Egyptian Melodies

When you watch old cartoons, you need to understand the context of the times in order to appreciate them and make allowances for these films. For example, during most of the 1930s, cartoons were not nearly as enjoyable as they would be in the 1940s. Much of it is because many of the 30s cartoons were black & white but the differences are far greater than just color. The 30s had a ton of cartoons which were essentially sappy....filled with singing and dancing and cutesy characters. But they also rarely had a lot of humor or edginess to them. And, the artwork was often a bit suspect.

One company that bucked this cutesy and cheap trend was Disney. Their characters were often quite funny and have held up very well over the years...such as with Goofy and Donald Duck. Even with Disney's line of musical shorts, their 'Silly Symphonies', they generally had more to them than the competition...such as with "Egyptian Melodies". While it is a musical, the characters are not saccharinely sweet nor cute and their isn't any singing...just dancing. And, most importantly, the animation was tops for 1931.

The plot to "Egyptian Melodies" is scant. A spider-like creature climbs into a vault where there are dancing mummies and the like. There really is nothing more to the plot. But, as I mentioned above, the animation was lovely and you can't help but enjoy the film even if the plot is practically non-existent.

Some of the funniest "bits" are things I missed the first viewing: As the mummy cases open ominously, the spider strikes an Al Jolson pose, and cries "Mummy!" Also note that as the mummies turn around in their dance routine, they have button flaps on their wrappings, like old-fashioned long underwear. I wonder what else I may have missed? Maybe I should go run it again...

The only quote in this film is 'Mummy!' by the little spider. Other than that, the music is brilliantly done. The mummies are great, The palm trees are great, The spider was great, The Sphinx was great, The long johns were great (!), The sound effects were great, Even the creeping pyramid was great!, My compliments to Walt Disney! The colour usage works just fine. It's just wonderful how Disney films are non-violent and without bloodshed (most of the time). Silly Symphonies are brilliant (and musical, like they're supposed to be!) If you like 'Egyptian Melodies', then try 'China Plate', a Chinese/Japanese short film with the same black and white colouring and cute music. Available on DVD, thank goodness.

Just watched this Walt Disney Silly Symphony on YouTube. In this one, a spider goes inside the Spynx as the camera dollys with him through the corridors. Once at the heart of the place, the little arachnid sees mummys come out of their homes and start dancing. And then the hieroglyphics come to life and do the same...There's really nothing else that goes on there other then what I described though I don't want to reveal what happens to the end. You'll just have to see for yourself. It's certainly fascinating to see the early works of the Disney animators during the initial talking picture era before they would become even more accomplished when they would all do features several years later. So on that note, Egyptian Melodies comes highly recommended.

This early black-and-white cartoon features a little spider sneak his way into the catacombs beneath the Sphinx and wander around. The scaling effects as he does so are quite good, especially for 1931. A bunch of mummies comb out of their sarcophagi and dance around. From here on it's the usual movement timed to music animation showcase that many early Silly Symphonies were known for. The monochrome does add a nice atmosphere though, I just wish that they did more with it.

Eventually the little spider freaks out at the madness on show and high-tails it out of there. That's your lot for this plot less cartoon, but it's not a complete obscurity and worth watching once.