Today’s Silly Symphony starts with a familiar theme: inanimate objects that come to life when people aren’t around to observe them. This device was previously used in Midnight In A Toy Shop, The China Plate and The Clock Store, to name a few, but it’s taken to a new level in The China Shop. Where the previous shorts featured a series of vignettes, The China Shop tells a story. Two dancing figurines (reminiscent of a couple in The Clock Store) are interrupted by a Satyr figure who kidnaps the female figurine. The ensuing battle is a tour de force for the animators under the direction of Wilfred Jackson. Leigh Harline’s score doesn’t feature any songs, but the dialogue-free short is served very well by his music.
