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The Grasshopper and the Ants (1934)

**** (out of 4)

Excellent animated short from Disney has a grasshopper dancing around playing his fiddle while a bunch of ants are hard at work since winter is coming. The ants continue to work as the grasshopper continues to play and before long it's winter and someone is left with no food or shelter. This type of story certainly wasn't anything new or original and it's certainly been borrowed from over the decades but this here is still a lot of fun to watch. For starters, as you'd expect, the animation is of very high quality and it's certainly great fun just to see the beautiful colors and drawings. Another major plus is that the music score is actually quite good and the songs being done by the grasshopper are catchy. Of course, there's a big moral to the story, which comes across perfectly well.

A Walt Disney SILLY SYMPHONY Cartoon Short.

Winter is coming, but the GRASSHOPPER AND THE ANTS have very different ways of preparing for it. While the ants are diligently storing food, the Grasshopper is only dancing around & playing his fiddle. When the snows come, perhaps he'll play a different tune...

Aesop's Fables provided the source for this very enjoyable cartoon. The intricate labors of the ants give lots of interest for the eye. `Oh, The World Owes Us A Living', the Grasshopper's song, would eventually become, with a slight revision, the theme for Goofy; Pinto Colvig voiced both characters.

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.

The Grasshopper and the Ants is a very enjoyable Silly Symphony, about a fiddle playing grasshopper and a group of ants. The animation is beautiful, and so is the music. The characters are really likable, especially the grasshopper. Also watch out for the original voice of Goofy, the one and only Pinto Colvig. Adapted from Aesop, this silly symphony has some funny moments with a simple story and a nice moral, and a couple of poignant ones- the part when the grasshopper is pleading to the queen is bound to break someone's heart, again it could be to do with how Colvig delivered the line. And the part when the Ant Queen says "Go on with your fiddle... and play" was just perfect. My final verdict is a fun and very enjoyable silly symphony. A definite 10/10. Bethany Cox

Just watched this Disney Silly Symphony on YouTube. In this one, a grasshopper fiddles away singing, "The World Owes Us a Living" while the worker ants prepare for the winter storage. The queen of them warns the grasshopper of what will happen if the grasshopper doesn't prepare himself but he pays her no mind. Then the blizzard comes...If the voice of the grasshopper sounds familiar, that's because it's the same one that will voice the eventually popular Goofy: Pinto Colvig. He provides ample charm here despite his character being somewhat lazy in nature. And when he does learn his lesson, he changes the words to reflect that learning. I'm sure the Depression audience that watched this in theatres came away with that attitude as well and possibly whistled that tune going out. Uncle Walt himself probably liked it as well since it became-with a few note changes-Goofy's theme as well. So on that note, I highly recommend The Grasshopper and the Ants.

This Silly Symphony is based on Aesop's Fable, The Ant and the Grasshopper. While the Grasshopper is all play and no work, an army of ants harvest food for the winter. And, when the freezing whether arrives, the ants enjoy a warm feast while the grasshopper goes hungry.

Disney added nice touches of animation, music, and voice acting (one whom you may recognize as later voicing Goofy), which all blended well with a good message of hard work, diligence, and second chances.

Grade A

A happy grasshopper dances into town (or undergrowth) playing his happy fiddle. A bunch of ants living in a nearby tree colony are busy syphoning off the treasures of a recently pilfered picnic as the grasshopper takes one of them aside to groom. The ant queen turns up and warns him not be such a carefree renegade as winter is coming soon.

Sure enough, winter does come very quickly and the happy grasshopper is freezing and starving in the snow before he comes knocking on the door of the warm, well-fed ant colony where they nurse him back to health.

Underlying message of the cartoon: if you fail at life just wait until someone gives you a handout.

When this cartoon begins, you'll no doubt notice that it's the voice of Goofy (Pinto Colvig) playing the grasshopper. It's pretty hard not to notice that distinctive voice!

As far as the cartoon goes, it has the usual exceptional color animation you'd expect from a Disney cartoon of the era and there is no comparison between the Disney shorts and those of the nearest competition. Also, unlike some of their Silly Symphonies, this one benefits from having a lot less singing--a definite bonus. What did surprise me, however, is that despite all this wonderfulness and a great timeless story, the script actually changed the ending--and completely changed the moral lesson. Instead of an admonition to work hard lest you die of starvation in hard times, it shows the ants taking pity on the stupid grasshopper and sharing their food. This seems to give the moral lesson that you should reach out to help the lazy! An odd ending indeed. Without this happily ever after sort of ending, it might have earned a 10--it was that good. But the morally questionable ending detracted from what should have been a timeless lesson.

I give this animated short a 10/10. It's just so charming. I guess something about a grasshopper prancing around playing good fiddle music just warms the heart.

Despite the queen's warning, the ants accept the grasshopper out of the cold, showing their kind nature, something we should all strive for. The grasshopper also admits he is wrong, which is another important lesson. And when the queen says, "Now take your fiddle... and play!" that moment is perfect:

"I owe the world a living! I owe the world a living! I've been a fool all year long. Now I'm singing a different song! You were right; I was wrong!"

That just gets me all choked up.

Ya gotta love Disney.

.............WELL, AT LEAST not in the USA, anyway!

THAT THIS TULY ancient story would be adapted to the screen by Mr. Walt Disney & Company. Assigned to being an installment in Disney's SILLY SYMPHONIES, the production of this animated short subject was assured to being rendered first rate.

ALTHOUGH THE STORY is really more than quite familiar to everyone, it received a new and upbeat "facelift". As only a studio such as that which was and is Disney could pull something like this off.

IN ADDITION TO the basic premise of carefree & really lazy grasshopper's being contrasted to the highly industrious ant colony. Everything was fine for the grasshopper while the Summer Sun sines. He scoffs at the ants working so hard in stock-piling for the Winter's tough times. Winter comes and the foolish grasshopper is literally left out in the cold; while the "Chumpy" ants are safe, warm and well fed down in their below ground level home.

THIS Disney VERSION takes pity on the tobacco spitter and has him being treated as a guest by the magnanimous generosity of the ants. The point is still made, albeit with a happy and not so fatal an ending.

NEXT TO THE usual brilliant animation and beautiful Technicolor visuals, the greatest asset of this film is its employment of voice actor Pinto Colvig. The man who was best known for his giving speech to characters such as Disney's GOOFY and Max Fleischer's GABBY, gave real "life" to THE GRASSHOPPER & THE ANTS. Particularly memorable is his solo singing of the very lively and meaningful tune: "The World Owes Me A Living!"

BOY SCHULTZ, THAT ought to be a real hit today!

Very good, one of the best shorts at Disney. With a great animation and fantastic morals. Highly recommend.