Peter und der Wolf (1946) Online

This wonderful short is part of Disney's 'Make Mine Music' but clearly deserves a separate review.

Disney's version of 'Peter and the Wolf' is very good. It has a nice story well narrated by the legendary Sterling Holloway, wonderful artwork and sceneries, brilliant Russian classical music, darkness, suspense, sympathetic characters and a fabulous "villain" (the wolf).

This may sound crazy, but the classical music is used mostly to represent the characters. A different musical instrument is used for each individual character. What's even crazier is that this method is actually very effective. The music tells a lot about the characters, as much as words themselves (if not more). The music varies in its rhythm and temperament according to each individual character. In the case of the wolf, the music has that predictably dark, spooky and suspenseful feeling.

It's not just the music that has Russian roots. This short feels Russian in everything. Peter has the Russian looks. Some of the characters's names are Russian. The narrator does a very good job at saying a few Russian words. The cinematography is typically Russian, with those settings and all the snow...

The wolf is my favorite character. I really, really love that wolf. It is astonishing and must have been the nightmare of many children from my generation. That wolf has everything to be a winner in a terrifying way: it is awesome, powerful, noble, intimidating and vicious. Its expressive large eyes transmit pure viciousness and terror. That is one big wolf. Its roar is genuine. Its mouth is enormous and slobbery, its tongue is endless and its many sharp teeth demand respect.

Ironically, the smallest of all the characters, Sasha the little bird, is the only one who doesn't seem to be that afraid of the big beast... even after nearly becoming food for the wolf 3 times (the number of times he ends up in its huge maw).

Title in Portugal: 'Pedro e o Lobo'.

This 1946 version of Prokofiev's "Musical Fairy-Tale" is probably my favourite of Disney's animated adaptations. Peter and the Wolf was clearly ideal for this type of film - I read somewhere that Prokofiev wrote the piece with Disney in mind - and Uncle Walt doesn't let us down. It's (hilariously) funny, genuinely scary and even touching. Favourite moment: the wolf drooling over Sacha the duck's prone body. Shiver. Note: After many years unavailability in the UK, this is now available on DVD either separately or as part of Make Mine Music, the compilation film in which it received its original theatrical release. From memory (and it's been years), Peter and the Wolf is vastly better than anything else in the larger film - the only other bit worth a glance is a segment about a whale singing opera.

This is definitely an underrated short movie, that I haven't seen around for ages. Though when I was a kid, I was absolutely terrified of the wolf, and his music, provided by three french horns. My younger sister is still terrified of this movie, and she still refuses to see it. What makes it memorable, is the music by Prokoviev. I loved it how he used a different instrument for each character, such as the flute for the bird and the clarinet for the cat. Actually, contrary to another review, I liked Sterling Holloway's narration. Sure it got a little distracting, but it is a kids movie, and Peter and the Wolf is one of those works where a narrator is obligatory. The animation is spot on, but it is easy to get frightened by the wolf. All in all, a memorable and underrated musical memory. Before I round off, I once had the video where it had two other shorts, the land of symphony and Isle of Jazz short and the one with Mickey Mouse conducting the orchestra. I'm just wondering if I'm the only one who remembers them. 9/10 Bethany Cox

"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.

A Walt Disney Cartoon.

A brave Russian lad, with help from his animal friends, goes hunting the most fearsome beast in the forest.

Back in the 1930's the Disney Studios was visited by the Russian composer Sergey Sergeyevich Prokofiev (1891-1953) who performed on an old piano his new composition of Peter and the Wolf (1936). Walt was immediately charmed and determined to make it eventually into a cartoon.

A decade later, the result was a fine little film. Although quite a departure from the original's purely aural medium utilizing the listener's imagination, PETER AND THE WOLF works well as a narrated (by Sterling Holloway) cartoon. The animation is excellent, the characters vivid, the streamlined plot straight to the point. An attempt is still made by the animators to keep true to Prokofiev's design of using this tale as a child's introduction to the instruments of the orchestra. But too much analysis becomes arcane. The cartoon does not supersede the orchestral work. It simply gives it a new interpretation.

