Haunting Shorts Showcase: The Skeleton Dance (85th Anniversary)

 

Hello & welcome back to the Halloween celebration here on A Look at Disney and today, we take a look at a short that is rather important in the history of Disney as it kicked off a series of shorts that have often been celebrated by Disney an animation fans alike as some of the greatest shorts,  I am of course referring to  the Silly Symphony shorts.

Silly Symphonies would give us such classic shorts as "Three Little Pigs",  "The Old Mill",  "Mother Goose Goes Hollywood", and "The Ugly Duckling" to name a few select shorts but it all started with one short back in 1929 and this year marks a landmark anniversary for the short as it turns 85.   For some background, I am member of Disney's official fan club, D23 and this year, I had the privilege of attending my first ever D23 event, the Fanniversary.   This was an event, where they talked about things celebrating a milestone anniversary this year and Skeleton Dance and Silly Symphony were two of the things that they talked about and they showed video of the  archives, where they keep things stored and we got a glimpse of the instruments that were used in the process of making the music for this short as Disney still has them today. Now,  this is going to work a bit differently,  as most of you know these early shorts don't have much in the way of plot as it was more about showing off the animation.  So, I will briefly touch upon the plot,  Memorable Moments and Legacy.   With that out of the way, let's begin.



The Plot


Skeletons dance around the church graveyard at night and have a good old time playing around whether it be rolling around the graveyard,  using bones as a xylophone or just doing the Skeleton Dance.  This short is just a lot of fun.  That's really all there is to it.  This short was showing off what the animators could do as the skeletons danced around the graveyard.  Is this my favorite Silly Symphony?  No, that'd be "The Ugly Duckling",  which funnily was the final Silly Symphony. 



Memorable Moments


Skeleton Xylaphone

Whenever I think of this short,   this  is always the first image that comes to mind.   The early Silly Symphony shorts as we have gone over in the past had thing for using their characters as instruments as  this also happened in the "4 Seasons" series of shorts that I covered last year.


Whatever This IS!

  












Uh, yeah I have no idea what is going on here.  This is weird to the nth degree but it is kinda cool too.



Skull Coming at The Screen

This has a cool  3-D like effect to it with the skull flying at your face. This is easily my favorite moment of the short as it is just so cool.


The Skeleton Dance

Of  course,  I have to include this moment as this is what the short is all about.


Legacy


It's clear that Disney has gotten a lot of great use out of this short over the years as we covered last Halloween, the animation of the skeletons dancing was reused in  Haunted House. Which came out in the same year. The skeletons appeared on  a Halloween episode of House of Mouse.   The short is featured as a transition level in Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two.

The short also made appearances in many Halloween specials of the '80s, one of which we will be looking at tomorrow.  And now there is one thing that they did here to this short for two of these specials that I am not a fan of. Colorization.  I'm sorry but you should leave Black & White shorts Black & White.    Oh, and going outside of Disney, this short had an appearance in the Nic Cage Ghost Rider.



My Final Thoughts


This short is just a lot of fun and it helped to kick off a series of shorts that contain some of my all time favorite shorts and this was a great start to the Silly Symphonies.  It's so much fun to see what the likes of Ub Iwerks, Les Clark and the rest of the team were able to come up with for this fantastic short. Join me tomorrow as we close out the Halloween celebration by heading to the '80s to listen to some...

Halloween Music Fridays # 143: D-TV Monster Hits

Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney. Well, it appears that we've reached the end of the Halloween celebration and today, we are going by taking a look at some segments from the 1987 NBC special,  DTV Monster Hits.  D-TV was a concept that was around during Disney Channel's early days, where they would take classic Disney animation and set it to popular songs of the time and they had many specials, such as one for Valentine's Day and the one that we will be looking at today,  Halloween. For my friends that grew up with the internet, think of these as the precursor to AMV's.   Now, the whole special can  be found on YouTube.  And like any good special, this had a host or two.  It was mainly hosted by the Magic Mirror from Snow White with Witch Hazel popping in every now & then.  With that out of the way, let's begin with a little Michael Jackson. Now, we will not be looking at all of the segments seeing only a handful have been uploaded individually and one isn't available in America. 



