Farmyard Symphony

Farmyard Symphony is a 1938 Silly Symphonies animated short film.[1] It can be seen as a precursor to Fantasia due to using various pieces of classical music in one short. The film was directed by Jack Cutting and produced by Walt Disney.[2]

Farmyard Symphony
Directed byJack Cutting
Story byErdman Penner
Vernon Stallings
Produced byWalt Disney
StarringMelvin J. Gibby
Beatrice Hagen
Dorothy Lloyd
Lee Millar
Victor Rodman
Lee Sweetland
Max Terhune
Billy Bletcher
Florence Gill
Clarence Nash
Music byLeigh Harline
Layouts byArthur Heinemann
David Hilberman
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Distributed byRKO Radio Pictures
Release date
  • October 14, 1938 (1938-10-14)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

An adaptation of the short was featured in the Silly Symphony comic strip over six weeks, from October 23 to November 27, 1938, around the time of the film's theatrical release. While the short doesn't have much of a story, the comic adaptation expands on a running gag involving a piglet looking for food, giving one of the piglets distinctive markings and a name (Spotty), and turns the gag into a short narrative.[3] Spotty Pig also appeared in a nine-page story in the Silly Symphonies comic book issue #2 (1953).[4]

Plot

Set to various classical pieces, the animals of a farmyard go about their daily business. The highlight is a rooster wooing a white hen, with the other animals joining in until they hear a sound more welcoming to them: the call of feeding time.

Pieces included

In order of appearance, the film includes the following pieces and arias.

In addition to the above pieces, the film features a few excerpts adapted by Leigh Harline from traditional tunes (such as the one to which "Chick, chick, chick, chick..." is sung by the peasant woman), as well as original orchestral passages of his, which have no classical source.

Voice cast

Home media

The short was released on December 4, 2001, on Walt Disney Treasures: Silly Symphonies - The Historic Musical Animated Classics,[5] as an Easter egg in the "Accent on Music" section.[2] Prior to that, the featurette also appeared on the Walt Disney Cartoon Classics Limited Gold Edition: Silly Symphonies VHS in the 1980s. It is also a bonus on the Make Mine Music DVD.

References
  1. Mullaney, Dean, ed. (2016). Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies Volume 1: The Complete Disney Classics. San Diego, CA: IDW Publishing. p. 192. ISBN 9781631408045.
  2. Merritt, Russell; Kaufman, J. B. (2016). Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series (2nd ed.). Glendale, CA: Disney Editions. pp. 204–205. ISBN 978-1-4847-5132-9.
  3. Taliaferro, Al; Osborne, Ted; De Maris, Merrill (2016). Silly Symphonies: The Complete Disney Classics, vol 2. San Diego: IDW Publishing. ISBN 978-1631408045.
  4. "Silly Symphonies #2". Inducks. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  5. "Silly Symphonies: The Historic Musical Animated Classics DVD Review". DVD Dizzy. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
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