PETER AND THE WOLF was originally a segment of Disney's compilation feature MAKE MINE MUSIC (1946), but it quickly proved popular enough to act as a standalone short subject.

Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by pictures & drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew comic figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a blizzard of doomsayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that childlike simplicity of message and lots of hard work will always pay off.

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...

I first saw this short when it was part of the compilation movie, Make Mine Music. It's an entertaining program telling the fairy tale of Russian boy Peter and his hunt for a raiding wolf, played to the very catchy and harmonic music of Sergei Prokofiev.

Winnie-the-Pooh voice actor Sterling Holloway does a nice job narrating, and the music fits in well with the excitement, intrigue, and adventures of the story.

Grade A

A wonderful short film adaptation of the children's story. I love the way Sergei Prokofiev (the writer of the original story) added music to the narration of this interesting little tale. Disney's version is quite cute and worth the 15 minutes of watching.

The wolf in this cartoon short is scary looking as other reviewers have mentioned. I think it's his eyes because they are evil looking red and yellow - almost hypnotizing. Plus the fact the wolf is hungry, on the prowl, and willing to eat anything. Yet the wolf is also a bit comical along with the rest of the toons.

If you like this film, then you might like: "Bambi", "The Jungle Book" or "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs".

9/10

Disney's version of the Sergei Prokofiev musical composition. Originally part of the movie Make Mine Music, this cartoon was released later on its own as a theatrical short. I saw it as a kid as part of a compilation video. It wasn't until I was grown up that I realized it was originally part of another movie. It's nicely animated with some likable characters and plenty of that old school Disney charm. The music is great. Sterling Holloway provides the narration. He possessed one of those distinctive voices that, once you hear it, you'll never forget. I won't cover the plot to the story as most people pretty much know the plot to Peter and the Wolf, right? So, give it a shot if you can find it on its own or, better yet, watch Make Mine Music and see it with many other fun cartoons.

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.

I just rewatched this classic Disney cartoon for the first time in half a century and was vastly amused. Prokoviev's music was fine, the animation was sprightly, Sterling Hayden's narration held the same amusing, quavery-voiced simplicity as always, and Walt Disney, famed as a rabid anti-communist and union hater, had produced a fine parable of the power of collective action to resist a vile oppressor in defiance of the warnings of the old and outmoded authority figures of a patriarchal society.

This is not something that will strike your average, or even your above-average youngster being exposed to this fine piece of narrated program music, but that is clearly the subtext as Peter disobeys his grandfather to go hunting the wolf in the company of other members of the lumpen-proletariat, in the form of a cat and two birds -- natural enemies. Nor is the army -- represented by the hunters with their bombastic kettle drums -- of much help, for Peter, the woodpecker and the cat have already captured the wolf and mother Duck is found to have survived. The people have triumphed!

I doubt if Disney thought much about this. The music is still good, and the art is still excellent. But the thought amuses me.

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.

Prior to seeing this as a kid, I had never seen a wolf , but I was read bed-time stories about them, & seen them anthropomorphized in cartoons.(possible spoilers) While this was a cartoon, the wolf was less anthropomorphized than in other cartoons I'd seen them in so at that impressionable age, I figured that it was a version, albeit cartoon-ised, of what wolves were like as animals.

The "hairy crocodile with long legs" image this & other cartoons of the time capitalized on left quite an impression. The ominous music accompanying the wolf, along with visual imagery, such as the wolf tracks in the snow & the way it contrasted in an otherwise cute cartoon was enough to persuade me of what put the "Bad "in "Big Bad."

Indeed one watching this mini-classic may find it hard to believe that wolves have any semblance of shyness or docility, though wolves in real life can sometimes be so cautious & docile that it becomes hard to believe they have any semblance of aggressiveness. The fact is that wolves have a wide parameter to their disposition that leaves room for both. Just like their domestic counterparts.

