OllieSuave-007 This is like a pre-Toy Story adventure, where various figurines and mugs come to life in a China stop after the owner leaves. Some excitement and intriguing moments when a demonic figure captures an upper-class lady and then does battle with her lord. A clever and imaginative story here, with all the shattering and clanging of dishes.

Foreverisacastironmess I always enjoyed the Silly Symphonies that tried out different themes and concepts, and this one certainly is no exception, being all about living ornaments that come to life and cavort and caper when the owner of the shop closes for the night! And just for a little drama, as a pair of Victorian dancers begin to dance together, there is of course an awfully devilish jade ornament that lurks in a more sinister corner of the place who is instantly green with envy and swipes the girl! I love the way that all of the characters have a certain look and movement to them, they have a reflective sheen to them that creations of pot and glass would, and that little detail just beautifully conveys that. I really appreciate how the animators went to the trouble of doing that, had they been lazy they wouldn't have bothered to include such a rich touch. It was mighty appealing to me, I enjoyed the different approach to some of the animation, it's very brightly textured and colourful. The shorts had really picked up in quality by this time, but they had yet to reach the best quality that they did. You can perhaps see very early echoes of what would later be expanded upon in Beauty and the Beast with the dancing plates and teacups of the legendary "Be Our Guest" song over fifty years later! I love how there isn't any dialogue whatsoever and everything we see is played out to wonderful music. It's like an adorable little ceramic opera! It is a very classic kind of story that most Disney shorts had at their core: A villain kidnaps a girl and a hero has to save her. And I'm not criticising that formula at all, it's one of the most easy to get into and simplest of stories that you could tell in such a short amount of time. I also liked the ending where the kindly old shopkeeper returns to find his wares mysteriously cracked and damaged and not knowing what to make of it, but deciding to re-label them as "antiques" and raising the prices as the female dancer bashfully giggles. It's a good short but there's nothing about it that I'd say makes it an outstanding one. It's very animated, that's just the best way to put it! Excellent idea and presentation, good short. Tally-ho!

TheLittleSongbird This is just living proof that you can never grow too old to appreciate Disney for the pure art it is. The China Shop is enormously entertaining, and has everything you can ever ask for in a silly symphony. Brilliant Technicolour animation, a truly excellent music score and a very fun storyline. All the characters are great, the elderly owner, the two dancing antiques, the monkeys and the green (centaur-shaped) antagonistic satyr. Give yourself a treat from watching the China Shop, it is an unforgettable Disney gem, that not only brings back fond memories, but is so beautiful in story and presentation, you have to like it. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Ron Oliver A Walt Disney SILLY SYMPHONY Cartoon Short.When the old proprietor closes down THE CHINA SHOP for the evening, all the various plates, mugs & figurines come alive and start to frolic. Among these are the little china figures of a young lord & lady. Their romantic interlude is shattered, literally, by a jealous goat-legged satyr, who wants possession of the little lady. The resulting struggle between the young lord & his antagonist creates havoc about the shop.A pleasant, though unremarkable cartoon. Disney often used romantic tension to fuel his plots. Seldom, however, does his hero & heroine end up so battered & bruised as they do here.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.