Moth and the Flame

When the moths break into the old curiosities shop the proceed to destroy the place (of course scientific reality goes out the window). Our focus is on a curvaceous girl moth and her on the make boyfriend. Soon a flame from a candle gets into the act and there is a continuous dance. Except for the destructionl, this is quite a remarkable case of classic animation.

Moth and the Flame is not Disney at their best, the story is rather thin in structure and some of the gags are on the predictable side. But oddly enough Moth and the Flame is still worth watching. The animation is outstanding, really one of Disney's best looking shorts with very richly coloured backgrounds and splendid fire and lightning effects. I don't know about anybody else but I also liked how the character designs reminded me of Fleischer. There are some clever visual ideas such as the moth eating his hat like a turkey. Only the Scottish mannequin design came across as goofy to me. The music is beautiful, with energy and an ability to enhance the action, the girl moth dancing near the flame was a definite highlight. The characters are just as great, both moths are instantly appealing, the girl moth is very pretty especially, but it was the flame personification that was the most well-done, amazingly realistic it was. All in all, well worth watching but not one of the all-time greats to me. 7.5/10 Bethany Cox

A Walt Disney SILLY SYMPHONY Cartoon Short.

A curvaceous young insect attracts the attentions of a boy MOTH AND THE FLAME of a candle, both of whom want to possess her for different reasons. The flame proving practically inextinguishable, the resulting fiery melee is not settled until further night fliers swarm to the rescue.

Without any great technical innovations or underlying social themes, this pleasant, perky little cartoon seemingly exists purely for entertainment.

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.

When I first started watching this for the first time I didn't think I would enjoy it so much because I initially found the moths to be a little distractingly silly looking in their design, looking more like fairies than moths. I soon totally loved it however, and I only wish I could have enjoyed all the Silly Symphonies half as much, because this one from an animation standpoint is just magnificent, and I just adored the absolute gorgeous rich animation and colour that's put into all the backgrounds, and really everything! The animation, I felt, was on par with the sublime style of the Disney masterpiece Pinnochio. I also thought the animation of the tempting flame was absolutely incredible, it was so amazing the way it danced and the shape of it was ever-changing, yellow-red-blue wonder, just like the real thing, it's a true animated wonder. I've noticed that the element of fire is used to represent evil, or the villain in quite a few of the Silly Symphonies. This is the only one I know of however, where the fire had a face! I love the girl moth's deadly dance with the wicked flame... Just like the the famous saying: "Like a Moth to the Flame" means to be helplessly attracted to something that is probably very bad for you, I love when the harmless little beckoning flame suddenly becomes a burning blaze and all the moths rally to extinguish it and eventually do so - with bagpipes! I love the perfect little ending with the cute little bug-fairies kissing in the middle of a gold ring. It's really no different then the endings of hundreds of other Disney cartoons, there's a closeup of some couple who have overcome adversity sharing a bashful kiss, but I don't know I just loved it! This animation is absolutely superb and it has got tons of excitement and charm, and It's definitely a standout of the series in my book. A wonderful gem of a great little series. 🔥 💓 🔥

A Silly Symphony about a bunch of moths, who invade a costume shop and makes food out of the clothes and accessories. Soon, a live flame tries to make nice with a lady moth, which leads to a fire that almost consumes the entire shop. What results are some moth vs. flame sequences and a moth saves moth scene.

This cartoon reminds you how these Silly Symphony cartoons get its name - definitely out-of-this-world and odd, but suitable for the family, though, not too entertaining.

Grade C+