One of my favorite things about cartoons from the ’30s is how they often present an extremely complicated method of achieving something simple. The first 5 minutes of The Busy Beavers shows a group of beavers building a dam in a way that would boggle the mind of any architect but delight contemporary audiences. It’s no surprise that the same year this short was released, the Merriam-Webster dictionary added the term “Rube Goldberg”. Frank Churchill’s score – filled with pop music references – perfectly matches the action, which turns from light and playful to ominous and dramatic as a storm spectacularly threatens the beavers’ dam. A team of over a dozen animators, working under the able direction of Wilfred Jackson, turned out another winner for Disney.
Don’t forget to visit The Silly Symphony Collection page for details on the massive vinyl box set.
