Flowers and Trees

1932 Silly Symphony cartoon

Flowers and Trees

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| Burt Gillett
Produced by| Walt Disney
Starring| Ester Campbell
Pinto Colvig
Marion Darlington
Walt Disney
Music by|

* Frank Churchill
* Bert Lewis

Animation by| Les Clark
David Hand
Tom Palmer
Color process| Technicolor

Production
company

Walt Disney Productions

Distributed by| United Artists

Release date

* July 30, 1932 (1932-07-30)

Running time

| 8 minutes[1]
Country| United States
Language| English

Flowers and Trees is a Silly Symphonies cartoon produced by Walt Disney, directed by Burt Gillett, and released to theatres by United Artists on July 30, 1932.[2] It was the first commercially released film to be produced in the full-color three-strip Technicolor process[3] after several years of two-color Technicolor films. The film was a commercial and critical success, winning the first Academy Award for Best Cartoon Short Subject.[2]

In 2021, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[4]

As a work from 1932 that had its copyright renewed, the film's copyright in the United States will expire on January 1, 2028.[5]

## Plot

[edit]

During Spring, the flowers, mushrooms and trees do their calisthenics. Some trees play a tune, using vines for harp strings and a chorus of robins. A fight breaks out between a waspish-looking hollow tree and a younger, healthier tree for the attention of a female tree. The young tree emerges victorious, but the hollow tree retaliates by starting a fire. The plants and animals try to extinguish or evade the blaze. By poking holes in clouds and making it rain, the birds manage to put out the fire, although the hollow tree perishes in the flames after getting caught up in them himself. The young tree then proposes to the female tree, with a caterpillar serving as a ring, and they embrace as a 12-color rainbow forms behind them.

## Production

[edit]

In May 1932, the first three-strip Technicolor camera was completed.[6] Herbert Kalmus wanted to test it in the animation field, giving the company time to build enough cameras to offer the whole movie industry, but couldn't find any interested animators. Finally, Walt Disney agreed to try it as an experiment on Flowers and Trees,[6] which was already in production in black-and-white, and ordered the cartoon redone in color. The color animation caused the production to run over budget, potentially ruining Disney financially, but the cartoon proved so popular that the profits made up for the budget overage.[7]

## Impact

[edit]

As a result of the success of Flowers and Trees, all future Silly Symphonies cartoons were produced in three-strip Technicolor. The added novelty of color helped to boost the series' previously disappointing returns. Disney's other cartoon series, the Mickey Mouse shorts, were deemed successful enough not to need the extra boost of color, remaining in black-and-white until The Band Concert (1935).[citation needed]

Disney's exclusive contract with Technicolor, in effect until the end of 1935, forced other animation producers such as Ub Iwerks (Disney's former head animator and close friend) and Max Fleischer to use Technicolor's inferior two-color process or a competing two-color system such as Cinecolor.[citation needed]

## Accolades

[edit]

Flowers and Trees was the first animated film to win an Academy award at the fifth Academy Awards in 1932. It won best "Short Subjects, Cartoons", a category first introduced that year.[8]

## Home media

[edit]

The short was released on December 4, 2001 on Walt Disney Treasures: Silly Symphonies – The Historic Musical Animated Classics.[9][2]

The short was included in bonus on the Diamond Edition blu-ray of 2009 of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.[10]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Heraldson, Donald (1975). Creators of Life. Drake. p. 251.
2. ^ a b c 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. 112–113. ISBN 978-1-4847-5132-9.
3. ^ Robertson, Patrick (2011). Robertson's Book of Firsts. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1608197385. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
4. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy (December 14, 2021). "National Film Registry Adds Return Of The Jedi, Fellowship Of The Ring, Strangers On A Train, Sounder, WALL-E & More". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
5. ^ "R242101". Library of Congress.
6. ^ a b Kalmus, Herbert (December 1938). "Technicolor Adventures in Cinemaland". Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers. doi:10.5594/J17344. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
7. ^ Mosley, Leonard (1990). Disney's World. Scarborough House. pp. 136–137. ISBN 978-1589796560. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
8. ^ Glenday, Craig (2013). Guinness World Records. p. 208. ISBN 978-1908843159.
9. ^ "Silly Symphonies: The Historic Musical Animated Classics DVD Review". DVD Dizzy. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
10. ^ https://dvdizzy.com/snowwhite-diamondeditionb.html

