The Golden Touch

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.

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.

King Midas cares for nothing but gold. One day, he's visited by the diminutive magical Goldie. Despite Goldie's warning, Midas demands and is granted the golden touch. At first, he is overjoyed but eventually, he discovers that it is really a curse. He turns everything including his food into gold. In the end, he pleads to Goldie to have a hamburger sandwich in exchange for his entire kingdom.

This is a Walt Disney Silly Symphony cartoon. There are none of the iconic Disney characters. It's strictly the classic tale told in a silly cartoon form. The tale still works and it works well in this short bite size. Goldie is a little creepy but Midas is a fun looking design. It's all very good.

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.

There was only one thing really that I didn't like about The Golden Touch was the ending, the whole idea that King Midas lost everything for a hamburger didn't convince me and came across as absurd instead. Then again, that's just me having one of my personal thoughts. Otherwise it is a great cartoon, that sadly gets a lot of hate(even from Walt Disney himself!) for some reason which I'd love to find out, especially when there are far worse Silly Symphonies out there(El Terrible Toreador for instance). Why did I love this cartoon? The animation is absolutely great, colourful and fluid throughout, with the standouts being how things turn to gold and the chilling part where Midas sees the skeleton through the mirror in his own robes, and complete with one of the catchiest beginning songs of any Silly Symphony the music is energetic and really sets the tone of the story well. The jokes are very clever, and while it is a tad predictable once Goldie offers Midas the golden touch the story is crisply paced and charming with a great message about how self-destructive greed is, though I have always wondered what happened to the cat once he's turned to gold. What is remarkable about The Golden Touch, other than the sprightly character of Goldie was the portrayal of Midas, who is so much more than the one-dimensional figure he could've been, instead he is greedy, but also subtle, pretty likable and you do feel sorry for him at the end. All in all, not a masterpiece but a great cartoon. 9/10 Bethany Cox