El Patito Feo

Genre: Disney short, based on Hans Christian Anderson tale.

Main characters: The ugly duckling, the duck and the swan.

What happens: A father duck has managed to "dig" a ditch by walking around impatiently, waiting for his ducklings to hatch out of their eggs. Finally, this happens, but an unexpected egg also hatches, one with an "ugly duckling"…

Message: Often differences can be good.

My thoughts: Growing up with this short, this is a very cute Silly Symphony, one of many that Walt Disney created. This particular one I love dearly, as I do with most of the ones I have watched. It is very lovable and also very emotional (at points I nearly cry). You will understand this sadness whether you know the Hans Christian Anderson tale or not, it melts your heart (well mine anyway). I cannot understand people who are at least SLIGHTLY moved by something in this short. I like the character of the ugly duckling, he is lovable at first sight. If a family is watching this (and the children are between 0 and 7) you may want to be a little cautious so as not to upset the youngest. I was certainly upset when I was little, but thankfully that has changed, as sadness has also turned into love for this cartoon. I hope you are as warmed just as much as I was.

Recommended to: Children who like cartoons and adults who like cartoons. Enjoy! :-)

A Walt Disney SILLY SYMPHONY Cartoon Short.

A gawky UGLY DUCKLING, only moments after birth, is hectored & harried from the family of ducks he was born into. Will he ever find happiness & learn his true destiny?

This is a pleasant cartoon, with the plucky personality of the protagonist firmly front & center; the by-play between the duck parents is also amusing. Based on the Hans Christian Andersen classic, it is a remake of a 1931 black & white Symphony. The SILLY SYMPHONIES ended with this film, but they went out with a bang - like 6 of its predecessors, THE UGLY DUCKLING was awarded an Oscar for Best Animation.

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.

A great short animation offering to Hans Christian Andersen text new touches, significances and nuances.

A remake , seductive for colors but especially for the echo in contemporary crisis , from social exclusion to need of love and the apparences, selfishness, migrants and the truth more significant than the misery of previews details.

So, I saw it after good decades and I saw it from different perspective , first in context of its time, then in the context of our time , dizzy , confuse and looking for sense.

So, easy to define it as loving and just precious. So, the ugly duckling and the steps to find its happiness.

Disney's track record for adaptations of works of literature is decidedly mixed. This version of Hans Christian Andersen's, "The Ugly Duckling" is one of the most successful ones and quite deservedly won another Oscar for Uncle Walt. It's a beautiful short on all counts-animation, backgrounds, artwork, scoring, eveything-Disney at it's best. When Disney was at their best, no one could touch them. This short does justice to one of the most well-known fairy tales of all time and almost makes up for what they did to Felix Salten's "Bambi". Almost. This one should be in-print and runs on The Ink and Paint Club. An absolute masterpiece and anyone who loves animation has got to see this one! Recommended.

The Ugly Duckling, based on the story by Hans Christian Andersen, is a beautiful short, that not only has a wonderful message(being different can be good) but also has sentimental value. The animation, in Technicolour is truly lovely, and the music is one of the reasons why I have a soft spot for this short, it was so beautiful. The story of the short is simple, and sweet, and doesn't change the message of the original story. The ugly Duckling himself (which of course he isn't)is a really sweet and engaging title character, and when he cries, I can't help it, but so do I, because I really feel for him. He was created so beautiful, that it tugged at my heartstrings when he's sad. And when I saw the Ugly Duckling cuddling his newfound mother, I couldn't help cheering, seeing him so happy. The other characters are also well done. Overall, this is just beautiful, but I warn you, prepare for tears, when watching this, and this is for the title character alone. 10/10 Bethany Cox.