The Magic of Disney Animation, Part II: The Golden Age

Dopey Drive at the Walt Disney Studios

With the amazing success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in the late 1930s, many audiences and critics who experienced the first full-length animated feature film ever made naturally asked themselves, "What could be better than this?"

It may come as a surprise to many, but even before Snow White was complete, Walt Disney and his staff of animators, technicians, and innovators were already at work on their next projects. And with the money made from the 1937 feature, they were able to form a new animation building (pictured above) and take advantage of new pioneering techniques and methods never before (or since) attempted. These projects included an adaptation of a beloved children's book by Italian writer Collodi, a story of nature and animals, and (perhaps the most ambitious of all) a concert feature starring Mickey Mouse.

1940's Pinocchio

When You Wish Upon A Star
Pinnochio is the classic story of a wooden puppet who longs to be a real boy, and sets off on an episodic adventure to prove himself, with the help of his "conscience" Jiminy Cricket (a character who has become just as ageless and undated as the Seven Dwarfs). The film stands as one of the Disney studio's most meticulous and superb (the production design, character animation, and even the wooden clocks in Geppetto's workshop are a sight to behold), as well as one of its darkest (not nearly as much as Collodi's original book, but still a scary adventure at times).

Furthermore, it stands as a cautionary tale about the consequences of temptation, and the imperfect nature of humanity. (Talk about "no strings attached".) The titular character is given life by a magical blue fairy, is constantly tested and tried, and learns many lessons the hard way, especially in what it means to be "brave, truthful, and unselfish." Whenever he encounters adult characters who try to take advantage of his innocence and naivete for their own exploits (including puppet master Stromboli, the sly fox Honest John and his associate cat Gideon, or the wicked Coachman who whisks troublemaking boys away to the mysterious "Pleasure Island" and turn them into donkeys, a horrifying scene if ever there was one), such moments are sometimes expressed through song and/or fantasy, but never sugarcoated. Which is reportedly what Disney was aiming for, and which makes the story more plausible and emotional.

Even so, there are many spiritual and moral undertones that can be found in Disney's adaptation, such as the theme of the Prodigal Son, or Jonah in the belly of a whale (in this case, the aptly-named whale Monstro). It's a film that boasts some of the most impressive animation and effects and characters, but never overshadows the heart or moral of the story. Not to mention, its central song, "When You Wish Upon A Star," has since become an anthem for all things Disney.

1940's Fantasia

A New Form of Entertainment 
The studio's next feature would be even more of an experiment, yet would showcase the various ways the medium of animation could be used. Walt Disney once said, "I only hope we never lose sight of one thing: that this was all started by a mouse." Mickey, to be exact. So it's only fitting that the genesis of what was initially known as "The Concert Feature" began as a conversation between Disney and famed composer Leopold Stowkowski in adapting Paul Dukas' "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" into a short feature starring Mickey Mouse. The idea proved so ingenious that eventually Disney and Stowkowski decided to expand it and set other forms of classical music to various styles of animation.

The feature that would be known as Fantasia encompassed a wide range of styles and genres, from Bach's abstract "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" (with equally abstract figures coming across all sides of the screen and orchestra), Tsiolkovsky's "Nutcracker Suite" (a ballet with dancing mushrooms and flowers instead of toy soldiers and dueling mice), Dukas' "Apprentice" (featuring Mickey donning a magician's hat as he brings brooms to life), Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" (centered on a scientific view of the creation of life on earth, complete with dinosaurs), Beethoven's "Pastoral Symphony" (set in mythological Greece, with centaurs, flying horses, and the lightening-bolt god Zeus), Ponchelli's "Dance of the Hours" (a farce featuring dancing hippos and alligators), and Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain" (a terrifying depiction of hell, with the demonic Chernobog at the center) and "Ave Maria" (a hopeful, meditative, and perfect conclusion). As Disney historian Brian Sibley stated, "I know of no other motion picture that takes you on such an astonishing and stimulative voyage of visual and aural exploration." (You can check out my full review here.)