Thriller 


Honestly, this is such a fun way to kick off the special and this is one of the required Halloween songs, if you are doing a music special for this holiday.  Especially in the '80s.  And here you get the first sampling of what D-TV was like.   I think they chose some pretty good scenes to match up to the music.  It's fun and in my opinion sets the mood for the rest of the special rather well.



Ghostbusters


This is probably my favorite segment from the special as the pairing is the best, especially considering the history that "Lonesome Ghosts" has as  it has been rumored but never confirmed that the classic  movie from the '80s that people love was partially inspired by "Lonesome Ghosts"  and I can see that and Goofy even says a line akin to the famous catchphrase.  It's the Disney nerd in me coming out and I know the only reason, this was likely used in the special was because Ghostubusters was huge in the '80s and  of course, it would make sense to use this in a Halloween music special but even then, this is in my opinion, the best pairing of song and clips. Oh, and before I forget...

Bad Moon Rising 


Yeah,  I think is probably the first dud in the special. It's not bad but I just don't get the Halloween feel with this song.  It's a good song but it doesn't feel  like Halloween unlike our first entries.  It's fun but I'm not feeling it. 



Monster Mash


Now, we come to the entire reason I'm even covering this special.  You see,  I had originally intended for this to be a grab bag of sorts of Disney Halloween songs  and one that caught my eye was that on a children's Halloween CD, there was a cover of this song preformed by Goofy.  I scoured the internet and asked my Facebook friends, if they could find it but alas it was not to be but then I came across this instead and I remembered hearing about D-TV.  This was from before my time but I thought I might give it a watch.  The closest thing, Disney Channel has (or had) to these today were Re-Micks but instead of artists like Michael Jackson, we got classic Disney cartoons set to the tune of Hannah Montana and The Jonas Brothers.   Yeah, I'll go with the old stuff.   Now as for this one,  again it is just a lot of fun,  both in terms of the song and I love picking out what shorts they used for this sequence. 





Evil Woman



Like with "Bad Moon Rising",  I don't exactly get a Halloween vibe from this one but I'm willing to let that slide on the fact that this one is better and the pairing is just a lot of fun. I mean, we all know that Disney has a lot of evil women.  So, is this a bit one the nose? Yeah but that doesn't stop it from being fun.



Superstition 


After "Ghostbusters", this is probably my favorite segment. Now, I don't think the pairing of animation to music works as well but starting it off with Donald makes so much sense and to me, this is one of the most entertaining segments from the special.  I just have a big dumb grin on my face, whenever I watch it.





You Better Run


I'll be honest, I didn't exactly know what to make of pairing Pat Bentatar with Snow White but I got to say, this is awesome!   This is easily, one of the coolest things in this special.   This song just goes so well with the sequence of  Snow White running away. Again, a bit on the nose but this AWESOME!!!!!!!!!  This one is just so cool. 


That Old Black Magic


This one is all right but it doesn't actually feature much in the way of black magic.  That's the only thing, I have dock points off for this one as it opens with Yen Sid and he practices good magic and while we do see plenty of black magic,  they also  too many goo magic users such as Merlin.  The song is fun and catchy but I think the segment kinda shot itself in the foot by using good magic users for a song about black magic.



Dreamtime


This one isn't bad but I don't think that it's one that I'll remember after viewing it.  It's okay but at best, I found it forgettable. 



There you have it,  my look at the D-TV Halloween special, Monster Hits.   Let me know, what you thought of this in the comments. Oh, and voting is going to work differently, this week.  Don't just vote on the song.  I want you to take into consideration, both the song and the clips that the song was paired with, when you vote.  And....


Happy Halloween

Haunting Shorts Showcase: Pluto's Judgement Day

Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney and today, we continue the Halloween celebration with Pluto's Judgement Day. Now originally, I was going to review  Duck Pimples but from a conservation on Facebook with DisneyOtoko, he will be reviewing it for 31 Days of Halloween, so I've decided instead turn my attention to another short that is wonderful for this time of year as we take a look at Pluto's Judgement Day.  A short where Pluto is put on trials for his sins against feline kind in Hell. 



