OllieSuave-007 Nice little Silly Symphony about Elmer, the kid elephant, who was making fun of because of his trunk by the other animals during their friend's birthday party. However, they soon had to have a new viewpoint of the elephant because of his courageous acts during a fire. A pretty exciting plot and a good lesson to be learned here about appreciating what you have been given in life and about treating everyone with kindness. Grade B

Hot 888 Mama . . . because even the children of normal Americans might stir up a ruckus with the neighbors' Grope Openly Party (G.O.P.) tykes if they reveal how Walt Disney uses ELMER ELEPHANT to blame these Right-Wing "Conservative" Dumbos for America's then on-going Great Depression. In this animated short, Disney depicts Elmer as a Total Loser, Cluelessly skipping through the daisies while everyone else shows up on time for Tilly's Sixth Birthday Party. When the other critters present mock Elmer for always sticking his Ginormous Facial Appendage into Private Places where it clearly doesn't belong, Disney suggests that Elmer torches Tilly's Treehouse in an Arsonous Fit of Spite. Elmer than does his best to fan the flames toasting Tilly, just as his Real Life cohorts in America's Pachyderm Party did with their deplorable Smoot- Hawley Tariffs Act. Disney implies that Elmer is like the Teflon Don: he could probably gun down Girl Scouts and Brownies at HIGH NOON in Times Square, and get away with it like Gary Cooper!

TheLittleSongbird Elmer Elephant is a great Silly Symphony and a wonderful childhood gem. It does have a beautiful story, and very heartfelt and well meaning, though out of the Silly Symphonies Ugly Duckling gets my vote as the most heart-rending. You do genuinely feel for Elmer, who gets bullied for his unusually long trunk,then ends up saving the day in one of my favourite Silly Symphony moments, and although the other characters aren't as significant, other than Tillie, they do serve purpose to the well thought out story that doesn't preach in any way.The animation is lovely, and so is the music, especially when the theme tune goes into a minor key to portray Elmer's sadness. All in all, if you come across this Silly Symphony, watch it-you won't be sorry! 10/10 Bethany Cox

Ron Oliver A Walt Disney SILLY SYMPHONY Cartoon Short.Little ELMER ELEPHANT has a crush on Tillie Tiger & his affection is reciprocated (don't try to figure it out). Trouble is, the pint-sized pachyderm is beset by bullies who ridicule his trunk and make his life miserable. Then a conflagration breaks out at Tillie's tree house...A very cute little film, very nicely drawn, with a sound moral message. It could have been the start of a series of Elmer Elephant shorts, but, alas, that was not to be and Elmer & his friends went into almost immediate cartoon oblivion.The pelicans, for those too young to know, are spoofs of Jimmy Durante.The SILLY SYMPHONIES, which Walt Disney produced for a ten year period beginning in 1929, are among the most interesting of series in the field of animation. Unlike the Mickey Mouse cartoons in which action was paramount, with the Symphonies the action was made to fit the music. There was little plot in the early Symphonies, which featured lively inanimate objects and anthropomorphic plants & animals, all moving frantically to the soundtrack. Gradually, however, the Symphonies became the school where Walt's animators learned to work with color and began to experiment with plot, characterization & photographic special effects. The pages of Fable & Fairy Tale, Myth & Mother Goose were all mined to provide story lines and even Hollywood's musicals & celebrities were effectively spoofed. It was from this rich soil that Disney's feature-length animation was to spring. In 1939, with SNOW WHITE successfully behind him and PINOCCHIO & FANTASIA on the near horizon, Walt phased out the SILLY SYMPHONIES; they had run their course & served their purpose.