Egyptian Melodies (1931)

This short is one of the Silly Symphonies series which Disney produced. There will be spoilers ahead:There's no real plot here, but one isn't really necessary. A spider is tugging on a web attached to a sphinx when a secret door in the front opens. The spider, curious, goes inside, negotiating an intricate series of halls and corridors (a magnificent section of wonderful animation) until it reaches a chamber where it eventually enters a sarcophagus and is frightened by a mummy.It runs away only to find four other sarcophagi and four other mummies. The mummies come out to do a dance as the spider hides from them. The dance sequence is also well executed.The best is yet to come, as hieroglyphics come to live and begin a conflict. The visuals here are fascinating, moving faster and faster, until the spider panics, runs back out the way it came and then runs off into the desert.This short is available on the Disney Treasures Silly Symphonies DVD set and it and the set are well worth finding. Recommended.

This early black-and-white cartoon features a little spider sneak his way into the catacombs beneath the Sphinx and wander around. The scaling effects as he does so are quite good, especially for 1931. A bunch of mummies comb out of their sarcophagi and dance around. From here on it's the usual movement timed to music animation showcase that many early Silly Symphonies were known for. The monochrome does add a nice atmosphere though, I just wish that they did more with it.Eventually the little spider freaks out at the madness on show and high-tails it out of there. That's your lot for this plot less cartoon, but it's not a complete obscurity and worth watching once.

The best thing to do when watching Egyptian Melodies is to forget looking for a plot, as there isn't one. Other than that, this Disney Silly Symphony is very entertaining. The black and white animation looks very clear and smooth with good character designs, but visually I found the camera work to be the most striking asset of Egyptian Melodies. The two standouts for me in that regard were the slow motion movement of the hallways of the Sphinx, almost from the eyes of somebody following the Spider, and the final dizzying shots of the Spider reacting in horror to the motions of the wall figures. The music has energy and some authentic flavour, while the dance routine, while the least compelling scene of the cartoon, is nicely choreographed. There are also some great gags, the best ones being the chariot race and when the soldier marches off and corrects himself. What takes up most of Egyptian Melodies is where the figures on the wall come to life, to great effect, and there is a wonderfully nightmarish finale. The characters are memorable too, the Spider being the most memorable, but the mummies and hieroglyphics also make an impression. Overall, very entertaining. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Just watched this Walt Disney Silly Symphony on YouTube. In this one, a spider goes inside the Spynx as the camera dollys with him through the corridors. Once at the heart of the place, the little arachnid sees mummys come out of their homes and start dancing. And then the hieroglyphics come to life and do the same...There's really nothing else that goes on there other then what I described though I don't want to reveal what happens to the end. You'll just have to see for yourself. It's certainly fascinating to see the early works of the Disney animators during the initial talking picture era before they would become even more accomplished when they would all do features several years later. So on that note, Egyptian Melodies comes highly recommended.