Old King Cole (film)

1933 American film

Old King Cole

Directed by| David Hand
Produced by| Walt Disney
Color process| Technicolor

Production
company

Walt Disney Productions

Distributed by| United Artists

Release date

* July 29, 1933 (1933-07-29)

Running time

| 7:15
Country| United States
Language| English

Old King Cole is a Disney cartoon in the Silly Symphonies series, based on several nursery rhymes and fairy tales, including "Old King Cole". It was directed by David Hand and released on July 29, 1933.[1]

It's a semi-remake of the 1931 Silly Symphony short Mother Goose Melodies, but in color, with more details and technically advanced animation.

## Plot

[edit]

One evening in Storyland, the story book "Old King Cole" opens itself, and the king's castle folds open. Other nursery rhyme books do the same thing, and several famous characters leave their homes and go to Old King Cole's party. There, all the characters have a small sing-and-dance act. When the Ten Little Indians get on stage, their dance is so catchy that Old King Cole and all the other characters join in as well. After Old Mother Hubbard accidentally pushes Old King Cole into a fountain, the mice from "Hickory Dickory Dock" tell everybody that it is midnight and that everybody should go home. All the characters return to their books, and Old King Cole sings a farewell song to everybody. Then he puts out a bottle of milk for the milkman before he runs back inside, and the cartoon ends.

## Characters portrayed

[edit]

The cartoon featured popular Nursery Rhyme and Fairy Tale characters. Depicted in the cartoon in chronological order are:

* Old King Cole
* Pied Piper of Hamelin
* Little Boy Blue
* A literally crooked man (There Was A Crooked Man)
* Old Mother Hubbard
* The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe
* Mary and her lamb (Mary Had A Little Lamb)
* Little Bo Peep and her sheep
* Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf
* Goldilocks and the Three Bears
* A cat playing the fiddle (Hey Diddle Diddle)
* Queen of Hearts
* Mary and her garden (Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary)
* Pandora's Box
* Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater
* Jack Sprat
* Goosey Gander
* Humpty Dumpty
* The spider from Little Miss Muffet
* Simple Simon
* Three Little Kittens
* Three Blind Mice
* Ten Little Indians
* The butcher, baker, and candlestick maker from Rub-a-dub-dub, all dancing together in their washtub
* The mice from Hickory Dickory Dock.

## Composers' credits (lyrics and music)

[edit]

* KING COLE'S PARTY (opening song), Bert Lewis[2][3]
* PIPER MAN, Frank Churchill
* LITTLE BOY BLUE, Frank Churchill
* CROOKED MAN, Frank Churchill
* KING COLE'S WELCOME SONG, Bert Lewis
* MARY, MARY QUITE CONTRARY, Frank Churchill
* SIMPLE SIMON, Frank Churchill
* THREE LITTLE KITTENS, Bert Lewis
* THREE BLIND MICE and TEN LITTLE INDIANS, Bert Lewis and Frank Churchill
* HICKORY DICKORY DOCK, Bert Lewis
* KING COLE'S GOOD-NIGHT SONG, Bert Lewis and Frank Churchill
* THE STORY BOOK CLOSES, Bert Lewis[4][5]

## Voice cast

[edit]

* King Cole: Allan Watson
* Girl trio: The Rhythmettes (including Mary Moder, Beatrice Hagen, and Dorothy Compton)
* Additional voices: Marcellite Garner[1] And Mildred Dixon

## Influence

[edit]

Old King Cole is similar in plot and style to the black and white Silly Symphony Mother Goose Melodies. Various cartoons have made use of a storyline in which story books come to life and the protagonists of the stories interact with each other, including Mother Goose Goes Hollywood (1938) and The Truth About Mother Goose (1957) by Disney Studios themselves, the Betty Boop cartoon Mother Goose Land (1933) by Fleischer Studios, and the Looney Tunes shorts Have You Got Any Castles? (1938), A Gander at Mother Goose (1940), A Coy Decoy (1941) and Book Revue (1946).

## Home media

[edit]

The short was released on December 19, 2006, on Walt Disney Treasures: More Silly Symphonies, Volume Two.[1]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ 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. 130–131\. ISBN 978-1-4847-5132-9.130-131&rft.edition=2nd&rft.pub=Disney+Editions&rft.date=2016&rft.isbn=978-1-4847-5132-9&rft.aulast=Merritt&rft.aufirst=Russell&rft.au=Kaufman,+J.+B.&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Old+King+Cole+(film)" class="Z3988">
2. ^ "Bert Lewis". IMDb. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
3. ^ "Composed by Bert Lewis (great grandfather) - YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
4. ^ Schroeder, Russell (2016). Old King Cole - A Walt Disney - Silly Symphony. Asheville, NC: Voigt Publications. pp. 1–31\. ISBN 978-1-5323-0472-9.1-31&rft.pub=Voigt+Publications&rft.date=2016&rft.isbn=978-1-5323-0472-9&rft.aulast=Schroeder&rft.aufirst=Russell&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Old+King+Cole+(film)" class="Z3988">
5. ^ Bohn, James (2017). Music in Disney's Animated Features. Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi. pp. 15–16, 20, 22, 26–28, 40–41, 44, 55. ISBN 978-1-4968-1214-8.15-16,+20,+22,+26-28,+40-41,+44,+55&rft.pub=University+Press+of+Mississippi&rft.date=2017&rft.isbn=978-1-4968-1214-8&rft.aulast=Bohn&rft.aufirst=James&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Old+King+Cole+(film)" class="Z3988">

