At the beginning of this minor classic by Walt Disney, we see a child with a freakishly large skull being lulled to sleep by its mother singing "Rockabye Baby". We are then drawn into the bizarre dreamworld of the hydroencephelitic little tyke. It begins with a parade of baby bottles, "potties", and pacifiers which, while they are unbelievably Freudian, still provide the viewer with an excellent idea of child rearing in the thirties.
The dream then takes a nasty turn as the child wanders into "Nasty Sharp Object Land" (I cannot recall what it was called in the film). There, scissors live in nests, hammers grow in bushes, watches hang from trees, and fountain pens form (and I hate to carp on this) an INCREDIBLY Freudian ink fountain.
Big head baby ignore the warning of the cheerful, 1930's chorus of women not to touch anything in Nasty Sharp Object Land and begins breaking watches with a hammer.
This causes the boogeymen to come and torment the baby in a sequence I can only describe as terrifying. However, it does seem to emphasize the Disney Corporation's motto "Do as we say, or the consequences will be severe."
Finally, the kindly old Sandman comes out of a bush and gives the baby some powder (let's call it sand) that makes him go to sleep. OK, let's ignore the metaphysical question of whether someone can go to sleep inside a dream. I think its interesting though how times have changes to such a degree, that in the 30s this scene seemed not only palatable but wholesome.
At any rate, this short subject was profoundly disturbing, and I'd be very interested to find out how many toddlers who saw it are now in therapy. The animation, however, was gorgeous, which made it worse, somehow.
The dream then takes a nasty turn as the child wanders into "Nasty Sharp Object Land" (I cannot recall what it was called in the film). There, scissors live in nests, hammers grow in bushes, watches hang from trees, and fountain pens form (and I hate to carp on this) an INCREDIBLY Freudian ink fountain.
Big head baby ignore the warning of the cheerful, 1930's chorus of women not to touch anything in Nasty Sharp Object Land and begins breaking watches with a hammer.
This causes the boogeymen to come and torment the baby in a sequence I can only describe as terrifying. However, it does seem to emphasize the Disney Corporation's motto "Do as we say, or the consequences will be severe."
Finally, the kindly old Sandman comes out of a bush and gives the baby some powder (let's call it sand) that makes him go to sleep. OK, let's ignore the metaphysical question of whether someone can go to sleep inside a dream. I think its interesting though how times have changes to such a degree, that in the 30s this scene seemed not only palatable but wholesome.
At any rate, this short subject was profoundly disturbing, and I'd be very interested to find out how many toddlers who saw it are now in therapy. The animation, however, was gorgeous, which made it worse, somehow.