Broken Toys

I wrote another review that was censored. I wonder if this cartoon is shown at colleges as a subject to critique? Obvious stereotypes of Asians and popular Hollywood Blac actors of the time. But if the viewer looks closer, whether they are all white and other, they are a team. And they are together not as a race but as a species, dolls (humans). W. C. Makes approaches on a black woman in this and is rebuffed (indicating equality). W. C. Also hangs out out with another non-white doll They are all a team. The doll cartoon characters here seem very happy hanging out with the other race doll types, lol. I watched this to see Bud .Duncan (thinking it was a live film, not a cartoon) but he's not portrayed art wise here, only as a doll (the police doll), his star in the silent films had already fallen, sad. Great cartoon, a Disney with Mickey Mouse on the title but no mouse in it. Also United Artists. Its great to watch I love the teamwork of all the races and sexes of the characters! Every character is very respectful (unless you count WC slapping the black woman, but he apologized).

This is a nice little innocent and non-pc cartoon about a group of discarded toys who want to better themselves to have a new shot at life. It's great Disney quality with plenty of children innocence and classic themes. Nice for the family.

Grade B+

I always enjoy Disney Silly Symphonies, and Broken Toys is no exception. It is beautifully animated with vibrant colours and fluid backgrounds, and I liked the energy and whimsy of the music. The story is a very sweet one, with some clever individual scenes such as the humorous and tense operation scene and the heartwarming ending(without it ever feeling overly-sentimental), while the characters are more individualised than characters with a similar feel like Funny Little Bunnies and Santa's Workshop, with some smartly used caricatures of WC Fields, Zasu Pitts, Ned Sparks and especially Stepin Fetchitt. All in all, truly delightful. 10/10 Bethany Cox

A Walt Disney SILLY SYMPHONY Cartoon Short.

Landing in a dump, a lively sailor doll finds the place has become the home for a collection of discarded BROKEN TOYS who have all given up hope of finding happiness again. Instilling new enthusiasm & dignity in them, the sailor doll helps get them repaired & cleaned-up. He even replaces the button eyes on a beautiful blind doll, finding romance in the bargain. But now, with Winter coming on, the sailor doll has big plans for the toys' future...

This very charming film was Disney's Christmas cartoon for 1935. Good animation & story are a real plus. A few Hollywood celebrities are caricatured amusingly: Ned Sparks, Zasu Pitts, W. C. Fields & Stepin Fetchit (in unedited versions).

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.

This is a really well crafted animated piece. It starts with a bunch of cast off toys landing in a dump. They are all pretty much damaged in some way. One little character takes it upon himself to get things rolling, helping to repair everyone. Some of it is makeshift, like using pencils to replace the limbs of damaged soldiers. Or using a thimble for a helmet. This is nicely done. Once again, sixty some years after the Civil War, the black characters are still being treated as weak, lazy characters. There is a Stepin-Fetchit guy who doesn't want to do any work, even to help, but gets coerced into helping. He also falls asleep during the surgery of the little doll and her "heart" stopes beating. These are more abrasive than the usual stupidity. But the overall effect is good.