The Ugly Duckling (1939 film)

The Ugly Duckling
Silly Symphonies series
Poster for The Ugly Duckling
Poster for The Ugly Duckling
Directed by Jack Cutting
Clyde Geronimi
Produced by Walt Disney
Voices by Clarence Nash (duck sounds)
Music by Albert Hay Malotte
Animation by Milt Kahl
Eric Larson
Milt Neil
Stan Quackenbush
Archie Robin
Paul Satterfield
Riley Thomson
Layouts by David Hilberman
Studio Walt Disney Productions
Distributed by RKO Radio Pictures
Release date(s) April 7, 1939
Color process Technicolor
Running time 8 minutes 59 seconds
Country United States
Language English

The Ugly Duckling is an animated film from 1939 by Walt Disney, based on the fairy tale "The Ugly Duckling" by Hans Christian Andersen. The film was directed by Jack Cutting and Clyde Geronimi, and released in theaters on April 7, 1939. Music was composed by Albert Hay Malotte, who was uncredited for the film. The animated short was first distributed by RKO Radio Pictures.[1]

An earlier Silly Symphony animated short based on this fairy tale had been produced in black and white in 1931. The 1939 color film won the 1939 Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons),[2] and also happened to be the last entry in the Silly Symphony series, even though it was released as a special one-shot cartoon.

In the Andersen tale, a duckling is harassed because of his homeliness. To his delight, he matures into a swan, the most beautiful bird of all, and his troubles are over. In this version, the baby swan's sufferings are shortened, as he is found by his family, after only a few minutes of rejection and ostracism, instead of a whole year. This abbreviated version is read by Lilo to Stitch in the 2002 Disney film Lilo & Stitch. The story has a deep impact on Stitch, who sets out to look for his real family.

Plot

An expectant father is pacing by his wife's side. Suddenly, the mother duck's eggs begin to hatch, much to the father's delight, giving birth to four little ducklings. But then, a fifth egg hatches, revealing a mismatched white duckling, and the father argues with the mother over this. (It is implied that the father is accusing the mother of having an affair.) The ugly duckling attempts to join the duck family, but they turn their backs on him. So the duckling attempts to join other families, including a family of birds and even attempts to befriend a duck hunting decoy, but they all turn him down. The duckling feels sorry for himself until a mother swan and her cygnets approach him. He joins this family and they accept him. The mother duck and her ducklings are surprised to find he has found his real family and bid him farewell.

Home Video

The Ugly Duckling was released on the Walt Disney Treasures line of Silly Symphonies Vol. 1. It was included in its DVD release in the United States, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The Ugly Duckling". www.bcdb.com
  2. ↑ "The 12th Academy Awards (1940) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
  3. ↑ "The Ugly Duckling - The Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts". www.disneyshorts.org. Archived from the original on 2016-04-08. Retrieved 2016-04-15.
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