"A Silly Symphony"

Release Date March 28, 1936

Running Time 8:29

Synopsis

Poor Elmer is teased unmercifully by the other kids at Tillie Tiger's birthday party because of his long nose. But soon, he is shown that his trunk can be very handy when a fire breaks out

Characters

Elmer Elephant

Joe Giraffe

Joey Hippo

Tillie Tiger (voice : Bernice Hansen)

Credits

Director : Wilfred Jackson

Animation

Ward Kimball

Hamilton Luske

Paul Hopkins

Al Eugster

Gerry Geronomi

Story

Earl Hurd

Bianca Majolie

Roy Williams

Videos

United States

Cartoon Classics : First Series : Volume 13 : Animal Tales

Italy

Le Fiabe Volume 2 : Il Brutto Anatraccolo e Altre Storie

Le Meravigliose Fiabe del Grillo Parlante

Laserdiscs

Cartoon Classics : Animal Tales

Television

The Ink and Paint Club : #53 : Silly Symphonies at the Zoo

DVD

Disney Treasures : Silly Symphonies

Region 1 : United States

Region 2 : France

Region 2 : Germany

Region 2 : Italy

Region 2 : Sweden

Region 2 : United Kingdom

Region 1 : United States

Walt Disney Animation Collection : Classic Short Films : Volume 2 : The Three Little Pigs

Dumbo

Dumbo (Big Top Edition)

Region 2 : Italy

Dumbo

Technical Specifications

Color Type : Technicolor

Animation type : Standard

Sound mix : Mono

Aspect ration : 1.37 : 1

Negative format : 35mm

Print format : 35mm

Cinematographic process : Spherical

Original language : English

Released by United Artists Pictures

Comments

A Silly Symphony.

Above animation sketch of Elmer courtesy of Animation Celection

From Rod Bennett : This short is pretty unique; it's done in a very unusual style not employed in any other Disney film. First of all, the character models themselves don't look at all "Disney" to me; I believe they may have been inspired by a popular comic strip series from the period that I recall - all about jungle animals and running regularly in The Saturday Evening Post (but, darn it, I've forgotten the artist's name). Also : there's a great deal more "modeling" (with shadow) on the figures here than we get to see in any other Disney effort until "Who Framed Roger Rabbit!" All in all, this one strikes me as wildly experimental and I, for one, would like to know more about its origins.

From Jerry Edwards : A nicely done cartoon that makes me care for Elmer Elephant. I believe I had read the book adapting the cartoon story long before I saw the short. Elmer was one of the first new Disney characters to appear on merchandise items since the Three Little Pigs. The jungle fire department, made up of monkeys, is played for laughs.

From Andrea : Found this on the Dumbo DVD. My 3 year old is enchanted and asks for this short more often than Dumbo, the film itself. Charming characterization of Elmer and I just love Tilly Tiger's voice.

We don't get many Silly Symphonies shown in the UK and if they're like this I'd love to see more.

From Ryan : While this cartoon is very well animated, I really don't care too much for it. I find it way too cute for my taste. I do, however, enjoy the climax of it when all the animals are trying to extinguish the fire.

From Hal Niederbrach : Elmer Elephant is one of my favorites of the Silly Symphonies.The only thing I dont like is the taunting. I dont think anyone knows except me that one of the cubs whos at Tillie Tigers party looks like a bearlike Mickey Mouse with his 1939 to today look. I like the ending which has Elmer and Tillie kissing and IT IS an enjoyable cartoon.

From Kay : OMG! It was so cute! I loved how Tillie Tiger was drawn! It was so great in the end when they got together.

From Chris : This is a very sweet one, whose relevence looms larger today than before. You genuinely feel for the characters, you want to see Elmer come thorugh victorious and prove everyone wrong (without violence of course). Joe Giraffe proves the wonderful words of reason. A must have on any enthusiast's lists.

From Wesley Fleming : I have it on a video my mom taped for me. I love it! My favorite is when the teasers sing about his nose.

From Dino Cencia : Oh my god, this cartoon is so sweet! Also, I liked Tillie Tiger. She's so cute and sweet and she has the same clothes and hair bow like Minnie Mouse. I liked the part when Tillie Tiger blew out the candles on her cake, it didn't go out, so she asked Joey Hippo to blow them out for her. So he said ok and took a deep breath and blowed the whole cake into Elmer Elephant. Then Tillie Tiger cleaned him up and Elmer gave Tillie some flowers for her birthday. And she kissed him on the trunk. Aww! So sweet! Then the other kids (or animals) teased Elmer about his long nose (or trunk.) Also, last, I loved the part when there was a fire at Tillie Tiger's clubhouse, Elmer saves her from the fire by getting water from the birds and he sucked the water in his trunk and put the fire out just like a fire hose. Then Tillie was about to fall but Elmer saved her with his trunk and carried her down safely. "My hero!" Tillie Tiger said. Then the two friends were about to kiss, Elmer's trunk was in the way but he moved his trunk to kiss Tillie at the end. Aww so cute and sweet! I give this cartoon a 9000.

