The Ugly Duckling (1931 film)

The Ugly Duckling is an animated black-and-white cartoon released by Walt Disney in 1931 as part of the Silly Symphonies series. This cartoon was later remade into a color version released in 1939.[2]

This article is about the 1931 Disney cartoon. For the 1939 Disney remake, see The Ugly Duckling (1939 film).
The Ugly Duckling
Directed byWilfred Jackson
Produced byWalt Disney
Based on"The Ugly Duckling" by Hans Christian Andersen
StarringFlorence Gill
Purv Pullen
Jack Mercer
Music byFrank Churchill
Bert Lewis[1]
Animation byDick Lundy
Johnny Cannon
Les Clark
David Hand
Clyde Geronimi
Hardie Gramatky
Albert Hurter
Charles Hutchinson
Cecil Surry
Frank Tipper
Frenchy de Tremaudan
Assistant animation:
Chuck Couch
Joe D'Igalo
Layouts byCharles Philippi
Backgrounds byMique Nelson
Color processBlack and white
Production
company
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
  • December 16, 1931 (1931-12-16)
Running time
7 minutes
LanguageEnglish

Summary

Although the short film is loosely based on the Hans Christian Andersen 1843 fairy tale "The Ugly Duckling", 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 whom 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. 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 by a 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 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 saves 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 hard on it a few times to take hem 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.[2] 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 the 2001 Walt Disney Treasures DVD box set Silly Symphonies.[2]

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See also

References
  1. "The Ugly Duckling (1931)". Letterboxd. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  2. Merritt, Russell; Kaufman, J. B. (2016). Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series (2nd ed.). Glendale, CA: Disney Editions. pp. 104–105. ISBN 978-1-4847-5132-9.


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