The Old Mill (1937) - A Disney Cartoon Review

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 The Old Mill is about the animals living in an old mill during a thunderstorm, yet, it held my attention. As all the characters (all animals) get distressed at the storm itself, there are no words. The music tells the entire story. Let's get into it. 

Courtesy of film.nu

The Old Mill, made in 1937, is purely music and images. It was in Technicolor. This was a silly Symphony where the plot was a thunderstorm hitting an old building (the mill). It begins with you seeing the mill in daylight and the animals at peace, introducing all the characters in a few minutes. From here, we get bullfrogs singing with crickets. This peaceful symphony is interrupted by wind, wind that hits the mill's windmill. 

This is where the animals begin to get distressed. You see a little blue bird (don't know the species, sorry) who had a nest on the mill cog in the opening scenes. The owl is also distressed as the cogs begin to move, but not as stressed as that poor sweet little bird on a nest. The zone of her nest puts her straight in harm's way, but fortunately a cog is missing and she is okay (the cog itself left a hole that sheltered her as the wheel turned). The owl is just peeved, the whole time. It'd been sitting on one of the now-moving wheels and the poor thing got wet from the rain. The roof is breaking and lightning and wind hit the mill building, which actually breaks it further. No animals were harmed. 

The morning comes, the storm ends, and everyone was okay. We see the same tranquil scene from the start as the camera backs up to show us the panoramic view from the first scene. All is well. The music matches everything that is happening. 




Why this was so moving

If you love cute things, you are distressed by the storm. The orchestration of nature itself is beautiful. What makes this piece of art brilliant is the way the animals, nature, and the orchestration all work together. 10 stars, easily. Watch it yourself and you'll see why everyone should see it. No words in the entire thing, only music and animals. All the same, I was horrified at the idea of the baby birds being crushed, or the mill itself falling, or the poor little scared frogs getting hurt... In short, you see these cute, adorable things living in the mill and you watch them get scared. Nature then calms down and the beauty from before hits you as everything turned out okay. I loved this. It was so cute, and yet so moving. 

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Morrow is released! This novella is the story of two women writing a family history for the Morrow family. They find a nasty secret while researching. Will they survive their internship? 

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