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The Old Mill More at IMDbPro »
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| Index | 17 reviews in total |
14 out of 14 people found the following review useful:
Nine of the most beautiful minutes ever put to film, 3 January 2002
Author:
zetes from Saint Paul, MN
The Old Mill was a Silly Symphony developed as a test for Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, which was just going into production at the time. What came out of it is utterly beautiful. It is possibly the best Disney short, even rivalling The Skeleton Dance. 10/10.
11 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Amazing!, 18 December 2003
Author:
Ted Hering (ted.hering@juno.com) from California
Humor - Pathos - Suspense - Beauty - it's all here in this 8 minute gem! This is one I can watch again and again and again and enjoy every minute of it. A nice foreshadow of great things to come: Fantasia, Bambi, etc.
10 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
Great Piece of Disney Art, 18 January 2004
Author:
travisimo from Pocatello, Idaho, USA
The Old Mill is one of the most beautiful pieces of animation I have ever
seen. This comment is even more remarkable considering that The Old Mill
was made back in 1937. I especially liked the plethora of colors used in
this short. The most striking animated sequence occurs when the
thunderstorm hits and almost devastates the mill and its animal inhabitants.
Even the animals are realistically drawn well, something sort of rare for a
cartoon at that time.
The Old Mill even evokes emotion, which is saying quite a bit because not a
word is spoken. I thought the frogs' song was hilarious, and I actually
felt concern for the mama bird when the giant gear inside the mill could
have crushed her. This is just an extraordinary, subtle piece of art from
Disney.
My IMDb Rating: 10/10
7 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Disney's Innovative Classic, 16 October 2000
Author:
Ron Oliver (revilorest@juno.com) from Forest Ranch, CA
A Walt Disney SILLY SYMPHONY Cartoon Short.
As evening draws near, the various creatures living in THE
OLD
MILL settle in for the night. Dark, fast-moving clouds,
however,
signal the arrival of a fierce storm...
Winner of the 1937 Academy Award, this lovely cartoon was
important for a couple of significant reasons. It exhibited
the
quantum leaps the Disney artists had taken since the early
Symphonies in the animation of animals - the mice and birds
are particularly well drawn. The cartoon also debuted the
Studio's new multi-plane camera, a complicated and very
expensive machine which was able to render an astonishing
illusion of depth. - notice the opening traveling shot which moves through
the spider web.
The SILLY SYMPHONIES, which Walt Disney produced for a
ten
year period beginning in 1929, are among the most fascinating
of all animated series. Unlike the Mickey Mouse cartoons
in
which action was paramount, with the Symphonies the action
was made to fit the music. There was little plot in the
early
Symphonies, which featured lively inanimate objects and
anthropomorphic plants & animals, all moving frantically to
the
soundtrack. Gradually, however, the Symphonies became the
school where Walt's animators learned to work with color
and
began to experiment with plot, characterization & photographic
special effects. The pages of Fable & Fairy Tale, Myth &
Mother
Goose were all mined to provide story lines and even
Hollywood's musicals & celebrities were effectively spoofed.
It
was from this rich soil that Disney's feature-length animation
was to spring. In 1939, with SNOW WHITE successfully behind
him and PINOCCHIO & FANTASIA on the near horizon, Walt
phased out the SILLY SYMPHONIES; they had run their course
& served their purpose.
7 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Powerful 8 minutes of music and quality animation, 1 January 2006
Author:
rebeljenn from Bath, England
'The Old Mill' was a short Disney film (about 8 minutes long) that the animators created to aid them in the production of 'Bambi'. I saw this on the Disney channel when I was younger, and the animation is so powerful that it stuck with me. Now, I've watched it again as a clip provided on the 'Bambi' DVD. The clip features several creatures that live in and around an old mill, and there is a storm. All of the events taking place are done to powerful music from the singing of the frogs to the storm, and there are no speaking parts. It's purely nature and Disney animation at its best. Hopefully, a greater appreciation for nature can be learned through this film as I think it is something taken for granted by most today. And it is amazing that an animation can be so powerful through minimalisation and sound. It's much better quality than some of the computer-animated clutter. Wonderful.