The Plot


Pluto is  chasing a little kitten all throughout the forest and into Mickey's house and into his lap. Mickey is upset at his pet and disappointed him and tells his pooch that he'll have a lot to answer for on his judgement day.

Pluto then falls asleep in front of a fireplace and then a cat comes and taunts him into a fight that leads him to Hell, which happens to be in the shape of a cat head.

 

And here we see the prosecutor,  which is a demonic looking cat and the judge, which is also a cat both voiced by classic Disney voice actors Billy Bletcher and Clarence Nash respectively.   And then we the various  cats that were supposedly  victims of Pluto  including a scene of three black cats, who  apparently Pluto had drank their milk and ate their liver and killed their Uncle Tom.   Yeah,  I can see why this scene was cut and then the jury reach a verdict and decide that Pluto is guilty and decide to set him on fire.

 

Pluto then wakes up with a piece of fire on his tail and it was all a dream but unlike say The Mad Doctor, we knew that this short was dream all throughout and damn was it creepy with everything from the demonic prosecutor to the victims of Pluto such as the one that is frightened at the sight of a dog bark and it causes him to go into shock or seeing poor Pluto chained up.

 

As for the ending, it ends with Pluto jumping into the bath that Mickey was giving Pluto.    And Pluto and the kitty making up.  


Characters


Pluto voiced by Pinto Colvig

Okay, while Pluto supposedly did some pretty terrible things, I don't know how many of these we can take as being true knowing that this was nightmare that Pluto was having. So, I think that they can be put aside and it was just Pluto's mind getting the best of him.


Mickey Mouse voiced by Walt Disney

I've seen some people say that Mickey was being too harsh on Pluto in the beginning.  Well,  he kinda deserved it. Look, I get that dogs chase cats but Pluto made a mess of things in the house and the way I look at it, Mickey was disappointed in Pluto but more upset at the mess, his pooch created then actually upset at Pluto himself but in the end, he forgave Pluto.



Villains

Judge voiced by Clarence Nash

I liked the judge, sure he didn't have a lot to do but he was creepy and I liked it, when he hit one of the character with his gavel.  


Prosecutor voiced by Billy Bletcher

Easily, one of the most memorable aspects of this was the Prosecutor from the creepy design to Billy Bletcher's fantastic  voice work that just made him so intimidating, he just struck fear whenever you saw him.


My Final Thoughts


All  in all, this short is  really creepy and I can't call it fun but I can say that it is perfect for the Halloween season and you just feel bad for Pluto all throughout and hope that he pulls through and you are relieved when it's revealed to be a dream. Join me next time as we head back to the beginning of the Silly Symphony to celebrate the 85th Anniversary of the short that kicked off the Silly Symphony shorts. Get your bones ready as we head to the graveyard to do...


The Skeleton Dance

 

Halloween: Toy Story of Terror

Jessie Never Gives Up, Jessie Finds A Way

Hello & welcome to the Halloween celebration here on A Look at Disney.  And today, we join the Toy Story gang at a hotel  to help them escape  their fate of being sold off and getting them back to Bonnie.  Join me as I take a look at the first TV special that Pixar produced and the first of two Toy Story specials produced, as we look at the Halloween special,  Toy Story of Terror.



The Plot


We open with the toys in the trunk of Mrs.  Anderson's  car  as  Bonnie and her mom are a road trip watching a vampire movie, where a girl named Betsy is being chased by a vampire.   With all of the toys talking to the TV about the various ways that Betsy should protect herself and we learn here that Mr. Pricklepants (I love that name)  is a horror movie expert.  Jessie  says the toys are being silly and that is until she faces her biggest fear. Being trapped as the car hits a bump and puts her in a toolbox and  the other toys have to save Jessie.   And leaves the car with a flat.  So, Bonnie's mom finds a hotel,  Sleep Well and spend the night there.   What happened to Jessie is important as  she is our central character and she has to face her fear in this special.

