sets in, the grasshopper finds himself imploring the ants for their help to survive the cold.
點金術 The Golden Touch (1935) (10:03)
Gold-lovin' King Midas is visited by a magical being (who sounds an awful lot like a munchkin) named Goldy who is willing to offer him the gift of The Golden Touch, but not before a substantial Leonard Maltin-like disclaimer first. Midas brushes his warnings aside and accepts the "gift" greedily, but soon discovers the hard way that there is more to life than gold-like food, for example. Midas cannot eat a morsel before it converts into 18 karat gold. Upon Goldy's reappearance, Midas begs him to take the Touch back. Goldy does so, but at a price - everything that Midas possesses. But at least the king got a delicious hamburger out of the deal - with onions!
強盜小貓 The Robber Kitten (1935) (7:47)
A mischievous kitten named Ambrose decides to run away and become a professional robber - right in time to avoid a bath, too! Shortly thereafter he meets Dirty Bill, a real bandit who is amiable enough at first; but things take a turn for the worst when Bill angrily demands to have Ambrose's "loot" - which consists of a bag of cookies. The kitten does not linger to suffer the consequences; he runs straight home to mom and the cooling bathwater.
龜兔賽跑 The Tortoise and the Hare (1935) (8:37)
Toby Tortoise and Max Hare compete in a race in this adaptation of the classic Aesop's fable. While Max stops to flirt and show off to four cute cottontail girls, Toby catches up and wins the race by a neck - literally! This short was originally produced to experiment with the depiction of extreme speed and the speedline gag - which was a new and novel concept at the time.
水孩子 Water Babies (1935) (8:14)
For your daily dose of "teh kewt," please refer to Water Babies - a Symphony short based on an 1863 story by Charles Kingsley. It basically consists of tiny, abysmally cute baby characters (complete with cute baby butts) that sleep in water lily flowers at night, and frolic and play all day long with their fellow wetland wildlife. Riding in leaf boats, on the backs of swans, or the tails of lizards, you play witness to a day of fun as the water babies... well, play!
誰殺了知更鳥 Who Killed Cock Robin? (1935) (8:30)
A charming, musical take on the age-old nursery rhyme. Cock Robin is run through by an arrow right as he is serenading Jenny Wren - a busty caricature of Mae West, right down to the throaty voice. A trial ensues, but no suspects can be satisfactorily convicted. Then a rather effeminate Cupid bird shows up, and confirms that he shot Cock Robin - but that the suitor was only conked on his head when he fell. A happy ending is had for all when Robin wakes up and shares a passionate smooch with a swooning Jenny.
小象埃爾默 Elmer Elephant (1936) (8:30)
A young jungle romance is the center of this story, and begins with the title character bringing a bouquet of flowers to Tillie Tiger's birthday party. Tillie enthusiastically receives his gift, but when she turns her back the other boys ridicule Elmer's trunk and throw him out of the party. The self-conscious Elmer is consoled by an elderly giraffe and a trio of pelicans - all proud of their idiosyncrasies in design. Suddenly sirens are heard and Elmer soon finds out that Tillie is trapped by a raging fire. In his rush to save the cute cub, Elmer finds his trunk is a most wonderful thing after all - especially when its hose-like abilities can save damsels beset by flame!
城裡老鼠和鄉下老鼠 The Country Cousin (1936) (9:16)
Feeling more like a typical MGM short than a Silly Symphony, The Country Cousin is a spin on the classic Town Mouse and Country Mouse Aesop fable, and has the na?ve country mouse Abner is invited by his city relative Monty to stay with him
for a while. Abner delights to a great, fancy spread of food, but is constantly dogged by Monty to "shoosh!" After too much champagne, Abner finds himself in trouble when he rouses the household cat. Fleeing to the streets, Abner discovers even more noise and trouble than inside. He flees fast down the train tracks from whence he came, back to his beloved town of Podunk.
烏龜托比回來了 Toby Tortoise Returns (1936) (7:29)
This is a very interesting "crossover" short, featuring cameo appearances by other Silly Symphonies characters as audience members in a big boxing match between Max Hare and Toby Tortoise. Among the cameos are the previously discussed Jenny Wren, Elmer Elephant, and all three little pigs. A Droopy Dog-like character referees the match, and the short on a whole oddly reflects a Tex Avery/Warner Bros. style of humor rather than a Disney, or even Silly Symphony, type of tone. As with the original short, Max's arrogance ends up backfiring on him - but in a much more extravagant fashion!
