''The Goddess of Spring'' is a 9-minute ''
Silly Symphonies
''Silly Symphony'' is an American animation, animated series of 75 musical short films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1939. As the series name implies, the ''Silly Symphonies'' were originally inte ...
''
animated
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
short film
A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
.
The Symphony is imbued with operatic themes and is often cited as melodramatic. It was released in 1934, and its production was important to the future development of Disney's ''
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...
'' animation. Each Silly Symphony was a technological marvel at the time and proceeded to further advancements in the animation industry.
While the plot of ''The Goddess of Spring'' follows the Greek myth of
Persephone
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone ( ; gr, Περσεφόνη, Persephónē), also called Kore or Cora ( ; gr, Κόρη, Kórē, the maiden), is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld after ...
(known as “
Proserpina
Proserpina ( , ) or Proserpine ( ) is an ancient Roman goddess whose iconography, functions and myths are virtually identical to those of Greek Persephone. Proserpina replaced or was combined with the ancient Roman fertility goddess Libera, whos ...
” in Roman Mythology) and
Hades
Hades (; grc-gre, ᾍδης, Háidēs; ), in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also ...
(
Pluto
Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the S ...
), the imagery is more evocative of
Hell
In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...
and
Satan
Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...
(or, more specifically, a traditional stage
Mephistopheles
Mephistopheles (, ), also known as Mephisto, is a demon featured in German folklore. He originally appeared in literature as the demon in the Faust legend, and he has since appeared in other works as a stock character (see: Mephistopheles in t ...
).
Plot
There once was a time in the long, long, ago, when there was joy and laughter everywhere, when the flowers that grew, blossomed all the year through, and the world was eternally fair. For there lived a maiden, so gentle was she, that all the world loved her tenderly, and life was then so pleasant, that joy was ever present, and the world grew more lovely each day. The flowers danced around her, they formed a wreath and crowned her, the Goddess of Eternal Spring, the Goddess of Eternal Spring.
Proserpina
Proserpina ( , ) or Proserpine ( ) is an ancient Roman goddess whose iconography, functions and myths are virtually identical to those of Greek Persephone. Proserpina replaced or was combined with the ancient Roman fertility goddess Libera, whos ...
, the Roman Goddess of Spring, lives in a beautiful garden of eternal spring. She is greeted by dancing
flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...
s and
elves
An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes "ligh ...
who stand by her throne and defend her when
Pluto
Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the S ...
, the God of the
Underworld
The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld.
...
, comes to take her away. He plans to make her his queen in the Underworld, where she is crowned by Pluto and welcomed by a choir of
imp
IMP or imp may refer to:
* Imp, a fantasy creature
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Imp (She-Ra), a character in ''She-Ra: Princess of Power''
* Imp a character in '' Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony''
* Imp, a character in the '' Cl ...
s. Meanwhile, above ground, the creatures suffer a rough winter and mourn the absence of their goddess.
In the Underworld, the Goddess of Spring weeps. Pluto shows concern for her unhappiness, and offers anything to make her happy; they reach the agreement that she will spend six months above ground and six below, resulting in the four
season
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...
s. She is allowed to return to her world, thawing the snow and ending the winter.
Importance of production
When ''The Goddess of Spring'' was produced, it was an important stepping stone in the advancement of animation. The development of the human characters in ''The Goddess of Spring'', specifically, would lead to the eventual animation of ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs''. While Disney's animating staff was well-versed in the animation of animals, their experience in designing humans was severely underdeveloped. ''The Goddess of Spring'' was among the first string of short films in which they used human characters. It provided much-needed experience for the upcoming major motion picture that Disney was designing.
According to film historians, the animation skill level between ''The Goddess of Spring'' and ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' appears to have a twenty-year gap between the two; comparatively, it was only three years. The development in that span of time was monumental and is reflected in the major motion picture. Although feature-length cartoons were initially disregarded, the animation advancements attributed to ''The Goddess of Spring'', as they were displayed in ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'', brought the feature film to top the list as highest-grossing sound film at the time.
There are some negative reviews about certain aspects of ''The Goddess of Spring'' - such as the goddess' "rubber arms" and the melodrama of the Silly Symphony overall. Its operatic tendencies and over-dramatization, while criticized, are also points of admiration from viewers. It is also noted that the usage of shadows, especially in the "underworld" scenes, are phenomenal additions to the sequence.
List of animators
The animators on staff for Disney's ''The Goddess of Spring'' were vital to the advancement of animation, as ''The Goddess of Spring'' was produced as "practice" for ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs''. Several animators who worked on the short film later worked on the major motion picture.
*
Cy Young
Denton True "Cy" Young (March 29, 1867 – November 4, 1955) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher. Born in Gilmore, Ohio, he worked on his family's farm as a youth before starting his professional baseball career. Young entered th ...
