The Grasshopper and the Ants (film)
Encyclopedia
The Grasshopper and the Ants is a 1934
American animated
short film directed by Wilfred Jackson
. Part of the Silly Symphonies
series, the cartoon was produced in Technicolor
by Walt Disney Productions and released to theaters on February 10, 1934 by United Artists
.
The story is a retelling of The Ant and the Grasshopper
, itself part of Aesop's Fables
. The voice of the grasshopper was performed by Pinto Colvig
, the voice of Goofy
. The film introduced the song "The World Owes Me a Living," which later became somewhat of a theme song for Goofy
.
According to Leonard Maltin on the Walt Disney Treasures: Silly Symphonies DVD, this was the first short to use the idea of having a character turn blue with cold.
1934 in film
-Events:*January 26 - Samuel Goldwyn purchases the film rights to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the L. Frank Baum estate for $40,000.*February 19 - Bob Hope marries Dolores Reade...
American animated
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
short film directed by Wilfred Jackson
Wilfred Jackson
Wilfred Jackson 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 two segments Night on Bald Mountain and Ave Maria of Fantasia from The Walt Disney Company.Wilfred Jackson was born in Chicago,...
. Part of the Silly Symphonies
Silly Symphonies
Silly Symphonies is a series of animated short subjects, 75 in total, produced by Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1939, while the studio was still located at Hyperion Avenue in the Silver Lake district of Los Angeles...
series, the cartoon was produced in Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
by Walt Disney Productions and released to theaters on February 10, 1934 by United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
.
The story is a retelling of The Ant and the Grasshopper
The Ant and the Grasshopper
The Ant and the Grasshopper, also known as The Grasshopper and the Ant , is one of Aesop's Fables, providing an ambivalent moral lesson about hard work and foresight. In the Perry Index it is number 373...
, itself part of Aesop's Fables
Aesop's Fables
Aesop's Fables or the Aesopica are a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and story-teller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BCE. The fables remain a popular choice for moral education of children today...
. The voice of the grasshopper was performed by Pinto Colvig
Pinto Colvig
Vance DeBar "Pinto" Colvig was an American vaudeville actor, radio actor, newspaper cartoonist, prolific movie voice actor, and circus performer whose schtick was playing clarinet off-key while mugging....
, the voice of Goofy
Goofy
Goofy is a cartoon character created in 1932 at Walt Disney Productions. Goofy is a tall, anthropomorphic dog, and typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled fedora. Goofy is a close friend of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck...
. The film introduced the song "The World Owes Me a Living," which later became somewhat of a theme song for Goofy
Goofy
Goofy is a cartoon character created in 1932 at Walt Disney Productions. Goofy is a tall, anthropomorphic dog, and typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled fedora. Goofy is a close friend of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck...
.
According to Leonard Maltin on the Walt Disney Treasures: Silly Symphonies DVD, this was the first short to use the idea of having a character turn blue with cold.
Plot
It all starts out when the grasshopper is dancing, playing his violin, and eating. After he sat on a mushroom, he got some water and started to eat a leaf. Then he noticed some ants working very hard to get ready for the cold winter. All he just did was laugh at those poor ants. Then he went to an ant who had his fruit cart stuck, and told him "the Good Book says 'The Lord provides,' there's food on every tree. I see no reason to worry and work. No sir, not me! Oh, The World Owes Us a Livin'. Oh, The World Owes Us a Livin'. You should soil your Sunday pants, like those other foolish ants. Come on, let's play and sing and dance!". And they did, but while they was doing that, the Queen ant came and saw one of her subjects playing instead of working. Once the ant noticed the queen, he started to go back to work. Then the Queen ant got mad at the grasshopper and warned him "You'll change that tune when winter comes and the ground is covered with snow." The grasshopper ignored the queen's warning, saying "Oh, wintertime's a long way off. You dance? Let's go." Then when winter came, the grasshopper was looking for food. He found a leaf, but it blew away. He struggled and struggled, getting weaker from cold and hunger, until he looked into where the ants lived and noticed that they were having a wonderful feast and celebrating. He wanted to come in, so he knocked but he was frozen. When the ants heard the knock, they got the grasshopper and let him in. He was warmed up and saw the queen. She knew he was going to act like that, and the grasshopper tried to reason with her, "Oh madam queen, wisest of ants. Don't throw me out. Please, give me a chance". She just told him "With ants, just those who work may stay, so take your fiddle...". When he was about to leave, the queen told him to play his violin and stay. He played the violin with a different song to sing as they all lived happily ever after in the ants' home, "I owe the world a living! I owe the world a living! I've been a fool the whole year long and now I'm singing a different song! You were right and I was wrong!"Home Video Release
- Silly SymphoniesWalt Disney Treasures: Wave OneThe first wave of Walt Disney Treasures was released on December 4, 2001. It includes four different DVD sets.-Mickey Mouse in Living Color:This set covers the first leg of Mickey Mouse's color career, from 1935 to 1938.150,000 sets produced.-1935:...
(DVD) 2001 - Walt Disney's Timeless Tales Volume 1: The Prince and the Pauper/Three Little Pigs/The Tortoise and the HareWalt Disney's Timeless TalesWalt Disney's Timeless Tales is a series of DVDs by Walt Disney Home Video. Each release had around one-hour of Disney animated short films featuring classic fairy tale adaptations. As opposed to the chronological nature of the Walt Disney Treasures line, each release included cartoons in no...
(DVD) 2005 - Walt Disney Animation Collection: Classic Short Films Volume 5: Wind in the Willows (DVD) 2009
External links
- The Grasshopper and the Ants at The Encyclopedia of Animated Disney Shorts