The "Silly Symphonies" short musical animations by Walt Disney began in 1929 with the introduction of the very popular "Skeleton Dance". Usually the characters used in the Silly Symphonies shorts were not recurring or used multiple times in other animations. Because of this, it made the animations more interesting as you expected to see a range of different characters with different purposes in each of his symphonies.
A grand total of 75 silly symphonies were created and began to emerge in Technicolour during the mid 1930s. Disney's sole purpose for creating these daft little musical jingles was not only to entertain but to experiment with different techniques, styles, characters, effects and so forth. By watching a few in chronological order, you can easily distinguish the difference between the animations. they definitely progress over time.
In my opinion, I am not a huge fan of anything Disney. I was more of a Warner Bros' "Looney Tunes" fan and never swayed towards Disney even when from a young age as I found his work a little too "cheesy". The same could be said for Looney Tunes' slapstick comedy and Americanised humour, but I found and still find Disney a little too cliche.
I learn to appreciate Disney's work however as he is certainly one of the best known animators in the Western world and his legacy still lives on despite the change in Disney as a company stylistically (more modern approach, less slapstick, change in character design, 3D approach etc.)
Walt Disney's "Skeleton Dance" - 1929
In terms of what I have learned from Walt Disney to use in my own animations, I definitely think I will take into account the way he creates appeal in his characters. Even in his Silly Symphonies where he hardly ever reuses his characters, you still feel they've been around for ages and you get a real feel for them! They are just full of charisma and I want to be able to achieve this with my own characters.
I think I will do this by making sure I give the characters I create animations and movements that match their personalities like Disney does. For instance, if I create a villain, sharp, creeping movements would be most appropriate. In terms of my own animation ideas for the Classical Elements, I have created a very laid back character to represent "God". I will give him soft, swaying movements to represent his "cool" attitude.
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