The Skeleton Dance
Tags: psychedelic, horror

Plot synopsis:
The night promises to be a scary one. Lightning flashes. The wind howls. A tree branch in the shape of a hand seems to grab for a frightened owl that spins its head around like a top. The clock on the church tower strikes midnight, sending the bats flying out of the belfry. Two cats on gravestones fight by pulling and stretching each other's noses like taffy. A skeleton rises from behind a gravestone, frightening the fur off the cats. But an owl's hooting scares it, and it retaliates by throwing its skull and knocking the bird's feathers off.It's time for the skeletons to dance; and they perform as no living creatures could. They break apart into individual bones and then come back together again. They stretch and shrink into impossible shapes. They use each other as pogo sticks. One breaks off the two thigh bones of another and plays "March of the Dwarves" on its ribs like a xylophone. Another uses one of its bones as a bow and plays a cat's tail as if it were a stringed instrument. When the rooster crows, the skeletons fly into a panic, rushing at one another and smashing together to form a giant horse-like creature with many legs and four skulls stacked one upon the other.The creature dives into an open grave, knocking the stone lid over itself. But a pair of shinbones with feet are left behind, and they kick the stone to get in. A bony hand reaches out and grabs them. The skeleton dance is done.

Review: The Skeleton Dance is simply one of the most entertaining and imaginative animation shorts ever made.
When the skeletons first appear you can somewhat see why in 1929 some people thought this was too gruesome for a cartoon.
The animation of Ub Iwerks and music of Carl Stalling are a perfect mix.
Maybe the first great work of animation and probably one of the first important sound films.
Four skeletons awake from their graves and dance around, scaring black cats and owls alike.
This new technology, that allowed movies to be able to have their own musical score independent of the theater's orchestra, entered the mind of a young film director and animator named Walt Disney, who had been producing short animated films with the help of the brilliant cartoonist Ub Iwerks.
Disney decided to take advantage of the novelty of sound and create a series of short musical animations to distribute along their Mickey Mouse cartoons (which also began to be produced with sound), in which they would be able to experiment with new techniques, characters and ideas.
He named the series, "Silly Symphonies", and the very first one of them, 1929's "The Skeleton Dance", would revolutionize animation forever.In "The Skeleton Dance", the action is set on an abandoned graveyard during a windy night under the full moon.
It is the perfect night for the creatures of the night, and so the bats fly from the belfry, the spiders go out for a walk, and an owl watches scared the action that's about to begin: the dead rise from their graves, and they are ready to dance.
A skeleton comes out first, scaring a couple of cats who were fighting, and then he calls his friends, other skeletons who are willing to play some music and celebrate.
Using their bones as musical instruments, the Skeletons play a haunting tune, dance to the music, and even dance Ring Around the Rosie, having fun until the moon hides and the new day begins, because as soon as the rooster appears to announce that it's morning, the Skeletons must return to their graves, and prepare themselves for the next time.Created by Ub Iwerks and Walt Disney, "The Skeleton Dance" is, as its tag-line says, a talking picture novelty in which audiences where able to witness a good song accompanied by an animated film, pretty much similar to what we now know as a musical video.
What makes the movie amazing is the way it perfectly mixes the horror atmosphere of its setting with the whimsical comedy that made Walt Disney Productions' short films so popular with the audiences.
Skulls, bats, cats and spiders make an apparition in the movie, in what could be the perfect scenario for a horror film, but this time the skeletons only want to have fun.
Stalling, composer of the film's song (and another influential figure in the history of animation), creates in "The Skeleton Dance" one of the best Disney tunes ever, perfectly putting in his music that mix of horror and humor that the short film embodies.Ub Iwerks' art shines through the film, and Disney makes sure to take the most advantage of his friend's talent.
As written above, they saw the "Silly Symphonies" as a way to experiment, and "The Skeleton Dance" showcases Iwerks and his team making a highly dynamic film, as well as creating pretty impressive sequences where perspective is put to great use.
It's also very imaginative the many things they do with their skeletons, specially when they made them use the things found in the cemetery as musical instruments (including cats, and later, their own bones).
The choreography of the Skeleton dance is very funny, and one gets the feeling that this group of young animators were truly having fun when making this little film.
In many ways, "The Skeleton Dance" was way ahead of its time, and includes elements that years later would be part of the horror genre.Among Disney's early films, "The Skeleton Dance" is one of enormous importance, as thanks to its big success Disney was able to produce more cartoons of his established characters.
It also produced many imitators (WB's "Merry Melodies" and MGM's "Happy Harmonies" being the best of them) and a completely new style of short animations.
Sadly, the friendship between Disney and Iwerks would be broken and Iwerks abandoned Disney in 1930 to open his own studio and later to work at Columbia Pictures (where in 1937 he remade "The Skeleton Dance" in color, under the name of "Skeleton Frolics").
While he never found the same success he had with Disney, Ub Iwerks' work proved to be among the most influential in the history of animation, becoming the teacher of other masters like Chuck Jones, and even now, animators today study the magic of Ub Iwerks and his dancing skeletons.10/10.
