Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Great animation! Lot's of Fun!
This is a great DVD! I had never seen the bulk of these Disney classics, and the few I remember I last saw decades ago on "Wonderful World of Disney." Wow! Some of the finest animation I have seen.In an interview on this DVD, Disney says that the Silly Symphonies were an arena for animators to experiment, without the financial risks of a feature length animated film. This format was a fertile field for the imagination. Artists who are free to take risks tend to produce more stunning work. "Wynken, Blynken and Nod" is a really beautiful cartoon that I had never seen before. It it packed with vivid colors and dynamic animation. The cloud men are impressive. "Water Babies" is very pretty and very funny. Each cartoon is a classic. I mainly wanted this collection for "The Old Mill" and "Skeleton Dance." Those did not disappoint. I had not seen "The Old Mill" for years and it is as dramatic and perfect as I remember. "Skeleton Dance" is a spooky treat. "Wise Little Hen," the first Donald Duck cartoon, was an unexpected delight. I can see why the character took off. There are some complaints about this DVD. Too many of the Leonard Maltin picks are duplicated elsewhere on the disk. They could have used the room to put in some more cartoons. The "Easter eggs" are easy to find, but may confuse people. Some older cartoons are scratchy. However, there is so much delight in the cartoons themselves, I don't mind the minor flaws. I'll say it again. This is a great DVD!
Rating:  - Great SS set, but the ommissions were painfully evident
Before I obtained this DVD set, I had high expectations. I had seen some of the Mickey Mouse In Living Color set, and was enthrolled at the gorgeous color and clearity of the pictures. Not to mention sound with no hiss or other pollutants. The Silly Symphony DVD set did not disappoint.It is not my intent to author a history of Disney animation. However, a few facts will lead to a greater appreciation of this set. Disney started in the 20's with a character named Alice, that later developed into Mickey Mouse. Cartoons were all in b/w, and animation not as refined as in the 30s and 40s. From 1924 through 1926, Disney produced only Alice shorts. (Now THERE would be some real TREASURES if Disney ever released these toons! They've never been released commercially!) In 1927 and 28, Disney changed his primary character to Oswald, the Lucky Rabbit. These have also never been released. As 1929 drew to a close, other studios began releasing musical shorts - remember that sound with image only began in 1927 - and Walt was under pressure to produce a new product for theaters. One with color and sound. The Silly Symphony was born. Essentially, that's what Silly Symphonies are. They are a cartoon story to a musical soundtrack with almost no dialogue or verbal exchange. The first Silly Symphonies were composed of simple themes - in fact, there were a set produced that dealt only with the seasons: Springtime and Summer came out in 1930, Fall and Winter came out in 1931. Other titles were Arctic Antics, Frolicking Fish and Monkey Melodies. The animation was nice, but the themes were simple. In 1931 as audiences tired of these simple themes, Disney had to produce something new again, so began the fairy tale editions of Silly Symphonies. Some of these ended up being the studio's best work! By the mid 30's Disney was also doing purely artistic shorts which were somewhat abstract, culminating in a short, not on the DVD, (ouch!) called Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom, about musical instruments coming to life in a totally Salvador Dali-like surreal backdrop. The Disney Treasures DVD focuses on several academy award winners (such as The Old Mill) and the fairy tale/story based Silly Symphonies. Many of Disney's finest efforts are included, such as the Tortoise and the Hare, The Grasshopper and the Ants, Three Little Pigs, 1929's Skeleton Dance, Flowers and Trees, Woodland Cafe, Music Land, and Disney's most lavish Symphony, Wynken Blynken and Nod. The color is great, the sound equally impressive. Many of these shorts were previously released on Disney's VHS line called "Limited Editions Gold" series 1 and 2 in the late 80's. (each series was 6 tapes). In fact, that line contains many SS shorts not on the DVD. However, the DVD does have some 35 different SS shorts on it. Many have introductions by the host of the series, Leonard Maltin. (Note! Many also have intros by Walt Disney - but they are hidden as Easter Eggs! You'll have to search for those Easter Eggs to get Walt's commentary!) All in all, this is a wonderful package for SS fans, with a nice selection of the Silly Symphony shorts (35 shorts are on the DVD, 36 are not) with subjects to please adults and children alike, gorgeous color and sound, and very attractive packaging. Plus you get a little 6x8 "card" of collectible poster art in the box. If you love 30's animation and especially Disney's, you can't go wrong with this set of DVDs. (Now, I HAVE to mention one thing. Although the selections on the DVDs are great, I wish they would have made this a 4 disk set, and put ALL 71 SS shorts on DVD at one time. There are some shorts that truly deserved to be on this DVD set, such as The Moth and the Flame, the four "Seasons" shorts, Three Blind Mouseketeers (a precursor to the Mickey Mouse Club!), Goddess of Spring, and certainly Toot, Whistle at el. I guess these are being held for Volume II at some point, but it would have been nice to not have quite as much commentary from Leonard, and more of the shorts instead. No offense Leonard.) All in all, I give this effort 4 out of 5 stars. Get this DVD, you won't regret it and you'll enjoy it for years!
Rating: - Worthy of the money spent.
Disney finally releases some of their best animated shorts! Even though I am way too young to remember these cartoons when they first were shown, it is nice to see the whole cartoon. I remember seeing pieces of "The Old Mill" in a Disney Halloween show when I was young, and it is nice to see the whole thing. The main reason I wanted this set was because of the big ones like: "The Old Mill", "Skeleton Dance", "The Three Little Pigs", and "Flowers and Trees", but all of them are pretty good. "Wynken, Blinken, and Nod", and "The Ugly Duckling" (1939) are probably my newly discovered favorites.Most likely, there are even more Silly Symphonies that are not yet released but these have been wisely chosen. There is maybe one stinker in the bunch, and thats "The China plate". There really isn't that much great animation in it and the story isn't all that interesting. Other than that one small complaint the collection is very good. Another small complaint is that the shorts are not listed properly in the little DVD booklet. It is also hard to find a certain show you want to watch because some of them are hidden or (Easter Eggs). When I first got the DVD I was scared because I couldn't find all the shows because they were hidden so well. I can't really see what the point in this is, and I wonder why Disney made it so difficult to navigate. Now that I know that all the shows are actually there I am content enough to search for the show I want but it takes awhile. The Leornard Maltin stuff is alright. I could have done without the interview with the composer and the Disney antique guy, but most of his introductions to "his favorites" are pretty good. I would have rather had commentary for each short done by someone like John Canemaker or a present day Disney animator, but I guess you can't have everything. I have had this DVD for about a year and I just watched it a day ago and there were some I hadn't watched yet! A great collection for a lover of animation.
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