## External links

[edit]

* Old King Cole at IMDb
* Bert Lewis on IMDB
* Disney Shorts information

* 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 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
* Disney Magic Kingdoms

* Category

* v
* t
* e

Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Robert Southey

Animation|

* Old King Cole (1933)
* The Bear's Tale (1940)
* Goldilocks and the Jivin' Bears (1944)
* Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears (1944)
* The Three Bears (Looney Tunes)
* Now Hare This (1958)
* Goldimouse and the Three Cats (1960)
* Goldilocks (1970)
* Unstable Fables (2008)
* Goldie & Bear (2015)

Television|

* "Goldilocks and the Three Bears"
* Goldilocks
* "Bart's New Friend"
* The Bear family (Sesame Street)

Live-action|

* Deadtime Stories

Literary adaptations|

* The Fourth Bear
* The Three Bears (comic strip)
* Baby Bear and the Big, Bad Wolf

Music|

* Goldilocks (album)

* v
* t
* e

"Little Red Riding Hood"

Film|

* Red Riding Hood (1901)
* Little Red Riding Hood (1920)
* Little Red Riding Hood (1953)
* Little Red Riding Hood (1954)
* Rotkäppchen (1962)
* Tom Thumb and Little Red Riding Hood (1962)
* About the Little Red Riding Hood (1977)
* Red Riding Hood (1989)
* Little Red Riding Hood (1997)
* Red Riding Hood (2003)
* Red Riding Hood (2006)
* Red Riding Hood (2011)
* Once upon a Crime (2023)

Animation|

* Little Red Riding Hood (1922 cartoon)
* Dizzy Red Riding Hood (1931 cartoon)
* Old King Cole (1933 cartoon)
* The Big Bad Wolf (1934 cartoon)
* Little Red Walking Hood (1937 cartoon)
* The Bear's Tale (1940 cartoon)
* Red Hot Riding Hood (1943 cartoon)
* Goldilocks and the Jivin' Bears (1944 cartoon)
* Little Red Riding Rabbit (1944 cartoon)
* Who's Cookin' Who? (1946 cartoon)
* Little Rural Riding Hood (1949 cartoon)
* Little Red Rodent Hood (1952 cartoon)
* Red Riding Hoodwinked (1955 cartoon)
* Red Riding Hoodlum (1957 cartoon)
* Now Hare This (1958 cartoon)
* Little Woody Riding Hood (1962 cartoon)
* Rough Riding Hood (1966 cartoon)
* For the Love of Pizza (1972 cartoon)
* The Magic Riddle (1991 film)
* Redux Riding Hood (1997 film)
* Hoodwinked! (2005 film)
* Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil (2011 film)

Video games|

* Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ (2008)
* The Path (2009)
* Overlord: Dark Legend (2009)
* Dragon Fin Soup (2015)

Stage adaptations|

* Little Red Riding Hood (1911 opera)
* Grimm (2014 musical)

Literary adaptations|

* The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck (1908)
* Anguish Languish (1956)
* Chapeuzinho Amarelo (1970)
* Flossie & the Fox (1986)
* Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China (1989)
* Wolf (1990)
* Little Red Cap (1999)
* Scarlet (2013)

Other adaptations|

* "Li'l Red Riding Hood" (1966)
* The Company of Wolves (1984)
* The Red Spectacles (1987)
* Freeway (1996)
* Black XXX-Mas (1999)
* Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (1999)
* Tokyo Red Hood (2003)
* A Wicked Tale (2005)
* "Red-Handed" (2012)
* "Child of the Moon" (2012)
* Little Dead Rotting Hood (2016)

Related|

* Big Bad Wolf (character)
* Red (character)
* Akazukin Chacha (1994 anime series)
* Goldilocks and the Jivin' Bears
* Now Hare This
* Deadtime Stories
* Baby Bear and the Big, Bad Wolf
* Simsala Grimm (Animated TV series)
* Into the Woods (1986 Broadway Production)
* Once Upon a Time (TV series)
* Xuxa em O Mistério de Feiurinha (2009 film)
* Into the Woods (2014 film)
* RWBY

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by David Hand

* Building a Building (1933)
* The Mad Doctor (1933)
* Birds in the Spring (1933)
* The Mail Pilot (1933)
* Old King Cole (1933)
* Camping Out (1934)
* Mickey's Steam Roller (1934)
* The Flying Mouse (1934)
* The Dognapper (1934)
* Mickey's Man Friday (1935)
* Mickey's Kangaroo (1935)
* The Robber Kitten (1935)
* Who Killed Cock Robin? (1935)
* Pluto's Judgement Day (1935)
* Three Orphan Kittens (1935)
* Mickey's Polo Team (1936)
* Three Little Wolves (1936)
* Thru the Mirror (1936)
* Alpine Climbers (1936)
* Three Blind Mouseketeers (1936)
* Mickey's Elephant (1936)
* The Country Cousin (1936)
* Mother Pluto (1936)
* More Kittens (1936)
* Magician Mickey (1937)
* Little Hiawatha (1937)
* Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
* Moth and the Flame (1938)
* The Whalers (1938)
* Fantasia (1940)
* Bambi (1942)
* Mickey Mouse Disco (1980)

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template