''The Ugly Duckling'' is an animated black-and-white cartoon released by
Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
in 1931 as part of the ''
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 ...
'' series. This cartoon was later remade into a
color version released in 1939.
Plot
Although the short film is loosely based on the
Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales.
Andersen's fairy tales, consisti ...
1843 fairy tale "
The Ugly Duckling
"The Ugly Duckling" ( da, Den grimme ælling) is a Danish literary fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875). It was first published on 11 November 1843 in ''New Fairy Tales. First Volume#New Fairy Tales. Fir ...
", the only real similarities are one bird getting confused for another and his unique abilities enabling him to become something special.
In this version, a hen is asleep when her eggs hatch. Six female chickens hatches to her delight. However, the last egg reveals a duckling who has gotten mixed in among the farmyard chickens. The hen and the chicks walk away from him. Despite the duckling's best attempts to fit in with his chick sisters, things don't work out. He tries to go to a dog, a cow and even a frog, but to no avail, leaving him to lament his "ugliness" after he mocks his reflection. Soon, the cow's mooing informs everyone to take shelter at once because there's a tornado coming their way. The hen and the chicks quickly run inside the hen house, but the duck has to go under the home due to them not accepting him.
However, when the hen's chicks are threatened by a waterfall, due to them being dropped off in a river after the hen house was caught up in the tornado, the little duckling swims to the rescue having gone through various debris to get to them. The hen cries out in fear for her daughters' lives. The duck gets into the hen house, but once the first tree gets through, the duck and his chick sisters are on it. He quickly tells them to run back in the hen house, saving them and a second tree comes through destroying it. This time, the duck orders his sisters to run to the fireplace blower, which he jumps on a few times to take them to safety. He is lauded as a hero by his sisters. The hen picks the duckling up, recognizing him as her son and hugs him to his delight.
About eight years later, in 1939, the film would be remade and would follow the original Andersen story much more faithfully.
This gives ''The Ugly Duckling'' the unique distinction of being the only Silly Symphony to be made twice. This film was then sold to reach about 4,000 dollars per month at the most profit, because it slowly climbed up the scale of growth.
Home media
The short was released on December 4, 2001, on ''
Walt Disney Treasures: Silly Symphonies - The Historic Musical Animated Classics''.
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See also
* ''The Ugly Duckling'' (1939 film)
References
External links
*
*
''The Ugly Duckling''
a
The Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts
1931 films
1931 short films
Silly Symphonies
Films based on The Ugly Duckling
Films about ducks
Films about chickens
Films directed by Wilfred Jackson
Films produced by Walt Disney
1930s Disney animated short films
1931 animated films
American black-and-white films
Columbia Pictures animated short films
Columbia Pictures short films
Animated films without speech
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