The Wise Little Hen

If you are looking for this short, try the "Disney Timeless Treasures: Volume 3". It's there along with several other seldom-seen cartoon shorts.

This Silly Symphony cartoon is, like the rest of the series, wonderfully animated--as Disney was the producer of the best looking cartoons of the 1930s...period. However, like many of the films in the series, the story itself wasn't always so hot. Because of that, I can't recommend it to the casual viewer. HOWEVER, to the cinemaniac or Disney-phile it is STILL a must-see for two reasons. The first is that the animation is terrific--just like all the Disney shorts of the 1930s. But a much more important reason is that this film marks the first appearance by Donald Duck--and that is something to celebrate. To those unaware of his evolution, he does look quite different--as he did until the very late 30s.

As far as the story goes, it's the familiar tale of the Little Red Hen--and the lazy farm animals who refuse to help her plant and then harvest her grain. No major surprises here--just some nice animation and Donald.

Unlike ducklings that hatch out of their eggs, the cartoon character Donald Duck evolved. The first version drawn by the Walt Disney staff appeared in England's Mickey Mouse Annual #3 comic book in 1931. In late 1933, Disney liked the looks of the duck so much he had the bird included in the June 1934 release of "The Wise Little Hen," the first time Donald Duck appeared on the movie screen. The cartoon's release date at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, June 7, 1934, is celebrated as Donald's official birthday. Three months preceding his movie debut, Donald, voiced by Clarence Nash, was on the radio as the wise-cracking duck alongside Mickey Mouse. The radio Donald was always interrupting the rodent, serving as a roadmap to his summer's cartoon character.

Walt personally took an interest with Donald after Nash's imitation bowled over the studio president. Disney rounded off the duck's personality after "The Wise Little Hen" by giving him the short temper he became notoriously-known. The first appearance of Donald in the animated cartoon differs from future looks, with his neck and beak much longer and his body fatter than later showings.

In the "The Wise Little Hen," Donald Duck played the lazy neighbor to the mother hen, who asks for his help in planting a field of corn for her chicks. Apparently Donald's allergic to work as he pretends to be laid up with a belly ache and can't help her. He's joined by Peter Pig, who's equally lazy, claiming he's sick and not able to work. When the corn is ready for picking, the two repeat their same excuse of being sick when the Hen asks them for assistance. The joke's eventually on the slackers, however, when the hen cooks an amazing assortment of corn recipes. The Duck and the Pig salivate when they see the feast, only to be handed a bottle of castor oil by the hen.

Donald Duck had been mentionened as an idea since 1931 but this was his first actual appearance.I was introduced to the character mainly by the comicbooks and at a lesser extents by some great shorts as "Commando Duck".Donald is obviously the most interesting character in this short.According to comics continuity he was 14 years old.Not bad for a teen-ager.But this short introduces as to his voice actor"Clarence"Ducky"Nash.Why should Donald's speaking be almost incomprehensible?I usualy hate hearing it.Since his name is Donald a slight Scottish accent would be more acceptable.A nice short but Clarence ruins it for me.I greately preferred Scrooge's voice in Ducktales.

This is a gem. The animation is beautiful, with lovely colourful backgrounds and the character animation is very good. The music was brilliant, very playful and jolly, and the theme tune somewhat reminds me of that for Peculiar Penguins. The characters are engaging, with the exception of Peter Pig, whose presence seemed unnecessary at times. The hen of the title is fun, the chicks are ADORABLE(I know I keep using this word, but most of the silly symphonies are), but what makes this short for me is the presence of Donald Duck, voiced by the one and only Ducky Nash. Everything else was fine, but my favourite duck's presence elevates this gem to a greater level.

Two words for this- wonderful gem! 9.5/10 Bethany Cox

A Walt Disney SILLY SYMPHONY Cartoon Short.

Worried about having enough food to feed her family come Wintertime, THE WISE LITTLE HEN decides to plant a field of corn. Her idle friends, Peter Pig & Donald Duck, decline to help with the planting or the harvesting - leaving the little chicken to plan her sweet revenge...

This is a very fine adaptation of the childhood story, with a strong, self-reliant title character (voiced by Florence Gill). But the reason this is a landmark cartoon is because it was the debut of the irascible, anti-social, temperamental, infuriating & utterly lovable Duck, a character so strong he would soon eclipse Mickey Mouse himself. With voice courtesy of the inimitable Clarence Nash, Donald would become one of the world's most popular personalities & a source of never-ending fascination for those who study anti-social behavior and its consequences.

Fate would not be so kind to Peter Pig. Although his debut was just as conspicuous as the Duck's, he lacked that certain intangible quality which would set him apart from the common swine. Hollywood can be a cruel place & Peter's attempts to build a movie career - he worked for a while as Porky Pig's stunt double - proved a failure. When last heard of, Peter Pig was living in a small apartment over a garage in Pomona, California.

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.