Again, this was a cute & funny cartoon, & the surprising result was that the things that made the wolf seem menacing were magnified by the contrast.Wouldn't have been too effective in a serious flick. In the scene where the wolf was chasing the duck, he broke through the ice of a frozen lake. In most cartoons, this would have resulted in the character bobbing up & down in a ice cube. Hee-hee! Funny!.. That sort of thing. Not this dude! He was uneffected & stayed focused on his prey. Not unlike reports of wolves in real life in pursuit of much larger prey. In one, a pair of wolves were pursuing an adult elk who knocked one of them down. That wolf rolled & righted himself renewing his attack without missing a beat. In 5 minutes, the elk was dead. It was riveting to read about & no doubt riveting for the witnesses.

The wolf, like the other characters, does do his share of buffoonery elsewhere in the feature-let's the bird make a fool of him. Just the same,Disney's effort to prove the wolf a worthy opponent for Peter were sufficient to put the wolf on my list of favorite aggressive animals. As an adult, I liked the political Incorrectness of the era the film was made in. When the bird made joking comments about Peter's pop-gun being "loaded"(after pulling out the cork to look down the bore!) I reminded myself of how stupid some of the anti-gun hysteria is nowadays. A few years ago, a girl got busted in a high school for doing a playful gun gesture with her finger. I'm tempted to say this flick brings back the good old days when guns were safe & wolves were dangerous...LOL. Hunters in it should go through the Eddy Eagle gun safety course though! Also liked the way Sterling Holloway the narrater spelled wolf in English while it was spelled in Russian.(Bonc)Well, I think I've remembered everything I was going to include. If I've forgotten anything, I guess I could cure my amnesia with another "wolf" on my head.LMBO

Because crocodiles are always getting the hots for them!!LOL More seriously, few animals have had a facial expression mold an image of how they look more than wolves. Some say their howl gave them their reputation, I think it's their growl, & teeth baring. Traditionally, paintings of wolves showed them growling enough to easily lead to the impression that the snarl is a permanent facial fixture, & that image is reflected in the way they're drawn in animations like PATW. If cartoons of the time were all one had to go by, one could easily believe wolves look like hairy crocodiles w/ bushy tails & long legs who's dental daggers are on 24/7 display. Of coarse, their noses aren't that long, & they don't snarl much more than most any other canine, although their growl is a little more menacing. This was my favorite version of the musical, & my favorite portrayal of the wolf. I remember a stage-play version where the wolf was played by some hot babe who shook her booty to the wolf music. Not that my hormones weren't kicking in yet, but I liked the good & ferocious wolf of the 1946 Disney version, & didn't cotton to the awesome score being adapted to sexual overtones. I think I've noticed some versions of this try to downplay the wolf's music, probably because it was too dark & menacing for such a cute story.Probably thought it a genre conflict. However, Disney probably said "That's not conflict! That's CONTRAST!" Disney-true to its nature, is legendary at blendingsomething that's kid-friendly & something that's dark sided enough toentertain older watchers. They don't say it's for all ages for nothing!Best 10 minute feature Disney ever had. Would love to see the RichLittle version. Heard that he used the voice of Carol Channing as theDuck, Paul Lynd as the cat, & Richard Nixon as the wolf.

Scene where folks are dancing in the street over the wolf's capture wouldn't go over well where wolves are being reintroduced however.

My two boys loved this movie. They wore out the VHS version years ago and I am searching for a DVD copy. It is a great story and captivated them from the first scene. I had heard and seen the story many times, in many formats, but this rendition was appropriate both to the story and for audiences of varying ages. The soundtrack is intriguing and helped me to interest my boys in the sounds of various instruments. Although not as sophisticated as modern animation, the characters are cleverly drawn and engaging. I highly recommend this version of the classic story and hope to see it in DVD form soon. I have two 'teenagers' who would be embarrassed but secretly pleased to see it again.