Wednesday 28 November 2012

Flowers and Trees (1932)

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As a Disney fan, from Fantasia to Pixar, this was sheer perfection. It combined the beautiful animation that the early drawings had with a classic narrative that creates a delightful short. It hides a fable of the self-destructive power of greed and jealousy within a delightful setting and multitudes of various foliage. For a random film that I came across due to reading about it in a piece of text it was a complete delight to stumble upon.


The most amazing element of this film was how every single thing within the forest had a life, feet and eyes - even the fire fiends were solitary running flames as well as a consuming mass. This magical element is a delightful touch and is classic of Disney, as they enjoy giving life and personality to every character be it animal or teapot.
It is only a 7 minute short and due to its surreal story it is very reminiscent of Fantasia and even follows a similar narrative as one of the stories. This is not an overly original piece but it is so wonderfully drawn and carefully created that it makes it a superb animation. This is where Disney, in my opinion, is at its strongest - when the imagination is allowed to run free and is not confined by commercialism.

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