The Skeleton Dance
- Studio
- Walt Disney Studios
- Distributor
- Powers Cinephone
Synopsis
A group of skeletons dance the night away in this classic short.
Characters
Four Skeletons
Credits
Directing
- Director
- Walt Disney
Producing
- Producer
- Walt Disney
Writing
- Writer
- Walt Disney
Animation
- Animator
- Ub Iwerks, Roy O. Disney, Walt Disney, Wilfred Jackson (uncredited)
Music
- Music
- Carl W. Stalling
- Music, March of the Trolls by
- Edvard Grieg
Production notes
Original Release Poster
This is one of the very few cartoons that Walt Disney animated.
The first of the Silly Symphonies series. Carl Stalling wanted to to create "musical novelites" for the screen, thus the Silly Symphonies were born.
The release date noted above reflects the release date as currently acknowledged by the Walt Disney Company. Other sources- including some official Walt Disney Studios archival documentation- suggest May 10, 1929 as an alternate (and possibly more accurate!) release date. It is possibly that the official release dates were 'massaged' in the early 1990s to bring them more in line with the indisputable U.S. Government copyright dates, thus protecting the Walt Disney Company copyright of Mickey Mouse and other characters from this cartoon, as well as the cartoon itself.
Walt Disney reportedly had a tough time selling this cartoon to theaters when it was first released.
Reviews
The Skeleton Dance
There's a roughness in the early Disney animation that entirely fits the trick-or-treat atmosphere. The music is Grieg's "Dance of the Gnomes," with plenty of xylophone-bone effects. As important for the series it inaugurated as for its own considerable charm, this first Silly Symphony is many viewers' favorite of them all.
The Skeleton Dance
You rarely ever see this cartoon, but on the rare occasions it is shown I have to watch it! There is something about this cartoon -- it is timeless and just absolutely fun to watch!! I could watch it over & over & if I could find it for sale anywhere I would definitely buy it -- along with all the other silly symphonies which are also my favorites! But skeleton dance definitely tops the list! (and I'm 46 years old!)
The Skeleton Dance
If you like skeletons -- and who doesn't -- this is nearly the last word. Macabre and playful!