Frolicking Fish

'Frolicking Fish (1930)' certainly isn't 'Finding Nemo (2003),' but it's likely that Pixar received at least some inspiration from this early Silly Symphony. When it came to Disney's basic musical cartoons, which sacrificed story for anthropomorphised movement, few directors were more adept than director Burt Gillett, whose finest effort is 'Flowers and Trees (1932).' Here, he takes us beneath the ocean, where life is great. Fish and crustaceans coexist harmoniously, dancing and playing musical instruments; that is, until the evil black octopus arrives to spoil everybody's fun – never trust a mollusc! The Disney animators were fond, where exotic creatures were concerned, of zooming in on their gaping mouths, perhaps to create the sensation that the cinema audience is being swallowed up by those massive jaws. Here, it happens with a fish; in ' Hell's Bells (1929)' it was a demon of some sort, and a lion in 'Cannibal Capers (1930).' This was Disney exploring the unique artistic possibilities afforded by the animation medium, since such shots would have been virtually impossible to replicate in live-action. The cartoon finds some semblance of narrative in its final minute, when the octopus tries to hunt down and eat a terrified fish, which wriggles out from between the octopus' big white teeth (no horny beak on this one) and drops a hefty-looking ship anchor onto his attacker. It's a bloody – or that should be inky – end to one of the most sinister Silly Symphony villains.

One day under the briny deep many playing and prancing fish buddies find themselves beset by the pitiless slimy menace of the dreaded local mean octopus, who just can't bear to see them having a good time until he is rather gruesomely squished by an anchor and is totally dead, the end! Well there sure isn't much to this one, just pretty unappealingly designed fish and a few other sea creatures just dancing and doing their actions in time to the cute old timey music, which was what most of these earliest Symphonies were really, they were just interested in playing it safe and weren't quite ready to try out making short animations that were a touch more substantial. The grungy old look of this, to me instantly feels way more Max Fleischer than Walt Disney, and the sound was really grating and horrid to me. The most enjoyment I got out of it were some of the lovely details of the sea floor environment and the 'murky' shimmer effect which constantly drifts across the screen, I thought that was some sharp stuff for the time. I think the most impressive animation was done on the swirling tentacles of the octopus, they're all in motion at once and it was very well done and meticulously detailed. Sight gag wise it was pretty thin but I did like when the fish were rising on the bubbles that the much larger fish was burping out, that was something inventive. So this short is nothing particularly special, it's of interest mainly to fans and completionists of the early Disney cartoons. It's cute, but toss this old guppy back! X

In the late 1920s, Walt Disney started a series of cartoons labeled "Silly Symphonies". These shorts did not feature the usual Disney characters but consisted of various animals or bugs (in most cases) moving about to the music. While the style is pretty antiquated compared to later cartoons, they're pleasant and a lot better than the competition--who started copying Disney with similarly named shorts (such as Merry Melodies and Happy Harmonies).

"Frolicking Fish" is pretty typical of these films in many ways. While it is odd that it features fish, the rest is pure Silly Symphonies. Cutesy creatures dance about and frolic. However, the fun is cut short when an evil creature (in this case an octopus, but in others it's a cat or bear or bird or some other nasty) appears and wants to do harm to the super-cute folks of the sea. Fortunately, the fish it pursues is pretty handy and the day is saved....huzzah! Overall, while not terribly original, it's pleasant and easy to watch.

A Walt Disney SILLY SYMPHONY Cartoon Short.

The FROLICKING FISH at the bottom of the ocean are having a wonderful day, swimming & darting about. The arrival of a hungry octopus, however, seriously threatens to disrupt their fun...

With virtually no plot to speak of, this black & white cartoon is another exercise in action/reaction animation.

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.

There's not a lot to recommend this one. With a musical score and some percussion, we go to the bottom of the sea and watch a series of sea creatures cavort. There are mostly fish jigging around. We also get a creative lobster and an octopus. Like so many of these, we have coordinated dance sequences featuring the stars of the show. It is interesting but gets old quite quickly.