For Halloween 2000, El Capitan theatre in Hollywood ran "The Skeleton Dance" as the short before 1993's "The Nightmare Before Christmas".
It's really nice to see some classic Disney shorts theatrically, rather than video or 16mm.
This, being the first Silly Symphony, definitely shows us what was to come from Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks.
At the time of its release, sync-sound was only a couple of years old, it's fun to watch (through old films) the progression of sound as the field became more explored and perfected through the years..
The First Silly Symphony Cartoon.
A Walt Disney SILLY SYMPHONY Cartoon Short.The powers of darkness are abroad one dark & stormy night.
In a lonely churchyard, graves are opened and THE SKELETON DANCE is performed by four bony fellows who exhibit terpsichorean skills of the most sepulchral sort.
Stalling, Disney's music director in the early days, arranged Grieg's 'March Of The Dwarfs' as musical accompaniment to this first entry in the Symphonies series.
With Ub Iwerks' masterful drawing, this black & white cartoon still packs a punch today.
Indeed, some theater owners found it to be too macabre and refused to show it.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.
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 short film was the first of the Silly Symphony series, which ran under the Disney banner from a decade from 1929 and proved to be an excellent training ground for animation techniques which would become the springboard into Snow White and the later features.Even though the distributor at the time dismissed 'The Skeleton Dance' with the terse telegram 'More Mice' (a reference to the Mickey cartoons which had just started a few months before), this film is inventive, extremely funny, marries action and sound perfectly (and remember, this was when talkies were still very much in their infancy), and is an absolute hoot even after all these years.So what's it about?
But you can see the influence this film had on later animators (there is a sequence in Monty Python for example which references this film quite closely) and there is no doubt that it is a lot of fun..
The Skeleton Dance was made over 85 years ago, but if you put it on at a Halloween party, not only will it make for some awesome ambiance, people will very likely stop what they're doing and watch it.
This is Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, with assist from musician Carl W.
The movie has that truly awesome feeling, seeing it today, of the animators going 'hey, here's something we can try that has never been done before - skeletons dancing to spooky music (and the occasional Owl, who opens the short film in a great way by its eyes).
There are some gags here and there; at the end, as the skeletons have to pack themselves back in their crypt, the little feet on one body has been left behind and they kick and kick at the crypt to let them back in.But in reality, this is a fun-but-spooky little movie.
The first Silly Symphony ever might also be called the first music video ever.
"The Skeleton Dance" features a group of skeletons who emerge from their graves and make merry.
It's some pretty cool stuff, and I'm even saying that as someone who doesn't tend to think too highly of Disney's output.
I find all the other things in this short less creepy than the skeletons!.
Walt Disney seemed happy enough producing spooky cartoons like this.
I like the music, the animation and the theme of the episode is quite clever and the makers present it well.
In this short, a bunch of skeletons dance around in fun ways, with a slight Disney touch.
I note that at the beginning, to put you in the mood of the short, there are a few animals beside a graveyard such as an owl and two cats.
Personally I think these animals at the beginning are more spooky than the skeletons, who are supposed (as it seems) to be the spookiest thing in the cartoon.
This is the first of the Silly Symphonies series of cartoons that Dsney did and it is absolutely marvelous!
Ub Iwerks directed and it is one of the best Disney shorts they ever made.
Classic Fun. Skeleton Dance, The (1929) *** 1/2 (out of 4) A Disney Silly Symphony short has four skeletons getting out of their graves to dance, which scares the fur off two black cats.
This is a very imaginative short that features some wonderful animation.
Disney is credited with the direction duties but having seen a few shorts by Iwerks it really seems that he is directing it.
Wonderfully creepy Silly Symphony!.
Skeleton Dance is definitely one of my favourite Silly Symphonies.
Although it is in black and white, (not at all a bad thing) the animation is excellent, and gives a suitably macabre feel.
It is very silly, yet creepy at the same time, and you know what, that's why I love it so much.
The short, only about five and a half minutes, consists mainly of a skeleton dance, hence the title, that is very well choreographed to conveniently macabre music.
The music was very creepy and atmospheric, and added to the appeal of Skeleton Dance.
I love all the Silly Symphonies, and I personally think, you are never too old to appreciate Disney, especially with gems like this.
Crude black and white cartoon is still one of the great animated films.
It's time for the skeletons to dance; and they perform as no living creatures could.Less than ten years after this crude black and white cartoon, Walt Disney made "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." Disney may have quickly surpassed this film in technical virtuosity, but no one has surpassed it in artistry.
"The Skeleton Dance," with its spooky charm and ineffable strangeness, is one of the great animated cartoons..
So much animation; so many skeletons.
This is a film about what happens at midnight when all the skeletons of the dead pop up and start to have a good time.
This also has a fun soundtrack that allows the skeletons to do dance routines and participate in the making of the music.
