Thursday, October 9, 2025

Autumnal Eye-Works


Ub Iwerks

These days, every year in October you get compilations of public domain Halloween themed short films. Prominent among them tends to be The Skeleton Dance, the very first Disney Silly Symphony, mainly animated by Ub Iwerks. What I did not realize until this year was that Iwerks, having separated from Disney for eight years, made what amounted to a color remake of the short, named Skeleton Frolic. Iwerks was also responsible for a rather autumnal cartoon, shading into winter, called Jack Frost, parts of which I only first saw on Pee-Wee’s Playhouse. Fred ‘Tex’ Avery was responsible for another scarecrow themed cartoon in 1936 which I somehow feel is connected with the fall season.

Skeleton Frolic 1937 Ub Iwerks Columbia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndZwmzaTaUI

The Skeleton Dance (Disney’s First Silly Symphony) 1929

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61t22VGByok

Jack Frost (1934) Ub Iwerks ComiColor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihCF4jwz688

I’d Love to Take Orders from You (1936) Fred Avery

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEOLpuuCs7o


 

No comments:

Post a Comment