Little Hiawatha

If you are looking for this short, try the "Disney Timeless Treasures: Volume 3". It's there along with several other seldom-seen cartoon shorts.

I wasn't too thrilled about seeing this short, as I am NOT a huge fan of poetry and I have little interest in the Longfellow poem that inspired this film. However, when it began I was immediately captivated by the wonderful animation--with brilliant colors, amazing backgrounds and top-notch quality throughout. In fact, for a 1930s short, I can't think of one that looked any better than this one. It's also interesting because "Snow White" and "Bambi" debuted just a short time later--and you can really see how this film influenced these two wonderful full-length films. Simply put, the animals looked almost exactly like Snow White's woodland friends and an awful lot like Bambi's pals (but to a lesser extent).

As far as the story goes, it's really NOT the Longfellow poem--and it's only used a tiny bit at the beginning and end. Instead, you see a cute American-Indian boy running about with the animals--trying to be tough. That is, until a big nasty bear nearly gobbles up the kid! And, thanks to the nice (and cute) animals, Little Hiawatha is able to escape--just barely.

All in all, while not among the best of the Silly Symphonies from Disney, it is one of the better ones and is highly enjoyable even 73 years later. A lovely little film.