El toque de oro

I seem to be the only reviewer on here who really dislikes THE GOLDEN TOUCH. Watching it for the first time in years after marathoning several other Silly Symphonies, I was stunned by how pedestrian and unpleasant this was.

I get why Walt Disney was embarrassed by this short. Midas is an absolutely unappealing protagonist-- too unsympathetic to earn pathos and not funny enough to be entertaining in spite of that. The music is unmemorable, the lyrics witless. The gags aren't much good either-- they mostly feel lame and obvious-- and the horror of Midas' situation isn't played up much either (BABES IN THE WOODS is a great Silly Symphony that does a much better job at blending humor with horror). Overall, just a misfire.

A Walt Disney SILLY SYMPHONY Cartoon Short.

Jolly monarch King Midas is gold mad and nothing seems to satisfy his avarice. Then one day a strange little elf grants him THE GOLDEN TOUCH...

An enjoyable retelling of the tale from Greek Mythology, competently animated.

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.

King Midas already has billions of dollars in gold, but he lusts after more. Along comes an elf who offers him the golden touch. At first he enjoys greatly, running around, touching everything. However, he soon comes to the obvious conclusion that he needs sustenance and must beg for freedom from his own foolishness. This is a well drawn and quickly paced cartoon.

This 1935 short was Walt Disney's first time directing in 5 years (he wasn't entirely satisfied with his cartoon directors during this stage) and was his last effort at directing ever. He also hated this cartoon for undisclosed reasons.

It features King Midas, the greedy ruler of legend who craved gold and wishes for everything he touches to turn shiny and priceless. An elf called Goldie (gee, that's imaginative) appears and offers to make that wish come true. Midas enjoys it at first but soon comes to realize that the best things are life are those that you can touch and hold close to you. Or at least he would if the cartoon didn't just have him grow frustrated at not being able to eat dinner.

There is some nice animation in here, but overall it's forgettable. Respect Walt's wishes and skip it.

A nice version of the story of King Midas and his wish-turned-curse. I chuckled when I noticed the 18K that appeared on the cat when it was turned to gold. I also loved his giddy little dance for joy upon using his new talent for the first time. His first realization for the curse of the golden touch occurs with him being squirted in the eye with gold coins by his grapefruit, which continues with a series of problems resulting in his whining about the possibility of the richest king starving to death. The fact that he is deemed wise because he asked for a hamburger (with onions) is one of those details laced with a little bit of absurdity that you don't notice at first but make you crack up later during a little afterthought. The song at the beginning is nice; my favorite verse would have to be: "I've never cared for women / I've never cared for wine / But when I count / A large amount / Of money - Ha Ha / It's Divine!" It has something for everyone and is short enough so that the gags don't go stale. Enjoy.