Acensbart
Excellent but underrated film
Bea Swanson
This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.
Foreverisacastironmess
For a start I was quite in awe of the beautiful artwork done on the opening scenes of the wintry house with the glowing window shining outside, the burning fireplace with the Christmas stockings adorning it, and all the children sleeping in the gigantic bed, it's so joyous and snowy, so warm and marvellously simple, so luminously beautiful. It was heartwarming and nostalgic to me, I watched this recently for the first time in a long time and that part of it made me feel like a kid again for a moment, it awakened that old cosy childhood feeling of Christmas. Those images are what I love the most about this short. I'm afraid there's a fair bit about it that stops me from finding it all that great, including Santa himself! Yes I thought it was a rather poor version of old Saint Nick. The face was all wrong, it was toonish and unlovable, and I didn't like his too-scary boisterous laugh which definitely was no "Ho-ho-ho!" And he was a most indiscreet Santa, in fact bringing a whole fanfare with him! I did love that part of it though, when all of the toys come to life and decorate the tree. There's lots of rich colours and details and fun sight gags in the actions of the toys. I love the toy soldiers cannoning the baubles onto the tree's branches, the mini aeroplane flying around the tree to drape it in tinsel, and the fire engine spraying it with mock snow, all marvellously adorable and clever. It's a sequence that's done time and again not just throughout the Silly Symphonies but with many short cartoons of the 30s, some kind of parade of small beings all working together to accomplish some bigger goal(or going to war!), and I've always tended to love it, it's very visually fun and fascinating. This sure isn't one of my favourites of this series but I don't dislike it or anything either, it's very sweet and wholesome innocent fun and is definitely a worthwhile watch as a short, especially around the season to which it owes its name. And that classic Christmas imagery and tone is sure to put big smiles on practically all viewers faces. Merry everyone!
MartinHafer
When the film began, I was struck with absolute joy and absolute terror! On one hand, the animation was truly breathtaking--particularly the gorgeous colors. Unlike the previous cartoon on the "Walt Disney Treasures: More Silly Symphonies, Vol. 2" DVD collection ("Birds in the Spring"), the colors are perfect--and it's obvious that the Disney animators had quickly learned to use color well. On the other hand, the cartoon also had something that was very popular in this era--and it was god-awful--that awful singing--very old fashioned and very saccharine-like singing.The cartoon is all about the visit of Santa to one home in particular. He takes so much time here setting up the presents and playing you wonder how he'd ever have time for any of the other homes! And, after he's done, the hoard of soulless-eyed children come down to play. This is all very, very cutesy. But, some might notice and be offended by the little kid who gets coal dust in his face, as he then looks like a stereotypical black caricature of the era. All in all, apart from the great color, I wasn't thrilled with this sickly sweet thing--but still, compared to other cartoons of the era, it's pretty good.By the way, among the many toys Santa brings are some Mickey Mouse pull toys!
tavm
When I was a kid growing up in the '70s, the only way you could see any Disney cartoons were on NBC's Sunday evening program The Wonderful World of Disney and they were usually limited to those starring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Pluto, and Chip 'n' Dale. So I was wonderfully surprised to find on YouTube a Walt Disney Silly Symphony classic called The Night Before Christmas. Singer Donald Novis sings the beginning verses of that famous poem as we see several children sleeping and then Santa comes with his bag of toys coming to life decorating the Christmas tree. The toys are having lots of fun but while Santa plays the toy piano, the children wake up. The toys get into their boxes and Santa goes back up the chimney as all the kids unwrap their toys. The littlest one named Junior gets a cute Scottish dog as the singer croons the very last verses: "Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night." By the way, this cartoon has a little butt cleavage with Junior that I was a bit surprised to see. I am thinking the Production Code eventually put an end to that soon enough! Very enjoyable Silly Symphony that should put the Christmas spirit in anyone under 10 right away. Highly recommend to any Walt Disney animation buff.
Ron Oliver
'Twas THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, and Santa arrives at a home with nine little children. Quickly he sets up a Christmas tree and takes a few moments to enjoy the toys' tiny celebration upon the placing of the star. But now the noise has awakened the children...This follow-up to SANTA'S WORKSHOP (1932) is a very enjoyable cartoon. As in its predecessor, the March of the Toys is both colorful & fun to watch - although the playthings coming out of the bag are completely different from those we previously saw marching into it. (Notice the Mickey Mouse toy which Disney cannily included.) Query: do bad little kiddies live in all the many houses which Santa flies past & ignores?The SILLY SYMPHONIES, which Walt Disney produced for a ten year period beginning in 1929, are among the most fascinating of all animated series. Unlike the Mickey Mouse cartoons in which action was paramount, with the Symphonies the action was made to fit the music. There was little plot in the early Symphonies, which featured lively inanimate objects and anthropomorphic plants & animals, all moving frantically to the soundtrack. Gradually, however, the Symphonies became the school where Walt's animators learned to work with color and began to experiment with plot, characterization & photographic special effects. The pages of Fable & Fairy Tale, Myth & Mother Goose were all mined to provide story lines and even Hollywood's musicals & celebrities were effectively spoofed. It was from this rich soil that Disney's feature-length animation was to spring. In 1939, with SNOW WHITE successfully behind him and PINOCCHIO & FANTASIA on the near horizon, Walt phased out the SILLY SYMPHONIES; they had run their course & served their purpose.
