Silly Symphony Swings Swings into Action, But Do You Know the Story Behind the Name?

This summer as part of Disney’s 1.3 billion dollar expansion of California Adventure, Silly Symphony Swings began swinging some family fun in Paradise Pier.

We wondered what the significance was to the name. Certainly it must have some extra meaning buried somewhere in Disney lore. There’s always a great Disney story behind another great Disney story, and Silly Symphony Swings is no different. Of course, for those more senior Disney fans, Walt’s Silly Symphonies is well known for animation's entrance into motion pictures. For everyone else, we thought it would be fun to write about the significance of the Silly Symphonies series had on a burgeoning motion picture industry, and why its importance may have played a major role in selecting it as the name of the new attraction.

Silly Symphonies is a series of 75 animated short subjects that was produced by Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1939 from the original Silver Lake studio on Hyperion Ave in Los Angeles. The original premise of the cartoons was musical novelty. The musical scores for the early cartoons were composed by Carl Stalling of Looney Tunes fame.

The first release in the series, The Skeleton Dance, premiered to an amazed audience on August 29, 1929. The studio’s promotional tag line read… “The greatest talking picture novelty ever screened! – A laugh riot from start to finish! A comically clever cartoon classic with music, sound, and original effects.” Unlike the Mickey Mouse series, Silly Symphonies didn’t feature regular characters, with the exception of the The Three Little Pigs who stared in three episodes beginning May 27, 1933.

Silly Symphonies gave many Disney favorites their start in the movies. Donald Duck got his big Hollywood break when he made his first appearance on the silver screen in The Wise Little Hen on June 9, 1934. Pluto's first appearance, without Mickey Mouse, was also in a Silly Symphonies cartoon in Just Dogs in 1932. Characters such as Donald Duck and Humphrey the Bear were separated from the Silly Symphonies group to star in their own cartoon series.

In 1930 after viewing the Skeleton Dance, Columbia Pictures wanted to distribute the series. Walt at the time was breaking with then distributor Celebrity Pictures after head Pat Powers signed Disney’s friend, and long time colleague, Ub Iwerks to a studio contract. Columbia Pictures agreed to pickup the distribution of the Mickey Mouse series on the condition they would receive the exclusive rights to distribute the Silly Symphonies series. Columbia Pictures distributed the series from 1930 to 1932 when creative disagreements caused Walt to move the distribution to United Artists. The Mickey Mouse series was far more popular than Silly Symphonies. As a result, UA wanted Walt to incorporate the popularity of the Mickey Mouse name to the Silly Symphonies series. Walt agreed and the name was changed to “Mickey Mouse presents a Silly Symphony". New title cards and posters were created and used to introduce and promote the series during its five-year run with UA.

Silly Symphonies was known as a platform that Walt loved to use to test new technologies. In 1932, shortly after the move to United Artists, Walt had seen some tests for a new three strip full-color Technicolor process designed by Dr. Herbert Kalmus’. This new process was designed to replace the previous, two-tone Technicolor process. Always on the look out for new technologies that would advance the success of Disney Studios, Walt approached Dr. Kalmus’ about implementing his new Technicolor process into the Silly Symphony Series. Dr. Kalmus’ realized the popularity of the series could catapult the use of his new three-strip Technicolor process into a wider use in feature films. Walt signed a contract with Technicolor in 1932 with the caveat that Disney Studios would maintain exclusive rights to the new three-strip process through the end of 1935. At the time of the contract signing, 60% of Flowers and Trees had already been completed. Being the visionary he was, Walt ordered it scrapped and completely redone utilizing Dr. Kalmus’ new three-strip color process.

Flowers and Trees was completed and handed off to United Artists to distribute to America’s movie houses. Everyone at Disney Studios held their collective breath and waited for the early box office results. Within days of its release, it quickly became apparent that full color motion pictures were going to be big as huge box office receipts rolled in. Flowers and Trees went on to become a phenomenal box office success dazzling audiences across America with full color animation. Within a year, the now-in-Technicolor Silly Symphonies series matched, and later surpassed the popularity of Mickey Mouse cartoons. In 1932, Flowers and Trees won Walt his first Academy Award. Walt Disney went on to win an astounding 32 personal Academy Awards during his amazing 43 year Hollywood career which spanned the development of the motion picture industry as a modern American art form.

Walt Disney, along with members of his staff, received more than 950 honors and citations from throughout the world, including 48 Academy Awards and 7 Emmys® in his lifetime.

A pioneer, innovator and possessor of one of the most fertile imaginations the world has ever known, Walter Elias Disney, a modern Aesop, established himself and his product as an icon of Americana.