*
Hamilton Luske
Hamilton Somers Luske (October 16, 1903 – February 19, 1968) was an American animator and film director.
Career
He joined the Walt Disney Productions animation studio in 1931 and he was soon trusted enough by Walt Disney to be made supervisi ...
*Leonard Sebring
*
Clyde Geronimi
Clito "Clyde" Geronimi (June 12, 1901 – April 24, 1989), known as Gerry, was an American animation director. He is best known for his work at Walt Disney Productions.
Biography
Geronimi was born in Chiavenna, Italy, immigrating to the United ...
*
Les Clark
Leslie James "Les" Clark (November 17, 1907 - September 12, 1979) was an American animator and the first of Disney's Nine Old Men. Joining Disney in 1927, he was the only one to work on the origins of Mickey Mouse with Ub Iwerks.
Early life
L ...
*
Dick Huemer
Richard Huemer (January 2, 1898 – November 30, 1979) was an American animator in the Golden Age of Animation.
Career
While as an artist-illustrator living in the Bronx, New York City, Huemer first began his career in animation at the Raoul ...
*
Art Babbitt
Arthur Harold Babitsky (October 8, 1907 – March 4, 1992), better known as Art Babbitt, was an American animator, best known for his work at Walt Disney Animation Studios. He received over 80 awards as an animation director and animator, and al ...
*Ugo D'Orsi
*
Wolfgang Reitherman
Wolfgang Reitherman (June 26, 1909 – May 22, 1985), also known and sometimes credited as Woolie Reitherman, was a German–American animator, director and producer and one of the "Disney's Nine Old Men, Nine Old Men" of core animators at Walt ...
*Frenchy de Tremaudan
*Louie Schmitt
List of other staff
*Director
Wilfred Jackson
Wilfred Jackson (January 24, 1906 – August 7, 1988) was an American animator, arranger, composer and director best known for his work on the ''Mickey Mouse'' and ''Silly Symphonies'' series of cartoons and the ''Night on Bald Mountain''/''Ave M ...
*Story creator Bill Cottrell
*Music coordinator
Leigh Harline
Leigh Adrian Harline (March 26, 1907 – December 10, 1969) was an American film composer and songwriter. He was known for his "musical sophistication that was uniquely 'Harline-esque' by weaving rich tapestries of mood-setting underscores and ...
*Voice actor
Kenny Baker (singing narrator)
*Voice actor Tudor Williams (Pluto)
*Voice actress
Jessica Dragonette
Jessica Valentina Dragonette (February 14, 1900 – March 18, 1980) was a singer who became popular on American radio and was active in the World War II effort.
Early life
Born in Calcutta, India, or Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as Jessica Valent ...
(Proserpina)
*Character designer Albert Hurter
Home media
Disney released several collections of ''Silly Symphonies'' short films on VHS, DVD and Laserdisc. In the United States, ''The Goddess of Spring'' appeared on the VHS tape ''Cartoon Classics : First Series : Volume 13 : Fanciful Fables''.
It was also featured on the DVD versions of ''It's a Small World of Fun - Volume 4'', ''
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...
'' Platinum Edition, ''
Walt Disney Treasures: More Silly Symphonies, Volume Two''.
[ and ''Walt Disney Animation Collection : Volume 4 : The Tortoise and the Hare''.
In Japan, ''The Goddess of Spring'' appeared on Laserdisc on ''More Silly Symphonies'', ''Donald Duck's 50 Crazy Years'', '' Goin' Quackers'', and ''Scary Tales''. In Germany, France and Italy, the short film was released on VHS on ''Verrückte Musikanten'', ''Silly Symphonies Volume 1'', and ''Silly Symphonies Volume 2'', respectively.
]
References
Sources
* "''The Goddess of Spring'' (Disney, 1934)." (1934) - The Internet Animation Database. The IAD, n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2017.
*"The Serious History of ''Silly Symphonies''." Oh My Disney. Insider, 20 May 2016. Web. 01 Feb. 2017.
*Davis, Amy M., & Eastleigh, U.K. : Bloomington, IN: John Libbey Pub. ; Distributed in North America by Indiana University Press (2006). Good Girls and Wicked Witches: Women in Disney's Feature Animation.
*"Silly Symphonies." ''Silly Symphonies'' - The Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2017.
*"''The Goddess of Spring''." Disney Wiki. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2017.
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goddess of Spring, The
1934 films
1934 short films
1930s color films
1930s Disney animated short films
Animated films based on classical mythology
Films directed by Wilfred Jackson
Films produced by Walt Disney
Silly Symphonies
1934 animated films
Films scored by Leigh Harline
Proserpina
1930s American films