The Goddess of Spring (1934) A Disney Masterpiece

 

Previously I talked about the beauty that is art. Now here's an essence of beauty in an animated short, this is Disney's The Goddess Of Spring (1934). This is one of my favorite animated films, from the staging, to the visual style and has some intense but masterful sequences. 

I chose this particular cartoon for alot of reasons, it's beautiful. It's such a shame not alot of people talk about it. It's one of the few Silly Symphonies cartoons that feel so cinematic and pivotal.

It starts off being peaceful, everything begins to rise, loads of greens, blues, butterflies and flowers.

Next, we see a group of elves skipping in a line as they celebrate "The New Queen of the Eternal Spring." 

Persephone's animation to me is really inspirational, she's honestly a likeable character, this film is also important in the stepping-stone for animation.  

Disney's studio was not fully developed of designing humans, because animals felt way more appealing and amusing to gain audiences. To me, I can understand why, but I really like how they challenged themselves to newer heights by experimenting and practicing on knowing how to draw realistic humans, otherwise we wouldn't have Snow White, Aurora, or other Disney characters similar to the design of Persephone. 

In my opinion, the entirety of this cartoon, like the animation, and the colors are all visually stunning and extremely pleasant.

Then we get into the intense parts of the short film, where we get introduced to Pluto, The God Of The Underworld, as he rises with flames and his devilish imps.

This to me is crazy, but I adore it. I don't think I ever seen Disney more or so their classic era, have a secret side in which they are not ashamed of showing us some melodramatic imagery here and there. Usually their known for the love, comedic energy and whimsical characters, but this is so out of the ordinary not just for Disney but for any classic animation studio.

This film's characters don't act as cartoony or exaggerated as in over thousands of other cartoons and that's what's so unique and interesting about it. 

Great use of anticipation here.

Normally I don't love all emotional stories, but this one hits really well, you don't have to focus too much on what's happening, yet it's really easy to follow at the same time. 

I love the scenery of the underworld, it perfectly makes sense. The whole build-up to this shot is outstanding. 

I love the colors to this. Blue flame is actually really cool.

 The elves suffer from the cold, not only the elves but the poor birds too.

Persephone looks utterly down, but what's really weird but kinda interesting is that Pluto himself is actually concerned for her unhappiness. So he agrees that she will have time to spend 6 months with the elves in a peaceful environment and the other 6 months down ground. I actually like that concept. 

Especially when they show it off on screen. 

Just then, some great animation of the ground explodes and burst of flames rise back as Persephone returns to her world.

Everything is back to complete normal, sun rises, clouds begin to appear, trees begin to mellow.

This is one of my all-time favorite sequences in animation history. No words, just art.

And finally like all good films, they need a happ ending. 

When I first watched this film, I loved how ambitious and different it felt compared to other Disney products. This film also has elements of importance, experimentation, and inventive passion around it all, as it set new grounds to Disney, this short film lead to inspiring their first-feature film Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs. Without it, the film and the other films that came after, would've been alot different and in my theory, less impactful. 

This short is phenomenal and is in my personal opinion, one of Disney's most overlooked treasures in their repertoire.

If you have Disney+ watch it, has extremely perfect quality and is worth your time!