Summary
Egyptian Melodies is a 1931 Silly Symphonies animated short subject produced by Walt Disney and directed by Wilfred Jackson.[1]
| Egyptian Melodies | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Wilfred Jackson |
| Produced by | Walt Disney |
| Music by | Frank Churchill |
| Animation by | Albert Hurter Harry Reeves Ben Sharpsteen Cecil Surry Rudy Zamora David Hand |
| Layouts by | Charles Philippi |
| Color process | Black and white |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date | August 21, 1931 |
Running time | 6 min |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Summary edit
When a spider goes down into an Egyptian tomb, he instantly regrets going there when the mummies and hieroglyphs come to life.
Plot edit
The short film starts near the entrance of the Sphinx in Ancient Egypt, a spider plays his web like a harp. He notices the door shaking and jumps off his web, the door slowly opens up revealing pitch blackness. He creeps up to the open door and motions us quietly "Shh!" to follow him. Beyond the open door is a long, dark hallway with a few staircases leading downward. The spider gets scared by a falling piece of brick and flees, he then tumbles down a staircase. He hears a ticking sound and goes to see what the source of the sound is. Now in a large Egyptian tomb, he giggles at the camera and points at a sandtimer but gets scared when the bell atop it starts ringing. He flees and tries hiding in a sarcophagus but flees away at the sight of a mummy that nearly falls on top of him. Four other sarcophaguses open up, revealing four more mummies. The spider screams "Mummies!" and hides inside a vase, the mummies begin dancing around the tomb. When the dance ends, the mummies return to their sarcophaguses. Popping his head out of the vase, the spider looks around and then spots the hieroglyphics on the tomb's wall, these come to life and start dancing. The hieroglyphics begin hosting a chariot race but then start a massive fight, the spider looks in horror at the crazed hieroglyphics and screams petrified. The poor spider cowers in fear and runs out of the tomb, up the staircases, down the stone halls and out of the door, running for his dear life over the desert dunes.
Reception edit
Variety (February 23, 1932): "One of Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies and just fair filler matter. Nice penmanship, as usual in this series, is outstanding. Starts out as though it's going to be original, with an Egyptian background, and one of the sphinxes suddenly opens a door. Spider crawls in and down corridors, with then the usual ghost and mummy stuff."[2]
Home media edit
The short was released on December 4, 2001, on Walt Disney Treasures: Silly Symphonies - The Historic Musical Animated Classics.[3][1]
References edit
- ^ a b 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. 96–97. ISBN 978-1-4847-5132-9.
- ^ "Talking Shorts". Variety: 13. February 23, 1932. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
- ^ "Silly Symphonies: The Historic Musical Animated Classics DVD Review". DVD Dizzy. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
External links edit
- Egyptian Melodies at IMDb
