"A Silly Symphony"

Release Date September 26, 1930

Running Time 6:58

Synopsis

Monkeys and apes swing through the trees to the usual mix of classical tunes and standards; including this time the recent vaudeville hit "Abba Dabba Dabba."

Credits

Director : Bert Gillett

Videos

Cartoon Classics : First Series : Volume 14 : Silly Symphonies - Animal Tales

Laserdiscs

Cartoon Classics : First Series : Volume 14 : Silly Symphonies - Animal Tales

DVD

United States

Disney Treasures : More Silly Symphonies

Television

The Ink and Paint Club : #24 : Symphonic Silly Symphonies

Technical Specifications

Color Type : Black and White

Animation type : Standard

Sound mix : Cinephone; mono

Aspect ration : 1.33 : 1

Negative format : 35mm

Print format : 35mm

Cinematographic process : Spherical

Original language : English

Released by Columbia Pictures

Gallery

Click on the thumbnail for the full-sized picture

Comments

A Silly Symphony

From Jerry Edwards : Monkees and birds dance, sing, and swing through the jungle. Romantic boy and girl monkeys have to escape snakes and crocodiles before the monkeys finally have time to themselves. One silly scene I enjoyed were two crocodiles doing a "Bob Hope/Bing Crosby" straw hat and cane dancing routine. A couple of interesting animation goofs - one leg of a monkey just disappears and a banana keeps reappearing (3 times) on a bunch of bananas after it is shown that the spot is empty after the monkey picked it.

From Jengel : Monkey Melodies is one of the better, but more obscure, of the early silly symphonies. Compared to "The Skeleton Dance" and others of the same era, this cartoon stands out for its use of lavish watercolor backgrounds of the jungle. (I have a matching key background and production cell from this short and the background detail is extraordinary.) The main characters are two monkeys and the cartoon traces their adventure in the jungle from the treetops to the river, dodging predators with every step. The monkeys are not by themselves exceptional except through their interaction with the other animals, with their environment, and with the soundtrack make this short particularly successful. This cartoon moves along quickly and the characters are sympathetic (cute). The rich tapestry of the jungle is what makes this a groundbreaking work.

From Ryan : I got to see this cartoon for the first time on DVD last December. The animation is pretty well done, but as mentioned in the commentary for the cartoon, the characters seem to change form from time to time. This was in the days before Walt gave his animators model sheets so that the characters would remain constant. Some parts of the cartoon I enjoy include the alligators dancing to the tune of "Georgia Camp Meeting" and when the male monkey uses his tail as a propeller on a log (much like Pluto did in the Mickey cartoon "Fishin' Around.") I also enjoy the backgrounds.