雲肯,布林肯與諾德 Wynken, Blynken, and Nod (1938) (8:18)
Based on the original children's poem by Eugene Field, this rather elegant Symphony short incorporates many techniques learned and perfected by the Disney artists in the nine years that the series had then been produced. Set in a cloudy dreamscape, three sleepy babes go fishing amongst the stars in a wooden shoe boat, eventually getting caught in a storm and tumbling to earth, revealing themselves to be a just-completed dream by a sleeping toddler.
實際的豬 The Practical Pig (1939) (8:22)
In this third Three Little Pigs sequel, and the second-to-last Symphony produced, Practical Pig is again busy at work on a protective, wolf-preventative invention - a homemade lie detector. His ever-irresponsible brothers Fiddler and Fifer go for a swim in the nearby pond - only to again be apprehended by the Big Bad Wolf and his three delinquent pups. This time the Papa Wolf isn't satisfied with just two though, and tries to trick Practical Pig into a trap, too. As usual though - Practical's too smart for that evil canine, and comes to the rescue of his brothers. Though it's little more than a new spin on the consistent Three Little Pigs formula, the short still entertains nicely.
骨骼的舞蹈 The Skeleton Dance (1929) (5:32)
Disney's landmark first Silly Symphony, this morbidly humorous short featuring four dancing skeletons was the first of its kind then to not showcase any known character, i.e. Mickey Mouse. Walt's distributor at the time did not like the idea of the short, and sent him a telegram demanding "MORE MICE." Nevertheless, Walt managed to have Skeleton Dance screened - and needless to say, it became a huge hit. Animated entirely by Ub Iwerks, the short is still quite entertaining today, and its shorter length gives it a concise and appropriate pace.
中國瓷盤 The China Plate (1931) (9:33)
A Symphony taking place in pseudo-ancient China (or apparently on a decorated china plate, as the title would imply), a Chinese nobleman's daughter chases after a butterfly and finds herself in trouble before long. A peasant boy comes to her aid,
but soon her angry father chases after them, and many hijinks ensue. The couple gets into even more trouble when they run smack into a grouchy dragon. Though mildly entertaining, the short is replete with Chinese stereotypes, which were of course to be expected in the early days of cinema.
埃及旋律 Egyptian Melodies (1931) (6:20)
This quirky little short experiments with new techniques and borrows from old ones. Set inside an ancient Egyptian tomb, a little spider character leads us down the shaft in an almost 3-dimensional, video game-like manner. It succeeds at its intended effect of feeling quite creepy. Thereafter, four mummies do a dance number similar to The Skeleton Dance short, and Egyptian hieroglyphs and painted characters come to life to march, dance, and race their way across the wall.
同一種類的鳥 Birds of a Feather (1931) (8:05)
Visual gags dominate three-fourths of this short as the animators have fun with the design idiosyncrasies of various species of birds. The last two minutes or so follow the travails of a mother hen as her misfit chick is snatched by a hawk, who is then attacked by a volley of blackbirds that are apparently on the hen’s side.
繁忙的海狸 The Busy Beavers (1931) (7:06)
A rather banal and straightforward short starring beavers... being busy. The short is a bit want for any sort of plot, being little more than a series of visual gags culminating in a huge thunderstorm and flood of the beavers colony's river.
醜小鴨 The Ugly Duckling (1931) (6:44)
This early Disney take on the classic fable apparently misses the whole point of the original story. Here, instead of a family of ducks, the title character hatches among a flock of chicks, with one rather nasty mother. After a series of misadventures and a harrowing rescue of his “siblings” from a raging river current, the duckling is still ugly... but accepted by his adoptive family. A happy ending, at least?
花與樹 Flowers and Trees (1932) (7:49)
Disney's famous first use of Technicolor, this tells a fairly simple tale of romance between two trees, and the jealous old stump that gets in their way. The stump starts a raging fire, but poetic justice prevails as he is consumed by his own flames. Many visual gags abound, as well as an impressive first bow for the Technicolor process.
正義狗 Just Dogs (1932) (7:13)
The first of two shorts on this set that star Pluto from his earlier years - neither of which have been available on other Treasure sets. As with many of his other shorts, Pluto finds himself harried by a tenacious-yet-darn-cute sidekick of sorts - this time in the form of a clever Boston Terrier cellmate when Pluto finds himself in the pound. The terrier frees Pluto and the rest of the dogs, then finds a giant (and soon much-coveted) buried bone. Though Pluto is less than receptive to his eager friend at first, the short of course has a Disney ending like any other.