What a difference it makes to actually have Disney himself direct his cartoons.
The Skeleton Dance is atmospheric, surreal, and visually eccentric to the point where I believe it inspired the Nightmare Before Christmas, to some degree, and even the works of Sally Cruikshank.
I imagine that kids might have actually been a bit frightened of this cartoon back in 1929.Apparently Disney had trouble getting it into theaters based on this notion.The short features a gloomy churchyard overtaken by skeletons at night who go about dancing to various forms of mischief.
Great fun mini story line and wonderful old-school animation.
The first of Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies.There's no real plot or dialogue...just music.
Then four skeletons appear from a grave and start dancing to the music!
It's basically a fun little cartoon with superb animation.
First of the Silly Symphones - fun stuff!.
This is the first of Walt Disney's Silly Symphony cartoons, featuring four skeletons dancing throughout the night in a cemetery in delightful and characteristic fashion.The black and white animation was great and the music was very catchy and harmonic, setting the right mood for a creepy little cartoon and giving off sound effects that matches the animated action.The cartoon has just plenty of Halloween related things, from black cats to bats, from owls to creepy looking trees, and from headstones to, of course, skeletons.
This is the very first Silly Symphony short from Disney.
While I have never been a huge fan of these films because they are all basically well animated music videos, I sure liked THE SKELETON DANCE.
What a great film to show for Halloween.Oddly, the opening credits appear in total silence.
However, once the film begins the music starts.
The film consists of four skeletons in a graveyard coming out at night to dance and have a good time.
This one is a cool classic.Skeleton Dance is just what it's about Dancing Skeletons.Takes place in a graveyard with the usual creepy stuff you'd find bumping in the night.till a skeleton comes out and starts to tip toe around.
And eventually 3 other skeletons come out and start to dance and play around the graveyard.The animation is very well done for a short from 1928, the days when Disney was about to be well known and before the Disney company became the most powerful company in the world.I recommend this to those who like Disney related/Grim slapstick humor cartoons..
Walt Disney's The Skeleton Dance deserves its scary classic status.
Just watched this classic Walt Disney Silly Symphony (the first) on the Saturday Morning Blog as linked from YouTube.
Animated by Ub Iwerks with music by Carl Stalling, The Skeleton Dance has four of those creatures having fun scaring fur out of cats and an owl before swaying to and fro, tap dancing simultaneously, and one playing the other like a xylophone.
Excellent stuff all around so if you're in a Halloween mood, I definitely recommend The Skeleton Dance..
Skeleton Dance along with The Incredibles are a true classic of the animated genre.
The music is great, the dancing skeletonrific, drawings spooky!
You haven't lived life till you have seen this short...The owl howling, the skeletons dancing, the famous close up is enough to make you a Disney fan forever.
When you've seen it, you might never erase it from your memory.Disney should get more Oscars for this excellent, excellent short.
Excellent start to the Silly Symphony series.
This short barely possess a story: a few skeletons rise from their graves to spook animals, make music, and dance the Charleston all through the night until morning comes and it's back to the old tomb once again.
In spite of this, The Skeleton Dance (1929) is one of the most unique and entertaining Silly Symphonies there is.
The macabre subject matter and creepy atmosphere set it apart from other Symphonies which adhere to the "several animals/flowers/people/etc get in a chorus line and dance" trope.
The animation is outstanding for the late 1920s (it's a shame that quality was not maintained for the follow-up, El Terrible Toreador (1929)).This was a promise of good things to come.
I could very well imagine how people very genuinely scared by this 85 years ago, especially those moments where the animated skeletons quickly approach the camera and thus directly communicate with the viewer.
People are afraid of things they don't understand and those who saw this Silly Symphony cartoon right after its release in 1929 have probably only come across very few pieces of animation or horror at this point, if any at all.
Right at the beginning the early owl comes off as truly creepy, but gets her blood run cold shortly afterward too.After some canine howling and cat-fighting to emphasize the atmosphere, the skeleton dance show finally begins.
Unrestrained dancing, jumping and music-making ensues and the poor cats and owls end up being abused as musical instruments right until the cock announces the break of dawn and the party guests quickly return to their graves..
In it's own small way, this could be seen as the darkest animation that Disney ever made...
The animation is mostly great and everything to be seen is classically spooky in design.
I really loved the Gothic opening sequence with the church, and the eerie howling of the dog by the full moon, and the animation of the leaves and weeds blowing realistically in a chill breeze looked very impressive and was a great atmospheric touch.
The only thing I didn't care for in the whole short was the two yowling cats.
They looked like Felix the Cat. I loved how the blank and faceless forms of skeletons were instantly given mischievous and just perhaps malicious personality by the simple jangling of their bones clacking together.
The old-time, ghoulish revelry of the skeletons was a blast and pretty funny, but I also found the things undeniably creepy.
I mean, what on earth do skeletons have to dance about?
And death is always serious, even when it's merrily presented in the guise of an all-dancing quartet of spooks in a six minute animated short for children.