 

Potato Head explains to Bonnie's toys that Jessie being in the toolbox is a too painful reminder of all the years she spent abandoned in a box, which to being afraid of being alone in dark spaces and being alone. They meet Ron  The Manager (He's the villain) and gives Bonnie's mom, a key to room # 7 and we get one of many references in this special. This special is jam packed with Easter Eggs as the graveyard has a tombstone of a Incredibles character on it.  This is a reference to The Shining in the shape of the keys.

Bonnie and her mother are now asleep and with this Potato Head decides to go to explore the hotel for the amenities and Woody warns him not to as a hotel is the easiest place for toys to get lost.   Trixie,  Pricklepants, Red get out.  Buzz and Woody go after them, with Buzz telling Jessie to stay in the bag that the toys have gotten out of. Leaving her by herself.  Okay,  we need to establish something here.  You know that Jessie has claustrophobia and doesn't like being left alone by herself.  So, why would you leave her by herself, after you just had to get out of a toolbox, where she felt trapped.   Buzz assures Jessie that she is safe as we see a shadow of a strange creature that is collecting the toys for Ron.

 













Buzz assures  Jessie that Potato Head is safe until they discover some strange slime that Pricklepants claims to be slime from the creature that Potato Head had stepped in after Jessie decides to catch up with the toys. Personally, I think it was hotel shampoo.

And now we have our next victim as Trixie is taken by the creature, still unseen.   Pricklepant says that the vent would be the story's threshold (He believes this to be a horror movie). And we then see the remaining toys enter the vent.

It is here where Pricklepants states that the creature would pick them off one by one, only to be taken after this and then Rex.  They then find one  of Potato Head's arm and Buzz and Woody start to argue about which way, the arm is pointing. They find themselves in a bathroom. The fighting does them no good as the during their arguing, it grabs them both and takes them away.

Jessie is then grabbed by another toy  hiding under the sink, Combat Carl,  who has seen terrible things and lost one of his hands to the creature.  And there we learn that the creature is Ron's pet iguana, Mr. Jones. We learn from Carl that he was taken from his owner, Billy and hopes to reunite with him one day.

Jones then takes  Jessie to his owner, Ron and there we learn that he is stealing the toys of the children that stay at his hotel to sell them online.  And we see  that someone has made a bid for Woody for on ebid and according to the Pixar Wiki, it's Al from Toy Story 2.  Al was even supposed to have a cameo but due to time constraints, it was cut.  Jessie is then placed in a cabinet with the rest of the toys that have been taken that include a Pez Cat, a Lego Bunny, a superhero toy, and a clock toy.

Oh, and we get our  traditional Pizza Planet truck cameo here as well on Ron's calendar.  This actually  the second time that Pizza Planet appears in the special as the license plate frame on Mrs. Anderson's car  has the Pizza Planet logo on it.

 

We then see that Jessie is up next and Ron takes her out of the cabinet.

 She doesn't know what to do,  Combat Carl tells her in order to save Woody, who has been taken by a delivery person, she needs to get in a box and to remember her training. Jessie replies that doesn't have any training, which is when Combat Carl utters his catchphrase,  "Combat Carl finds a way, Combat Carl never gives up" and he tells Jessie to repeat it. Which she does, until he tells her, you're not Combat Carl.  Jessie then finds her a way into a box that she opens with a paper clip freeing a robot toy that looked like it was inspired by Voltron.  She places the box on top of another, so that the delivery person won't notice and oh, here we learn that the hotel accepts Buy 'N' Large credit cards.

Jessie frees  Woody and the two head back to the cabinet to free the other toys but they stop as soon as they hear Bonnie come along with her mother.  And as Bonnie pulls the curtain down between the registration desk and the toys were being held. At this, Mrs. Anderson wants to know what her daughter's toys are doing in that cabinet and leaves without paying. We see the toys back in Bonnie's bag and Pricklepants points that if this were a horror movie, this is where the credits would roll and that just happens. And during the credits we see two cops come to take Ron away, who escapes because one of the cops left the keys in the car and crashes the Sleep Well Sign.