## External links

[edit]

* Flowers and Trees in The Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts
* Flowers and Trees at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Silly Symphony film series

1929|

* The Skeleton Dance
* El Terrible Toreador
* Springtime
* Hell's Bells
* The Merry Dwarfs

1930|

* Summer
* Autumn
* Cannibal Capers
* Frolicking Fish
* Arctic Antics
* Midnight in a Toy Shop
* Night
* Monkey Melodies
* Winter
* Playful Pan

1931|

* Birds of a Feather
* Mother Goose Melodies
* The China Plate
* The Busy Beavers
* The Cat's Out
* Egyptian Melodies
* The Clock Store
* The Spider and the Fly
* The Fox Hunt
* The Ugly Duckling

1932|

* The Bird Store
* The Bears and the Bees
* Just Dogs
* Flowers and Trees
* King Neptune
* Bugs in Love
* Babes in the Woods
* Santa's Workshop

1933|

* Birds in the Spring
* Father Noah's Ark
* Three Little Pigs
* Old King Cole
* Lullaby Land
* The Pied Piper
* The Night Before Christmas

1934|

* The China Shop
* The Grasshopper and the Ants
* Funny Little Bunnies
* The Big Bad Wolf
* The Wise Little Hen
* The Flying Mouse
* Peculiar Penguins
* The Goddess of Spring

1935|

* The Tortoise and the Hare
* The Golden Touch
* The Robber Kitten
* Water Babies
* The Cookie Carnival
* Who Killed Cock Robin?
* Music Land
* Three Orphan Kittens
* Cock o' the Walk
* Broken Toys

1936|

* Elmer Elephant
* Three Little Wolves
* Toby Tortoise Returns
* Three Blind Mouseketeers
* The Country Cousin
* Mother Pluto
* More Kittens

1937|

* Woodland Café
* Little Hiawatha
* The Old Mill

1938|

* Moth and the Flame
* Wynken, Blynken, and Nod
* Farmyard Symphony
* Merbabies
* Mother Goose Goes Hollywood

1939|

* The Practical Pig
* The Ugly Duckling

Related|

* Donald Duck
* Comic strip
* Silly Symphonies: The Complete Disney Classics
* Bucky Bug
* "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?"
* The Thrifty Pig
* Mickey Mouse Works
* Once Upon a Studio

* Category

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Burt Gillett

* Wild Waves (1929)
* Cannibal Capers (1930)
* Frolicking Fish (1930)
* The Fire Fighters (1930)
* The Shindig (1930)
* The Chain Gang (1930)
* Monkey Melodies (1930)
* The Gorilla Mystery (1930)
* The Picnic (1930)
* Winter (1930)
* Pioneer Days (1930)
* Playful Pan (1930)
* The Birthday Party (1931)
* Birds of a Feather (1931)
* Traffic Troubles (1931)
* Mother Goose Melodies (1931)
* The Moose Hunt (1931)
* The Delivery Boy (1931)
* The Busy Beavers (1931)
* Mickey Steps Out (1931)
* Blue Rhythm (1931)
* Fishin' Around (1931)
* The Beach Party (1931)
* Mickey Cuts Up (1931)
* Mickey's Orphans (1931)
* The Duck Hunt (1932)
* The Mad Dog (1932)
* Just Dogs (1932)
* Flowers and Trees (1932)
* Mickey's Nightmare (1932)
* King Neptune (1932)
* Bugs in Love (1932)
* The Wayward Canary (1932)
* Babes in the Woods (1932)
* Mickey's Good Deed (1932)
* Mickey's Pal Pluto (1933)
* Ye Olden Days (1933)
* Three Little Pigs (1933)
* Mickey's Gala Premier (1933)
* The Steeple Chase (1933)
* Giantland (1933)
* Shanghaied (1934)
* Playful Pluto (1934)
* The Big Bad Wolf (1934)
* Gulliver Mickey (1934)
* Orphan's Benefit (1934)
* Mickey Plays Papa (1934)
* The Sunshine Makers (1935)
* Scotty Finds a Home (1935)
* Lonesome Ghosts (1937)
* Moth and the Flame (1938)
* Brave Little Tailor (1938)

