The Bears and Bees

A Walt Disney SILLY SYMPHONY Cartoon Short.

THE BEARS AND THE BEES are enjoying the beautiful Spring day - the bees making honey & the bear cubs eating it - until the arrival of a fierce, cranky male bear threatens to ruin everyone's morning...

This black & white cartoon is mostly filled with action/reaction animation and an amazing number of posterior gags.

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.

A somewhat cute little cartoon featuring two bear cubs who venture out in search for food and finds a tree stump full of honey. While attempting to get the honey, they try to escape the wrath of a mean bear and bees.

A little entertaining and heartfelt - seeing the two bear cubs take care of each other.

Grade B-

One of my favorites from the black-and-white era is this charming Silly Symphony. The animated short tells the story of two adorable bear cubs who play in the woods while their mother snoozes. The cubs look a little bit like Mickey Mouse. Then they run afoul of a mean, grumpy old grizzly while the innocent little tykes snack on berries.

He chases them away and hoards the berries for himself. When the cubs came out of hiding, they nibbled on some flowers and then found a bee, which they followed to the hive, which they then proceeded to raid for honey. But unknown to them, a bee spotted the raid and summoned the attack squad. And the big bear sees the cubs' honey raid and chases them off. But luckily for the cubs, they ran away; the brunt of the bees' wrath is directed at the old grizzly.

In truth, my affection for this endearing cartoon remains unwavering.

What I loved about Bears and Bees was its cuteness and its simplicity. The black and white animation is very very good, and the music is just terrific. While it is plot less, it is very simple, and that actually added to the silly symphony's charm. The characters were very appealing; the big bear is certainly very ferocious. But the baby bears are simply adorable, and I shed a tear when they started crying. And the bees were funny; I do confess I am terrified of bees and wasps, in real life I freak out at the sight of them. However, I can't help love Bears and Bees, then again there may be a sense of bias, because I adore Silly Symphonies, especially the Christmas ones, that were part of my childhood. All in all, if you love Silly Symphonies, see this gem. You will not be disappointed. 10/10 Bethany Cox