La Gallina Sabia

While watching The Wise Little Hen, I had to keep reminding myself that this short was made in 1934. The animation has held up well over the years and is as good as anything you'll see. The colors paint a bright picture and the attention to detail is amazing. This film is also an important milestone as it marks the first appearance of Donald Duck, it remains one of his best films.

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.

I had never known that this cartoon was Donald Duck's first appearance, as well as for his voice artist, Clarence "Ducky" Nash. And besides, I love Donald Duck, along with Mickey Mouse, his canine pal Pluto, which is unusual to me because I am a cat lover, and Chip n' Dale. This Silly Symphony is adapted from "The Little Red Hen," and I know that story well. I love it whenever the Wise Little Hen says, "Will you help me plant my corn? Will you help me plant my corn?" And Donald and Peter Pig would say, "Who? Me! Oh no! I've got a belly ache!" I thought that was great rhythmic timing. So anyway, it's a great cartoon.

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.

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.