I love this special and it fits in the Toy Story continuity quite well.   I love stuff like this and the Toy Story Toons as I like seeing what toys are up to since being with Bonnie. I like how this ties into  Toy Story 2 and I like how this builds upon what we learned of Jessie in the second Toy Story sequel and she learns to overcome her fear. 

Characters

Main Character

Jessie voiced by Joan Cusack 

This special was Jessie's story through and through and how she had to overcome her fear and I have to say it was nice to see that because as I said it built upon, what we learned in Toy Story 2 and now Jessie in order to save her fellow toys had to face her fear with the aid of Combat Carl.  And while she was scared, she came through in spades and saved the toys.

Supporting Characters

Combat Carl voiced by Carl Weathers

Anybody that remembers the first Toy Story remembers that  one of the toys that Sid blew up was a Combat Carl.

Well here, we finally get to see Carl as a a character alongside his counterpart, Combat Carl Jr. 

Carl  was based in part on Carl Weathers' character from Predator and from what I've heard this is a rather accurate depiction but also some speculate that Carl was based on his character from Happy Gilmore, mainly about losing his hand to a ferocious creature.  Either way,  this character was a lot of fun and served well in the mentor role for Jessie.

Buzz & Woody voiced by Tim Allen & Tom Hanks

I'm grouping Buzz & Woody together because they seemed to serve the same role as leader and protector of the toys. Though, they could've done a better job but you can see that they care and were worried when their friends disappeared.  

Mr. Pricklepants voiced by Timothy Dalton 

Pricklepants had to be the funniest character in this special with how he was pointing out the tropes of a horror movie and actually believed that he was in one.   

Rex, Mr. Potato Head, & Trixie voiced by  Wallace Shawn,  Don Rickles,  & Kristin Schall 

 

Again, I'm grouping these characters for the same reason as they served the same purpose of being captured by the creature, only for Jessie to find.

Bonnie voiced by Emily Hahn 

This short continues to show  why Bonnie was the right choice to be the new owner of Andy's toys and  I loved her reaction, when she found her toys and her mom was just pissed that someone would take her daughter's toys.   In many respects, her losing her toys kinda reminded me of when Andy thought he lost Woody in the first movie but this is on a smaller scale, even if it was more toys.   I honestly wouldn't mind seeing more with Bonnie.

Villains

Mr. Jones voiced by Dee Bradley Baker

Y'know, while it may seem silly to us that the toys are scared of an iguana.  It does make sense in the long run because he has swallowed some of their parts and he is bigger than most of the toys I've seen some people compare Jones to Joanna from The Rescuers Down Under but I'm not so sure that I'd go that far. 

Ron The Manager voiced by  Stephen Toblowsky 

In many respects, Ron reminds me of Al from Toy Story 2 in how he stole the toys to make a quick buck off of them but whereas Al was an avid collector, I don't think that Ron really cared about the toys' condition and just stole them in the hopes of selling them to make a quick buck.   Now I know that some may argue that this character seems like a downgrade after Lots-O' Huggin' Bear but with the third and final film taking their villain to the most extreme, the trilogy had ever gone, I don't mind a simpler villain  in their first TV outing.  

My Final Thoughts

All in all, this is another great Halloween special and even though, it's only a year old, it's slowly climbing the ladder as something that I consider required viewing for Halloween.  If you are a Toy Story fan,  and you have not seen this, you owe it to yourself and you will not be disappointed. And the same looks to be true of this year's Christmas special, Toy Story That Time Forgot.

I love picking up on all Easter Eggs and the plot is a lot of fun and  it does something that a lot of good Disney Halloween specials do,  a character has to face their fear but I think this does it the best because we already knew what Jessie's fear was from the second movie, so we have that knowledge and to finally see her overcome it, just feels so rewarding for not only Jessie but for the audience that has followed her since Toy Story 2.  Join me tomorrow as we go visit Donald Duck and things get a bit weird as he experiences getting...