諾亞方舟 Father Noah's Ark (1933) (8:25)
early color Symphony, this short shows its stuff with nuanced and detailed animation, as well as a variety of colors utilized for the many animal couples that appear throughout the story. A musical take on the Old Testament tale of Noah, his family, and the ark they built to survive the Great Flood, the short features several sequences of cycled animation, but is mildly entertaining nonetheless.
有趣的小兔們 Funny Little Bunnies (1934) (7:09)
Released just before Palm Sunday, this endearing and very colorful short tales a simple tale of Funny Bunny Land, where hordes of cloyingly cute rabbits dressed in human clothes spend all of their waking hours preparing Easter baskets for the holiday, melting and sculpting chocolate figurines, boiling eggs, and scattering jellybeans ‘round. I doubt their delectable results were common of Depression-era Easters, but I personally wouldn’t mind receiving a funny bunny basket, myself!
獨特的企鵝 Peculiar Penguins (1934) (9:34)
Love is in the air on Penguin Island, where a young penguin couple woo each other set to a jingle-like tune. A fair portion of the short is devoted to the suitor trying to out-maneuver a shark to distract him from the innocent young maiden penguin; and curiously, all underwater scenery is quite tropical in appearance, despite an Antarctic-looking setting. But of course, one must remember this was an innocent, pre-Cousteausan era!
曲奇餅狂歡節 Cookie Carnival (1935) (8:01)
Set in a land composed entirely of cookies and sweets (including its inhabitants), a grand ceremony called the Cookie Carnival has just gone underway. Pageant-like entries parade down the street in hopes of becoming the Cookie Queen. One forlorn figure is spotted by a friendly hobo cookie (voiced by Pinto Colvig, naturally), and with his help and a bit of savvy, she gets into the parade and is enthusiastically deemed the new queen. One of my childhood favorites, this short boasts a brilliant palette of colors and wonderful art design.
音樂國度 Music Land (1935) (9:34)
A fun, and most certainly musical, Symphony about two kingdoms - the Land of Symphony and the Isle of Jazz - separated by the Sea of Discord and mutual misunderstanding. Another Romeo & Juliet spin, the two kingdoms' respective heirs - a violin princess and a saxophone prince - have a forbidden love for one another. Unlike Shakespeare's tale, however, this one has a happy ending - as colossal feuding between the cello queen and the saxophone king gives way to luuuurve. The story's origins come from the genuine discord and dilemma the public faced in the 1930s between classic orchestral music and the new upstart genre of jazz. One very entertaining feature of the short is the use of musical instruments - mostly the violin and saxophone - to mimic human speech and inflection. Only makes sense, as the characters are musical instruments, after all!
母親布魯托 Mother Pluto (1936) (8:36)
The second of the two Pluto-starring shorts on this set, this Symphony finds our canine hero accidentally imprinting a flock of chicks. Though he only sees them as an annoyance at first, the innocent baby birds soon grow on him and grows fiercely protective of them - even from the chicks' actual mother.
老磨房 The Old Mill (1936) (8:56)
A short famous for its "field testing" of the multiplane camera effect shortly before use on Snow White, this Symphony about a stormy night at an abandoned windmill (and the effects it has on the mill's various wild inhabitants) exhibits several impressive special effects animation shots, as well as proficient use of multiplane technology.
森林咖啡館 Woodland Café (1936) (7:38)
A jazzy, thoroughly musical Symphony that features hordes of insects, arachnids, and other "bugs" flocking to a popular nightclub called - what else? - the Woodland Café. Charming sequences of visual gags ensue as Disney animators play off the design of various species; not unlike Birds of a Feather, although these jokes are a tad more "refined" and entertaining in nature.
農場交響樂 Farmyard Symphony (1938) (8:06)
Another childhood favorite of mine, and one of the most charming Symphonies, this short sets the bar a bit higher for the series by adopting a Fantasia-like tone: dialogue-free with a soundtrack consisting of classic Beethoven, Rossini and Wagner. Following the daily goings-on at a family farm, various livestock cluck, moo, and neigh their way to the music. Two subplots follow the misadventures of a hungry piglet runt, as well as a cock's attempts to woo the prettiest pullet in the yard.
醜小鴨 Ugly Duckling (1939) (8:59)
Doing an enormous 180 from its 1931 predecessor of the same name, the last Silly Symphony ever produced exhibits great leaps in animation talent that had developed at the studios over the previous 10 years. This time being true to the original tale, an "ugly duckling" finds himself the source of conflict amongst a family of ducks. Despite several na?ve attempts to fit in, the hatchling is rejected at every turn. At the point of despair, he is discovered and happily adopted by a flock of young birds that... look like him! Interestingly enough, their mother is slightly more elegant in appearance than the mallard siblings he was born with...
劇照