Santa's Workshop (1932)

Feeling a bit festive lately so this is one of old short animations that I thought I'd check out again after a long while. Um, it's adequate. I've seen way better Christmas-themed vintage cartoons though. The mass of Christ used to be my favourite of all the traditional holidays, before it was usurped by the darker and more fun magic of Halloween! When it starts though, oh my what a lovely enchanting opening scene of the busy workshop with the snow and sun around it in the North Pole, so exactly what generations of kids would picture in their heads when reminded of Santa's workplace. This short sees a most classic version of jolly Saint Nick reading off a long list of good and bad little children as his many elf helpers go about constructing the gifts that he will be delivering for Christmas Day. Like in all short animations now that I think about it, I love the smaller things in the animation like all the colourful wrapping paper and baubles in the backgrounds, and the machinery that helps build the rocking horses and when they're painting the blocks and the adorable little parade of wooden clockwork animals which was my favourite part of the short. Like with many of the Silly Symphonies in one way or another, there's a definite emphasis on the industry of what's going on, with the many working together to create some greater goal, and I always love to see that kind of imaginative animation on display. I do wish however, that the animators had opted to give Santa a nice rosy pink face, because I don't know if it was just the print that I watched, but he looks white as a dang ghost.. When Santa's teaching the dolls to say mama I just knew they couldn't resist having a black doll leap out and yell "Mammy!" Well I thought it was funny, and hey at least Santa appreciated her sass and didn't throw her back! It's a cute enough short with a bit of Christmas spirit behind it, but nothing about it leaps out at me that much at all. I liked the sequel Symphony "The Night Before Christmas" better. I mean it is over 84 fricking years old and is bound to be rough around the edges, but it's never the age or state of the animation that bothers me, only when a short is bland and fails to hit me! But regardless of my view of this particular short, I still love that good old-fashioned sweet heartwarming image of Christmas and I sincerely hope that young families of today still celebrate the season in that way with their kids because there's priceless emotional worth attached to those traditions that you don't fully appreciate until you're a little older. So give and love and feel that spirit of festivity and don't forget to be good, you know why! X

I have always had a soft spot for this cartoon, part of the always hugely enjoyable Silly Symphonies animated shorts. It shows Santa and his helpers working hard on Christmas Eve, and like most commentators have said it is certainly very interesting. Santa himself, and I still confess I still believe in him, is presented as a jolly old man with a hearty laugh that was very pleasurable to the ear. The animation, considering it was made in the 30s is surprisingly good, with a nice quality to it. The short does get a little too silly at times, some of the rhyming dialogue is very inspired but rather absurd; the description of Billy Brown not washing behind his ears for seven years is quite disgusting. But what I loved most about Santa's workshop is its imagination. I adored the toy's march to Schubert's famous Marche Militaire, which is also featured in the short when Chip and Dale give Donald Duck a hard time on Christmas, to be seen on the video, Jiminy Cricket's Christmas. About Marche Militaire, I believe it was originally written for two pianos, but I will say I prefer the orchestral arrangement, it has a certain liveliness to it. Another piece I felt the same about was the Tocatta and Fugue by Bach, used in Fantasia, that was very menacing with an orchestra. Overall, a delightful short, very fun to watch. 9/10 Bethany Cox.

Just watched this, a Walt Disney Silly Symphony, on YouTube. It's the first of two Disney cartoons that star Santa Claus (the other one was The Night Before Christmas). He checks his list which one of his elves monitor in a book that reveals each child's behavior. When one of the children is revealed to not have "washed behind the ears for seven years", Santa decides to add soap to this boy's long list of presents. Highly musically entertaining with some amusing gags like someone using a spider to scare some of the dolls' hair in an upright position and someone else painting exact checker squares in one fell swoop on a board. There's also one politically incorrect blackface doll that says, "Mammy!" to Claus that may be considered offensive today but was considered a highly amusing reference to then-star Al Jolson. Since it only lasts a few seconds, I don't think any harm is done. This was quite an entertaining animated short that I highly recommend to any animation fan especially Walt Disney completists. Children should enjoy this too.

Make that two words: VERY creativeEvery december I pull that old tape out and put it in the old VCR, just to see this short, and the "On Ice" short, too. Hey, I did it for all of them on the "Walt Disney Christmas" tape, long out of stock.Who wouldn't want to say that? The clever rhymes for the lists, how they build the toys (gotta love the checkered paint), and, what I just noticed, a nice little Jazz Singer reference. (If you haven't seen this short yet, or that movie, I will not spoil it for you)By today's standards, some of the scenes would be considered racist. But who said that they were for today's kids? They're enjoyable enough for adults. Enjoy what Disney used to be about: political incorrectness.Review: On a good movie scale, 5/5