A group of beavers goes about their dam-building, musically. The rain comes, and washes the dam away.A group of beavers goes about their dam-building, musically. The rain comes, and washes the dam away.A group of beavers goes about their dam-building, musically. The rain comes, and washes the dam away.
- Director
- Star
Walt Disney
- Beavers sipping Water
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
- …
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As with "Birds of a Feather", another black and white 1931 Silly Symphony, this short mainly features beavers going about their daily business building a dam, moving and working to the beat and rhythm of the music. The beavers themselves are kinda cute and look like distant cousins of early Mickey.
It's an animation showcase that is still mildly impressive, but mostly forgettable as the primitive nature neuters its lasting appeal. I understand that these type of shorts were animated by very small amount of people, sometimes just a crew of two, and that they were pioneers of sorts, but that doesn't make the actual content a classic. The flood animation looks good however.
It's an animation showcase that is still mildly impressive, but mostly forgettable as the primitive nature neuters its lasting appeal. I understand that these type of shorts were animated by very small amount of people, sometimes just a crew of two, and that they were pioneers of sorts, but that doesn't make the actual content a classic. The flood animation looks good however.
Of course, The Busy Beavers is not perfect, the character designs of the beavers are unappealing and don't really stand out and it is virtually plot less with not as many individual standout scenes as other cartoons of the time and after. However, the backgrounds are very smooth and crisp, the music is catchy and beautifully matches the animation and vice versa and the sound effects are really very clever and enhance the music rather than disrupting from it. The sight gags and the inventive ways of working to build the dam are both funny and cute. And as for a standout scene, there is one in particular, which is the one with the flood, which in terms of animation, synchronisation and how the camera moved was very impressive then and now. All in all, delightful if not quite good enough to be one of my favourites. 8/10 Bethany Cox
A Walt Disney SILLY SYMPHONY Cartoon Short.
Toiling together, THE BUSY BEAVERS have devised many ingenious ways to complete their dam. After retiring to their lodges, a mighty flood threatens to wipe out all their hard work. Only one lone beaver has the energy to save the day...
This black & white entry in the series is an exercise in dealing with the movement of light & dark forms; action & reaction.
The SILLY SYMPHONIES, which Walt Disney produced for a ten year period beginning in 1929, are among the most interesting of series in the field of animation. 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.
Toiling together, THE BUSY BEAVERS have devised many ingenious ways to complete their dam. After retiring to their lodges, a mighty flood threatens to wipe out all their hard work. Only one lone beaver has the energy to save the day...
This black & white entry in the series is an exercise in dealing with the movement of light & dark forms; action & reaction.
The SILLY SYMPHONIES, which Walt Disney produced for a ten year period beginning in 1929, are among the most interesting of series in the field of animation. 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.
There is really not too much to see here, just a bunch of beavers working through the beat of the whimsical music. There were a few clever sound and visual effects, but not much in exciting entertainment value. The only remotely exciting scene is one of the beavers trying to stop a flood from occurring.
Grade C-
Grade C-
This focuses on a colony of beavers, making their lodges and building a dam. They work together in a sort of rodent assembly line. They use all available materials and are successful until mother nature steps in. It's pretty typical of the Disney musical presentations of the the time.
Did you know
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Mickey Mouse Club: Guest Star Day: The Happy Jesters (1955)
Details
- Runtime7 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
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