Babes in the Woods (1932)

Purely Joyful Movie!

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

. . . with this ironically portentous brief cartoon, BABES IN THE WOODS. The future Disney MegaCorp casts ITSELF as an evil, ugly witch, possessing a job-killing potion capable of turning the liveliest kid or cat into stone (as in "stone-cold dead"). This, of course, is exactly what Disney soon did to the entirety of Western Civilization, bribing the U.S. Congress to extend standard 28-year copyrights Ad Infinitum. This insures that Disney's Witching Hours will NEVER end; that Steamboat Willie and friends NEVER will be allowed to breathe free in the Public Domain. As an unintended and ever more grotesque side effect from this misuse of Disney's ill-gotten Wealth, all the Beloved Creatures of Real Artists--such as Gatsby, Bugs Bunny, Gilroy, Porky Pig, and Bogart--are similarly condemned to the static single dimension of Disney's Stone Cold Dungeons. The solution to this sorry state of affairs is embedded in the conclusion of BABES IN THE WOODS. Just as the tiny bearded gnomes liberate all the kiddies frozen by the Disney Witch, it is up to We the 99 Per Center Little People to make sure that imprisoned Disney Characters such as Goofer and Bluto FINALLY see the light of day by tagging them across America's municipal buildings and streets as often as possible!

In the 1930s, Disney was the top studio for animation. The quality of their work was without equal and the public adored them. So, I have no animosity against Disney cartoons of this era. However, I must admit that a few of their cartoons were NOT so wonderful and a small number were, despite GREAT animation, still very bad cartoons. This is the case with "Babes in the Woods"--a completely sub-par and creepy cartoon indeed.This short begins with two Dutch-looking children with hollow, soul-less eyes running about--lost in the woods. They happen upon a group of gnomes that look like little Santas. However, after all their cavorting about, an evil witch arrives. She kidnaps the kids and tries to eat them and the kids respond by murdering her--but it's in self-defense! Then, all the forest creatures celebrate and the film ends. On top of everything, the music in this bizarre mess is terrible. Apart from nice animation, there really is nothing worth seeing in this weird and uber-creepy short film.

I thoroughly enjoyed this Silly Symphony. I wouldn't necessarily deem it as a favourite, like I would Flowers and Trees and The Old Mill, but it manages to be both scary and charming. With nice colourful animation, particularly on the outside of the gingerbread house, a beautiful lullaby-like title song and dramatic and whimsical incidental music it is a delight visually and musically. The pace is secure and the cartoon eventful enough to be enjoyable, with some elements of other Grimm fairy tales and sticking to the overall structure of the original Hansel and Gretel tale. The characters are engaging, the two children are likable enough and look cute in the Dutch traditional dress, while the gnomes are friendly and jovial. I remember this though chiefly for the Witch, who is very scary not only how she is animated but how she speaks too. Concluded with a fun climax, in which the Witch is finally turned into stone, this is a lovely, charming Silly Symphony. 10/10 Bethany Cox

A Walt Disney SILLY SYMPHONY Cartoon Short.A malignant old witch tricks the BABES IN THE WOODS into entering her house of horrors. Only their new friends, the little woodland dwarfs, can save them now...A lot of colorful action is packed into this cartoon, which includes elements of stories from the Brothers Grimm. Charming opening, in which the story begins as a sung lullaby. The wicked witch, though now all but forgotten, is the first of Disney's great villainesses.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.