Rags to riches. True love. Makeovers. Musical numbers. Cookie and candy gags. With four out of five of those, you’d have one of any number of successful musical comedies from the ’30s and ’40s. But add the last, and you’ve got Disney magic. Ben Sharpsteen directed this 8-minute short which finds a gingerbread hobo helping a poor sugar cookie become Miss Bonbon so she can compete in the Cookie parade, where a Queen will be chosen. Leigh Harline’s musical numbers propel the story forward (of particular charm are the short vignettes when the suitors present themselves to the Cookie Queen), and the animators make full use of their dazzling technicolor palette.
