The Merry Dwarfs

A Walt Disney SILLY SYMPHONY Cartoon Short.

It is a lovely day and THE MERRY DWARFS are frolicking in their woodland home, playing with the tiny insects & getting very drunk, indeed...

There's no plot in this very early series entry; basically it's pleasant action/reaction animation. A comparison of the little fellows in this cartoon with Snow White's 7 companions eight years later reveals just how greatly Disney's artists improved during that time.

The SILLY SYMPHONIES, which Walt Disney produced for a ten year period beginning in 1929, are among the most fascinating of all animated series. Unlike the Mickey Mouse cartoons in which action was paramount, with the Symphonies the action was made to fit the music. There was little plot in the early Symphonies, which featured lively inanimate objects and anthropomorphic plants & animals, all moving frantically to the soundtrack. Gradually, however, the Symphonies became the school where Walt's animators learned to work with color and began to experiment with plot, characterization & photographic special effects. The pages of Fable & Fairy Tale, Myth & Mother Goose were all mined to provide story lines and even Hollywood's musicals & celebrities were effectively spoofed. It was from this rich soil that Disney's feature-length animation was to spring. In 1939, with SNOW WHITE successfully behind him and PINOCCHIO & FANTASIA on the near horizon, Walt phased out the SILLY SYMPHONIES; they had run their course & served their purpose.

Before you can get to see "Cannibal Capers" and a few other 'special' cartoons on the "Walt Disney Treasures: More Silly Symphonies" DVD set, you are forced to watch an introduction by Leonard Maltin. He talks about the times in which they were made and how politically incorrect the films are. I am not against this, but hate how once you view it, you must ALWAYS view Maltin's speech again if you come back to any of the offensive cartoons. The same thing happens in some of the other Treasures DVDS--such as the second Donald Duck set.

My assumption why this was among the few 'bad' cartoons in the set that needed a special introduction is that it uses the word dwarfs. It could also be because they are rolling a barrel of beer. All I know is that the dwarfs in question look more like Brownies or Pixies--and I don't think any attempt was being made to make fun of dwarfism or little people. Perhaps there's something else about this one that offends that I am missing. All I knew is that compared to the rest of the films on the DVD, this one is pretty dull.

A rather mediocre and dull cartoon featuring dancing dwarfs. The beginning piece of music, Verdi's Anvil Chorus, was catchy and a treat to listen to. But, the rest of the music as follows was just average.

Not an entertaining cartoon at all.

Grade D

Out of the ten or so "Silly Symphonies" I've seen to date, 'The Merry Dwarfs (1929)' seems to be the weakest of all of them. Though 'The Skeleton Dance (1929)' and 'Springtime (1929)' were enjoyable, despite just portraying characters dancing in time with classical music, this particular cartoon seems to be lacking something. Surprisingly, there's very little charm in watching those little bearded fellows tap-dance across the grass, and, unlike the more nature-orientated Symphonies, we're stuck with the same performers throughout the six minutes. The most notable element of this cartoon is the unmistakable blueprint for Disney's first feature-length film 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937),' though, in the intervening eight years, you can certainly recognise how efficiently the studio managed to evolve its craft.

This particular short was directed by Walt Disney himself, and contains no dialogue, only dancing set to pleasant classical music. At the end, Disney does have some fun with the dwarfs' inherent drunkenness, and the entire screen warps as they consume more alcohol than is healthy for them. They dance inside barrels, they dance inside hats, they dance on their hands, they dance of their beards; these dwarfs are enjoying such an agreeable morning that they're quite willing to dance any old way. It's just a shame that watching them dance isn't quite so exciting. 'The Merry Dwarfs' is ultimately a worthwhile early cartoon for fans of the Silly Symphonies, but there are many that can be considered a major improvement upon this effort. Just for the record, my favourite to date is Wilfred Jackson's 'The Old Mill (1937).'

Oh my, some of these earliest Silly Symphonies sure were horrendously rough around the edges! But that's okay, it's very understandable that it was a little 'up in the air' as far as artistry was concerned at this point in time, everybody was still honing their craft, and you can't make an omelet without breaking eggs, and this one is definitely a busted egg! So it has dwarfs, cool. I love fantasy creatures, but the ones that feature here are pretty unlovable and insipid creations. They're just not cute, I don't like their ugly elastic limbs, and the way that they're all identical. And aren't dwarfs supposed to be a mite bigger than that? They're more like elves or pixies. I do like when they show stuff like the cricket-drawn little carriage and when they're hammering the anvils that spark, but it's not like that for very long, there's simply not much to it at all, it just becomes so many tipsy little dwarfs prancing and dancing it up. I did like the ending when the hideous barren background becomes all wavy, it was unexpected and a little bizarre. The drunken antics and how it ended made me wonder if they kept elements of the idea in mind and later used them in the classic gem Dumbo. Anyway if anyone would like to see some other animated shorts to feature dwarfs that are actually quite good I'd strongly recommend "The Sunshine Makers" and the Happy Harmony "To Spring" This though.. well it's quite boring but kinda cute and enjoyable I guess. I don't really see how anyone could seriously find it great or anything.. To me it's mildly enjoyable..it's just not a favourite!