Tale of the Vienna Woods (1934) User Reviews

A Lot Of Tail Wagging

[boblipton · 6/10 · 11 January 2020]

The second cartoon under Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising's contract with MGM is this one about a faun and a satyr cavorting to Johann Straus's waltz. The character design is a bit primitive, but there is full animation, with both of the main characters wagging their tails while wearing goofy smiles. The color design - in the two-color variety; Disney would continue with its cartoon monopoly on the more advanced process for some time -is likewise primitive, although the background artist does a good job.

Mostly it's the faun and satyr cavorting, with occasional pratfalls, and a pack of hunting dogs showing up. It's sweet-tempered, but not saccharine (as the Harman-Ising cartoons too often were) because there are no voices and the cartoon isn't much more than a late example of the synchronized cartoon, that would evolve into the sort of purely musical cartoons that would distinguish the output of Friz Freleng.

Well, at least there was not insipid singing!

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 7 December 2010]

This is one of several extras that were included with the MGM film "Treasure Island"--all from 1934 and all from MGM. When Turner Entertainment releases classic MGM and Warner Brothers films, they usually include several shorts from the same year the full-length film was released--a nice selling point for the DVDs.

Of all the extras, this is my least favorite. Much of the problem was a product of the times, as in the 1930s most cartoons were pretty insipid--with lots of cute singing and dancing and almost no humor. The one glaring exception were the Mickey Mouse and highly repetitive Popeye cartoons. Otherwise, MGM had their Harmon-Ising singing cartoons (yick) and Looney Tunes and the rest were pretty much duplicating the Harmon-Ising formula...making most of them pretty hard to take today. While this IS a Harmon-Ising cartoon, at least there is no singing--just a nice musical accompaniment by Johannes Strauss. It consists of the adventures of a magical fawn that is a statue by night and becomes a living creature by daylight--along with his friend, a young deer. Through much of the film, it's hard to understand why the deer likes the fawn, as he pretty much mistreats him--though by the end the fawn proves the power of friendship (gag).

The viewer will no doubt be struck by the oddly limited pallet of the Cinecolor process. While later Cinecolor films looked better, this one is also identical to the rival Two-Color Technicolor process--one that rendered everything either a shade of orange or green! True color this certainly WAS NOT! Later Cinecolor improved, though a true color pallet took them years to perfect. This ugly color combined with an okay story but decent music make for a cartoon that is easy to skip today--but a tad better than the norm from non-Disney studios.

The power of friendship

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 2 August 2018]

Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes, Hanna Barbera, Studio Ghibli and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons. With significantly broader knowledge of different directors, animation styles and studios, actually appreciate and love it even more now.

Admittedly, 'Tale of the Vienna Woods' is fairly typical of Rudolf Ising, leaning towards the cute kind of cartoon with a lot of sentiment in alternative to the laugh a minute and hilarious kind, the latter being the one that a lot seem to prefer (understandably, though am hardly biased against the former). This approach has varied with Ising. In some instances it has been very sweet and charming, in others it can be cloying and too cutesy. Generally 'Tale of the Vienna Woods' belongs in the former category, despite the danger of falling into the latter with the premise.

'Tale of the Vienna Woods' has a lot to like and far from undeserving of a nomination and deserving of more attention.

Yes it gets a bit too saccharine in places, and it is best perhaps to not talk about the story because there really isn't much of one.

What 'Tale of the Vienna Woods' does so well however eclipses these problems. The animation is rich in detail for design and backgrounds, vibrant in colour and crisp. Composer for the prime-era 'Tom and Jerry' cartoons and regular Tex Avery composer Scott Bradley provides a lush and atmospheric music score with superb use of the Johann Strauss II's classic.

It is hard not to fall in love with the charming characters, even if the faun is not immediately easy to like. 'Tale of the Vienna Woods' is rich in natural sweet charm and some very imaginative ideas and visuals. There is not much hilarious and the cartoon's hardly laugh a minute, but a good deal of it does raise a smile. The pace avoids being draggy.

Overall, lovely cartoon. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Delightful

[tjantus · 10/10 · 11 March 2007]

I saw this as a Special Feature on the 1934 "Treasure Island" DVD, and was captivated by the charming story. Bookended between the live action opening and closing shots of a hand opening and closing a storybook book--a common devise for these cartoons, and with no dialogue--simply a delightful score by Scott Bradley based on Richard Strauss's classic--the film portrays a fawn and satyr gambolling and skylarking in the woods, and is filled with humor, drama, excitement, and brought tears to my eyes.

It's really a wonderful example of the disappearing art of animated film making that has been taken over by computer effects. The opening shot of the fawn drinking from the pond in reflection, with the falling leaves and butterflies was breathtaking, and there were other scenes that likewise remained in my memory and have brought smiles to my face in idle retrospect.

"Treasure Island" was cool, the best version of the story ever made, but this short animated special alone was worth the price of the purchase.