I am rather inclined to disagree that this is one of the worst Silly Symphonies short animations, some of the earliest ones are so basic and rough that there's barely anything to enjoy in them, but this to me was a good one for what it is, it's a definite improvement over a cartoon like "Arctic Antics." There's a good sense of motion and weight to the characters and the environment as the monkey sweethearts swing and hop from branch to branch, as well as the impressive fluidity to the water near the end as they are chased across the river by the crocodile until they make it back to the jungle and share a smooch! The sound quality was just as sharp and scratchy as with the other Symphonies made at the time, but I didn't mind it with this short because they used it especially well alongside the toe-tapping animations! I love the backgrounds in the jungle scenes and how they tried out a little foreground work as the lovebirds made their way through the treetops, it effectively gave the environment more depth. I also liked how many different kinds of creatures there were and I found all of their motions to be very charming and cute. The vaudeville style cane-dancing crocs were a real highlight, just when you think you've seen it all!! It sure wasn't only focused on the monkeys, they really should have just named it Jungle Melodies! This very sweet-natured vintage animation is a nice little bit of innocent cartoon fun and I'd consider it to be one of the better earlier offerings of the Symphonies series. It isn't great but it does begin to display hints of the joyful magic that the series would be best remembered for, and this was certainly an adorable swing in the right direction for them! X
Review of Monkey Melodies