1942's Bambi

"Man Was In The Forest" 
The last ambitious feature in this roster of "Golden Age" animated features had the longest production of any film at the time, in part because of its attention-to-detail in the anatomy and movement of forest animals. Based on the bestselling book by Austrian writer Felix Salten, Bambi is a story of the innocence and experience of life, centered on the beauty and dangers of nature, paralleled with the change of seasons year-round. It's the first Disney film centered solely on animals (human characters are merely implied), as well as the first where songs are sung by a background chorus instead of from characters themselves--and the film is all the better for it.

The animation of animal characters had certainly come a long way in the short span of five years, between Snow White and Bambi (ditto the film's beautiful backgrounds). It's just incredible to watch the way the characters move, such as when Bambi walks through the woods or learns how to ice-skate for the first time with the scene-stealing rabbit Thumper (a scene I remember fondly as a child, although my favorite piece of animation is when Thumper rolls back laughing when they meet Flower the skunk for the first time).

Obviously the scene people remember the most is the sad and sudden death of Bambi's mother off-screen. Arguably, as a child, this was one of the first films I remember seeing that had such striking and powerful imagery, such as the fight scene between an adult Bambi and a jealous deer (the colors are so strong and sharp in this sequence). I also remember the deer marching and galloping in the woods (and towards the screen), and running from "Man" for the first time. (I wonder if the musical cues for "Man" had an effect on John Williams when he wrote the score for 1975's Jaws.)

Nevertheless, Bambi expresses many ranges of emotions, not only through themes of birth and death and growth, but also through bravery and even laughter. (The "twitterpated" sequence is an example of great humor.) It was also one of the first times Walt Disney expressed themes of conservation and his love of nature, which later became evident in the nature documentaries he produced for film and television.

1941's Dumbo

"It Ain't Nobody's Fault You Got Them Big Ears"
As monumental and ambitious as these feature films were, it's hard to imagine they didn't initially turn a profit on their releases in 1940 and 1942, respectfully, in part because the beginning of the second World War cut off the European market overseas. And those they have subsequently become revered classics, the studio needed a hit film to stay afloat and lucrative. And it came in the form of a big-eared baby elephant with a sidekick mouse. (Go figure.)

Upon the financial losses of Fantasia, the studio decided to produce a feature with a smaller budget and a simpler story, echoing the "Silly Symphonies" that put them on the map. Their resource came from a children's book by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, and was adapted for the screen by veteran story writers Otto Englander, Joe Grant, and Dick Huemer. The story follows the iconic baby elephant, who is ridiculed for his oversized ears, becomes an outcast, is separated from his mother, and overcomes many obstacles thanks to the help of his friend Timothy the Mouse, and even from a group of lively and catchy crows (memorable, if caricatured, characters, to be sure).

In terms of characters, you can feel a sense of weight from the elephants, and constantly sympathize with one of the best pantomime characters to ever grace the silver screen, as he discovers that his deformity is what makes him soar. The two scenes best remembered are the tear-jerking "Baby Mine" lullaby and the psychedelic "Pink Elephants" sequence.

Despite an ending that doesn't really go with the rest of the movie (I thought Tim Burton's 2019 version did it better), this is a charming piece of animation and storytelling that became a sensation and returned a profit to the studio. And at 64 minutes, it remains one of the shortest animated features Disney ever produced. It also proved to be the last animated feature made by a group of animators who had been with the studio since the late 1920s. The Disney animated features that followed would be co-supervised by a core group of artists that Disney dubbed "the Nine Old Men".

The rest of the decade was deeply effected by the Second World War, with the studio focusing on propoganda films and, on the side, several "package" features, some based on the South American benefit tours they made in the middle of the decade, as well as attempts to continue his ambitious work-in-progress of Fantasia.