The Skeleton Dance (1929)

Too much of everything

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

What a difference it makes to actually have Disney himself direct his cartoons. The Skeleton Dance is atmospheric, surreal, and visually eccentric to the point where I believe it inspired the Nightmare Before Christmas, to some degree, and even the works of Sally Cruikshank. I imagine that kids might have actually been a bit frightened of this cartoon back in 1929.Apparently Disney had trouble getting it into theaters based on this notion.The short features a gloomy churchyard overtaken by skeletons at night who go about dancing to various forms of mischief. A typically thin premise for cartoons from this era, but worth it for the atmosphere.

This short barely possess a story: a few skeletons rise from their graves to spook animals, make music, and dance the Charleston all through the night until morning comes and it's back to the old tomb once again. In spite of this, The Skeleton Dance (1929) is one of the most unique and entertaining Silly Symphonies there is. The macabre subject matter and creepy atmosphere set it apart from other Symphonies which adhere to the "several animals/flowers/people/etc get in a chorus line and dance" trope. The animation is outstanding for the late 1920s (it's a shame that quality was not maintained for the follow-up, El Terrible Toreador (1929)).This was a promise of good things to come. Perfect for Halloween or anytime really.

Just watched this classic Walt Disney Silly Symphony (the first) on the Saturday Morning Blog as linked from YouTube. This was a mostly funny and atmospheric cartoon that must have really made an impact on the movie industry since after this there were a lot of cartoons that involved things that bump in the night. Animated by Ub Iwerks with music by Carl Stalling, The Skeleton Dance has four of those creatures having fun scaring fur out of cats and an owl before swaying to and fro, tap dancing simultaneously, and one playing the other like a xylophone. The most shocking part for me was when another played a cat's tail like a violin! Excellent stuff all around so if you're in a Halloween mood, I definitely recommend The Skeleton Dance.

The night promises to be a scary one. Lightning flashes. The wind howls. A tree branch in the shape of a hand seems to grab for a frightened owl that spins its head around like a top. The clock on the church tower strikes midnight, sending the bats flying out of the belfry. Two cats on gravestones fight by pulling and stretching each other's noses like taffy. A skeleton rises from behind a gravestone, frightening the fur off the cats. But an owl's hooting scares it, and it retaliates by throwing its skull and knocking the bird's feathers off. It's time for the skeletons to dance; and they perform as no living creatures could.Less than ten years after this crude black and white cartoon, Walt Disney made "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." Disney may have quickly surpassed this film in technical virtuosity, but no one has surpassed it in artistry. "The Skeleton Dance," with its spooky charm and ineffable strangeness, is one of the great animated cartoons.