Von Blumen und Bäumen

A bunch of sentient trees, who you might sort of recognize from Toontown, and some flowers awaken on a sunny meadow and begin their daily ritual. As with most Silly Symphonies is all set to the timing of the music, but as an animation showcase it is still rather impressive by modern standards. The world the plants inhabit is very pretty and bright, and the characterization is amusing.

I was hoping that the fire effects might lead to something like the Bald Mountain segment of Fantasia but it never really gets that far. Still one of the better Silly Symphonies and notable for a bizarre scene in which two trees get married (they fade out before the tree love-making).

The forest awakens and rubs the sleep from it's eyes. The trees, birds, insects and even the bats emerge from the arms of Morpheus in varying humours ready to start their day. One of the trees is enraptured and serenades his intended with some hastily improvised harp music whilst his friend orchestrates a chorus of chirping and the sunflowers present a perfectly choreographed dance. She's gracious enough, but having none of it until pursued by a grisly old stump who has evil designs on her delicate boughs! A duel ensues and with a fire soon ablaze, all must flee for their very lives to find a pond or a stream and hope for some rain. A fine combination of Schubert and Rossini accompanies this enjoyable animation that shows us a bit of the fickleness of affection but also, more seriously, the effects fire can have on nature and of it's recuperative powers afterwards!

The first Silly Symphony to to be made in Technicolour, Flowers and Trees remains my favourite of the Silly Symphonies. It has a certain charm that is almost irresistible. Flowers and Trees is beautifully animated, with vibrant colours, and considering when it was made, I was most impressed. The characters, although they never speak, are very lovable, especially the Mushrooms. Even the evil tree stump was an engaging character in his own right. The music was wonderfully lyrical, and reminded me of the sort of music you'll find in a ballet. It was so charming and pleasant, it plays a significant role in justifying the undeniable charm of this gem. The story is very simple, and is fairly unrealistic, but everything else that is so good, more than compensate, and it is meant to be silly. The result is a beautiful and imaginative short, with a 10/10. Bethany Cox.

This won the very first Academy Award given for animated short and even after close to 69 years, it is still a marvel to behold. It quite justifiably won its praise at the time and is one of Disney's high points. Everything about this is excellent: story, music, characterization, plot, layout, visuals-everything! Periodically, this is run on the Ink and Paint Club on the Disney Channel and should be out on video. Apparently the powers that make the decisions for The Mouse don't see a point in releasing shorts on home video. Such a shame to have such remarkable material out of circulation. *sigh* The winner, on points. Most highly recommended.

This is worth watching - only if you are over 14. I do not recommend this cartoon for anyone under that age. It is slightly disturbing (especially for young people) and I do not think they would find it interesting anyhow.

People over 14, this is a delight to watch. This is basically a very old cartoon where there are trees and plants leaving their roots (literally) and moving around, creating a storyline. You will have to see at least a little snippet of this cartoon to understand what I mean. The animation and music is very beautiful, some of the storyline is very beautiful as well.

Basically the whole cartoon is about two trees falling in love. The girl tree resembles a 1930's posh "lady". There is a horrible, evil gnarled tree who tries to capture her, but the slightly dopey looking tree will not let him have her...

This is one of a great amount of cartoons called "Silly Symphonies". This is, almost beyond doubt, the most beautiful and heartwarming collection of cartoon shorts ever made (they were all made by Disney around the time this was made). I recommend you watch at least one of them, as far as I know they are all worth watching.

I recommend this to people who are interested in historical cartoons and who like something a little different (infact - a LOT different!). Enjoy "Flowers and Trees"! :-)