Flowers and Trees (1932)

* * * *

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.

La Cucaracha (1934)

* * ½

Colourful and musical short but it is severely lacking in story and poorly acted. The sole purpose of this film was to highlight its use of colour, music and dancing. For such a short film is manages to make quite an impact as it is visually and audibly engaging, however it is a shame that the story and acting took such a bit due to the desire to promote new technologies.

This film is one of the earliest to use colour and the makers ran riot with their new toy. There are garish costumes floating around everywhere. But it is not only the costumes that are brightening this film as the lighting is used to add to the drama (or melodrama) of the story. There are envious green shades and angry red scenes which are all too blatant for a modern audience.

The famous song, which everyone knew despite having not seen the film, is very welcome as it livens up the odd, over-dramatic story and helps to distinguish this film from a soap opera. It is a shame they did not do more songs as the acting is dubious and there are monologues which are almost painful.