From Baruch Weiss : While watching this cartoon I can't help but feel sorry for poor Elmer as the kids (including a monkey who's wearing Mickey Mouse's pants) make fun of him, Tilly shouldn't have allowed this and should have just kicked everybody else out of her party. Other than that, I loved it espically at the end where Elmer is kissing Tilly, but censores it by hiding it behind his ear!

From Gijs Grob : A beautiful cartoon. it's full of cute animals, but despite its cuteness it never becomes cloying. Its storyline is very straightforward and really heartfelt, like the best of Disney's works. Elmer visits the birthday party of one of his jungle friends, the extremely cute girl tiger Tilly. He appears to be her favorite guest, but all the other animals (including some non-tropical foxes) mock him because of his trunk, singing "your nose is like a rubber hose". Moreover they bully and taunt him and send him away. Unhappy, Elmer wanders through the jungle, but then he encounters even stranger-looking animals: an old giraffe and three Jimmy Durante-like pelicanes, who comfort him a little. Then, suddenly, there's a fire in Tillie's treehut. Elmer comes to the rescue, and with help of his nose and of his new odd friends he saves Tillie from the anthropomorphized flames. Thus being the hero of the day he wins Tillie's love, displayed by a kiss.

Elmer Elephant has the looks of a storybook. It's beautifully animated, with lots of shadows, and has well-designed characters. Especially the hippo, who has an absurdly low voice, is a wonderful character. It's both surprising and a shame that no other cartoon has been made with these cute characters in their beautiful jungle forest. Of course, the idea of a kind elephant being mocked for a handicap would later return in "Dumbo", making "Elmer Elephant" its immediate predecessor.

Referenced Comments

The Tortoise and the Hare (1935)

Elmer Elephant is a very effective but simple story. When the story begins, we see Elmer skipping along on his way to Tillie Tiger's birthday party. His timing is a bit off; he arrives just at the moment that Tillie has asked Joey Hippo to blow out the candles on her cake for her, and with his tremendous blow sends the entire frosting of the cake right onto the face of the newly-arrived Elmer.

It's fairly easy to see that Elmer is one of Tillie's favorites as she cleans off his face for him and then goes all gushy over his gift; a simple bouquet of flowers. Possibly it's a bit of jealousy from the other attendees (including one bear cub who bears more than a passing resemblance to a certain cartoon mouse) but when Tillie goes up to her jungle penthouse (to do what, we're not told) the other party goers decide to taunt Elmer about his trunk with a variety of disguises, including the ultimate insult of one monkey making a caricature of Elmer out of his rear end and tail!

Without Tillie to defend him. Elmer wanders off dejected, trying to find some way to disguise his trunk. But then he comes across Joe Giraffe, with an extremely long neck. He points out to Elmer that he's not the only animal in the jungle who might look a little silly, and points out a group of pelicans who give their best Jimmy Durante impression. Elmer begins to feel a little better, but suddenly there is an alarm! Somehow, Tillie's birthday party is going up in flames!

Elmer and Joe head off to the fire with the pelicans in tow to find that all the other party-goers have been able to do is run around like chickens panicking. There is some attempt to put out the blaze by a monkey fire-brigade, but the personified flames make quick work of the fire-ladder, as they do a makeshift trampoline the other animals try to use to get Tillie down from her penthouse. The pelicans are able to bring water because of the size of their beaks; Elmer, standing atop Joe Giraffe's head has the proper height to shoot out the flames with water from his trunk. Because of their physical peculiarities, Elmer, Joe and the pelicans are able to put out the fire, rescue Tillie from her precarious perch and save the day!

Elmer Elephant was well-received by the public and some Disney artists felt that it was an important step towards the pathos that would give features such as "Dumbo" it's charm. It was a remarkable step for Disney as Elmer was able to convey a variety of emotions, even though he had not a single line of dialogue in the entire short. It was also unusual for a Silly Symphony as it retreated from the standard form of using the music in the forefront. Although it does have a couple of musical numbers, the story takes center stage. Some, however, felt that the pathos wasn't enough and it had a sense of emptiness at it's core.

One who was disappointed with the way it came out was the original storywriter, Bianca Majolie. Majolie was an anomaly at Disney; a woman in the male dominated story department. Walt approved the first idea she submitted - an original story entitled "The Romance of Baby Elephant" which went into production in mid-1935. However, as it went through the story department, more slapstick ideas were added to the original charming story. It was the brutal aspects of the slapstick that Marjolie objected to but, being the "new kid in town", her objections went unheard.

Most of her ideas for characters and narrative were retained, however, including the moral in her words "that usefulness is more important than beauty ... that things that are not decorative may be extremely useful and should be cherished for that reason."

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