5 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
An atmospheric masterpiece, 18 June 2000
Author:
action-6 from Arendal, Norway
The Old Mill is a genuine masterpiece from Disney`s chest of treasures. It
is not a witty movie, so those of you who must laugh at a Disneymovie better
avoid this.
The setting is an old mill, which you should guess from the title. The Old
Mill is filled with atmosphere, nice drawings and classic music, which makes
it a real joy to watch.
9,5/10
6 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
The attention to detail is breathtaking!, 31 January 2001
Author:
Robert Reynolds (minniemato@hotmail.com) from Tucson AZ
The folks at Disney won an Oscar for this astonishing piece of work and deservedly so! It's got to be one of the most meticulously done animations I have seen in my life! The detail work is inspired and it's apparent that a great deal of time, effort and creativity was given to this gem. While it isn't available commercially (like far too much of the shorter animation done for the Mouse), it do run on the Ink and Paint Club periodically. I wish they would release more of the animated shorts and the live-action shorts and documentaries they did in the 1940's and 1950's. *sigh* The puck is on his stick, he's skating for the net, he shoots, he scores and the place goes crazy! Most unreservedly recommended.
6 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
A masterpiece of impressionism with a well-deserved Academy Award., 24 September 1999
Author:
Louis Rugani (x779@webtv.net) from United States
To many, the 1930s is the Golden Age of film animation. A wonderful
palette of colors runs throughout The Old Mill, a labor of love for the
master artists who would continue their craft through the great Disney
triumphs yet to come. It's a film of moods and impressions, all set
within a brief period towards nightfall early on one summer's evening.
An abandoned windmill rests in a pastoral setting, its productive days
behind it, with only wildlife visiting the weathered old structure to
seek shelter within. As evening falls, there is a play of light from
the fireflies; crickets chirp and the nearby frog pond is alive with
the sounds of the impending night.
But a gust of wind signals an approaching storm - and Leigh Harline's
soundtrack music now becomes ominous, as the freshening breeze begins
to nudge the long-disused windmill blades.
The creatures seek shelter, and now the only sound is the rising wind
... and soon it becomes a gale, raging at full fury, and the rotted
ropes that secure the tattered blades can no longer hold against the
violence of the storm. The age-weakened ropes sever - and the old
windmill begins to turn one final time, the wooden gears meshing again,
and picking up speed with every revolution in concert with the force of
nature driving them. The storm worsens, and in an unforgettable image
the windmill, silhouetted against the raging sky and rain by flashes of
lightning, becomes an apparition, alive with mindless motion and
energy. Amidst the roaring thunder comes one mighty bolt of lightning,
and . . .
See "The Old Mill", with its wonderful, rare artistry in sight, color,
action, sound and music.
A masterpiece, with a Top Rating of 10.
(A note of caution: the storm scene is intense, and will frighten the
very young and/or impressionable.)
5 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
The best Disney film ever!, 22 November 2003
Author:
CourageBagge
I would watch this film almost everyday when I was a toddler, now that I am a teen, I still watch it often. This film has such beauty in it with the color, music, detailed animation, and backgrounds. This film also brings out my love for windmills (which I know may sound kind of crazy). The entire film was beautiful, but I felt that the love doves were kind of a little to childish.
4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Beautiful, perfection in every meaning of the word, 15 September 2009
Author:
TheLittleSongbird from United Kingdom
I can't praise this beautiful masterpiece of a cartoon enough. The
animation is absolutely stunning, and the storm effects were excellent,
certainly give Snow White and Fantasia a run for their money. I didn't
find the Old Mill dull in any way, it was beautiful and just perfect.
Another special mention has to go to the music, its lyricality somehow
reminded me of the countryside on a beautiful summer's day, and the
animals the swallows especially were a delight. They never spoke, but
were beautifully incorporated into the story, and there was a lot of
genuine fright when the storm started. Who wouldn't be frightened, it
was a truly wonderful moment.
Overall, just beautiful, I can't find another word to describe how good
it really was. I will admit I forgot I was watching a eight minute or
so cartoon, and insisted I was watching a work of art. 10/10 Bethany
Cox
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