The Skeleton Dance (1929)

The clock strikes midnight, the bats fly from the belfry, a dog howls at the full moon, and two black cats fight in the cemetery: a perfect time for four skeletons to come out and dance a bit.

Director:

Walt Disney

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

skeleton | cat | dance | owl | midnight | 

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Taglines:

The greatest talking picture novelty ever screened! -- A laugh riot from start to finish! A comically clever cartoon classic with music, sound, and original effects

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Genres:

Animation | Family | Short | Comedy | Horror | Musical

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 August 1929 (USA)

Also Known As:

A csontváztánc

Box Office

Budget:

$5,386 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

6 min

Sound Mix:

Cinephone

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first of Walt Disney's Silly Symphony series.

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Connections

Featured in The Best of Disney: 50 Years of Magic (1991)

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Soundtracks

"March of the Dwarfs"
By Edvard Grieg

User Reviews

A "Rubber-Hose" Cartoon for Halloween

It is AMAZING! I love it! Another great cartoon Halloween (my favorite holiday)! it'll give you the creeps & the shivers and also a very chilling musical score by Looney Tunes' musical director Carl Stalling including "The March of the Trolls" by Edvard Grieg that'll keep you up 'til midnight.

I love when the two black cats fight on two gravestones; 'til they're scare out of their skins by the first skeleton to appear in the cartoon; And when the skeleton tiptoes through the cemetery, he sees the noisy owl (which actually scares him at first), then uses his head--literally, to knock the feathers off the owl (that was funny).I love the graveyard background (very well done),and I think it's mean to use that poor cat like a violin, using a bow and the cat's tail as the strings; Overall an excellent start of The Silly Symphonies