Don't Believe the Hype

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

This 1946 version of the famous "Peter and the Wolf"-story runs 15 minutes and thus considerably longer then most animated short films from that time, roughly twice as long. One reason may be that it was directed by Clide Geronimi who's responsible for quite a few of Disney's magical full feature films, such as "Alice in Wonderland" for example. I really liked the introduction he used, showing the audience each character and linking the music instruments. It was almost a music lesson and very well done.Next, the real story begins. peter goes to catch the wolf, is held back by his grandpa, but finally manages to get away nonetheless. He runs into two birds, a duck and a woodpecker, who become close friends, and a cat, constantly hungry, but still an ally against the big bad wolf. I think the scene was quite funny when the cat caught one of the birds and acts all innocent until Peter forces her to release him. Back to the wolf, the animators did a good job in portraying him in a truly scary fashion. He reminded me a bit off the one from the Three Pigs films, but was probably even more dangerous. A wild beast.This short film did not get the same awards attention like the Academy-Award winning short film 60 years later, but I still prefer this one from 1946. It would be an interesting task to compare both story-wise and about how the characters are portrayed. The animation is completely different of course and one other major difference is, for example, that in the recent version the wolf gets some sort of leniency and is not as evil as the one here. The music is tops in both, Prokofiev's work is just so incredibly catchy. All in all, I recommend this short film. It's an interesting piece of animation from shortly after World War 2 ended and I'm positive it gave delight to the people back in these long-gone harsh times.

This short film was released in the full-length Disney film "Make Mine Music"--a very, very uneven collection of short films with musical themes. I assume that because so many of the shorts in this film were just awful, that's why Disney later released several of the better shorts as stand-alone shorts. Heck, until I recently saw "Make Mine Music", I always thought that "Peter and the Wolf" was a stand-alone short, as that's how I saw it as a kid.The film begins with Sterling Holloway (the voice of Winnie the Pooh) narrating. First, he explains how each character in the story is represented by different musical instruments and then he narrates the story itself as the animation is presented. For the most part, it's great for kids who can tolerate classical and neo-classical music---others might be a bit bored. However, the animation is nice and there is a sweet charm to the story.

"Peter and the Wolf" is a wonderful Disney animated short. It is one of the segments from "Make Mine Music" (the 8th animated Disney classic). However, I was never really a fan of "Make Mine Music" and I don't remember much from it.But I always loved "Peter and the Wolf" and I'm familiar with it, so I decided to write a review just for that one.It is a perfect Disney classic. Along with "Fantasia", this is a good way to introduce classical music to children, so that they can appreciate this type of music since an early age. Classical music is often an underestimated sort of music, which is unfair.However, "Peter and the Wolf" has the classical music of Sergei Prokofiev. It is a beautiful, soft and very relaxing music to hear.The music is also used here for a peculiar aim: to represent thematically each character by the sound of several musical instruments (violins, flute and others).The characters are adorable: Sasha (a bird), Sonia (a duck), Ivan (a cat) and the brave little boy Peter.Peter is a very brave child because he decides to get out of his house (where he lives with his grandfather) to try to hunt a big bad wolf. But the wolf isn't just big - it is enormous! It is also quite scary, especially on his first appearance when he looks literally to the camera. This wolf is also absolutely amazing and majestic!Once Peter leaves home he makes immediately friends (animal friends): Sasha, Sonia and Ivan. They have a great time together, but when they have to confront the wolf, they're all (except Sasha) in panic and absolutely frightened, especially Ivan.Sasha doesn't show off his fear and confronts the wolf in a brave but at the same time hilarious way: he uses his beak as a defense and then he tries (unsuccessfully) to roll the wolf's lips. That's when the wolf takes the bird into his enormous and amazing mouth and starts to close it... Sasha is almost the wolf's lunch - a scene full of tension and suspense.The beauty of the artwork and sceneries is another quality of this great and timeless classic.This should definitely be on Top 250.

Peter and the Wolf is a fine little gem, but seriously marred by Sterling Halloway's narration. I mean come on, do we really need him commenting on everyone's actions, begging Peter to, "Do something quick!" It's not only distracting, it takes away from the music as well.Not that "Peter" is without hope. In fact, its finest moments are in the beginning when the characters are introduced with the music (To this day, "The Cat", known in this film as Sasha, is one of my favorite pieces.). Detail is meticulous; words are written in Russian when the average viewer wouldn't even notice, and watch the Wolf as he climbs up the tree and splinters wood everywhere. But honestly, Sterling Halloway, fine as he is playing Winnie the Pooh, adds nothing. In fact, he lessens the impact of what's going on. It would have been much better to let the music tell the story and have the characters themselves move in pantomime. If only...