* v
* t
* e

Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film

1932–1950|

* Flowers and Trees (1932)
* Three Little Pigs (1933)
* The Tortoise and the Hare (1934)
* Three Orphan Kittens (1935)
* The Country Cousin (1936)
* The Old Mill (1937)
* Ferdinand the Bull (1938)
* The Ugly Duckling (1939)
* The Milky Way (1940)
* Lend a Paw (1941)
* Der Fuehrer's Face (1942)
* The Yankee Doodle Mouse (1943)
* Mouse Trouble (1944)
* Quiet Please! (1945)
* The Cat Concerto (1946)
* Tweetie Pie (1947)
* The Little Orphan (1948)
* For Scent-imental Reasons (1949)
* Gerald McBoing-Boing (1950)

1951–1975|

* The Two Mouseketeers (1951)
* Johann Mouse (1952)
* Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (1953)
* When Magoo Flew (1954)
* Speedy Gonzales (1955)
* Magoo's Puddle Jumper (1956)
* Birds Anonymous (1957)
* Knighty Knight Bugs (1958)
* Moonbird (1959)
* Munro (1960)
* Ersatz (The Substitute) (1961)
* The Hole (1962)
* The Critic (1963)
* The Pink Phink (1964)
* The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics (1965)
* A Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass Double Feature (1966)
* The Box (1967)
* Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968)
* It's Tough to Be a Bird (1969)
* Is It Always Right to Be Right? (1970)
* The Crunch Bird (1971)
* A Christmas Carol (1972)
* Frank Film (1973)
* Closed Mondays (1974)
* Great (1975)

1976–2000|

* Leisure (1976)
* The Sand Castle (1977)
* Special Delivery (1978)
* Every Child (1979)
* The Fly (1980)
* Crac (1981)
* Tango (1982)
* Sundae in New York (1983)
* Charade (1984)
* Anna & Bella (1985)
* A Greek Tragedy (1986)
* The Man Who Planted Trees (1987)
* Tin Toy (1988)
* Balance (1989)
* Creature Comforts (1990)
* Manipulation (1991)
* Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase (1992)
* The Wrong Trousers (1993)
* Bob's Birthday (1994)
* A Close Shave (1995)
* Quest (1996)
* Geri's Game (1997)
* Bunny (1998)
* The Old Man and the Sea (1999)
* Father and Daughter (2000)

2001–present|

* For the Birds (2001)
* The ChubbChubbs! (2002)
* Harvie Krumpet (2003)
* Ryan (2004)
* The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation (2005)
* The Danish Poet (2006)
* Peter & the Wolf (2007)
* La Maison en Petits Cubes (2008)
* Logorama (2009)
* The Lost Thing (2010)
* The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (2011)
* Paperman (2012)
* Mr Hublot (2013)
* Feast (2014)
* Bear Story (2015)
* Piper (2016)
* Dear Basketball (2017)
* Bao (2018)
* Hair Love (2019)
* If Anything Happens I Love You (2020)
* The Windshield Wiper (2021)
* The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse (2022)
* War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko (2023)

* Submissions for Best Animated Short Academy Award

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