Rating: 
Summary: Worthy of the money spent.
Review: Disney finally releases some of their best animated shorts! Even though I am way too young to remember these cartoons when they first were shown, it is nice to see the whole cartoon. I remember seeing pieces of "The Old Mill" in a Disney Halloween show when I was young, and it is nice to see the whole thing. The main reason I wanted this set was because of the big ones like: "The Old Mill", "Skeleton Dance", "The Three Little Pigs", and "Flowers and Trees", but all of them are pretty good. "Wynken, Blinken, and Nod", and "The Ugly Duckling" (1939) are probably my newly discovered favorites.Most likely, there are even more Silly Symphonies that are not yet released but these have been wisely chosen. There is maybe one stinker in the bunch, and thats "The China plate". There really isn't that much great animation in it and the story isn't all that interesting. Other than that one small complaint the collection is very good. Another small complaint is that the shorts are not listed properly in the little DVD booklet. It is also hard to find a certain show you want to watch because some of them are hidden or (Easter Eggs). When I first got the DVD I was scared because I couldn't find all the shows because they were hidden so well. I can't really see what the point in this is, and I wonder why Disney made it so difficult to navigate. Now that I know that all the shows are actually there I am content enough to search for the show I want but it takes awhile. The Leornard Maltin stuff is alright. I could have done without the interview with the composer and the Disney antique guy, but most of his introductions to "his favorites" are pretty good. I would have rather had commentary for each short done by someone like John Canemaker or a present day Disney animator, but I guess you can't have everything. I have had this DVD for about a year and I just watched it a day ago and there were some I hadn't watched yet! A great collection for a lover of animation.
Rating: 
Summary: What a treat!
Review: I received both the Silly Symphonies and the Mickey sets for Christmas...and I watched them all straight through. THANK YOU, DISNEY for making these available! Many of the Silly Symphonies, I had never seen before, as they had been hard to find on video in the past. If you love classic Disney animation, get this set before it's gone! This is only available on DVD...if you don't have a DVD player yet, now's the time to go out and buy one...so you can enjoy these true treasures! Now, about those "Donald Duck" and "Goofy" sets...in addition, I'd like to see a second set of the Silly Symphonies, as well as sets of the older MM B/W 'toons! Disney, are you listening???
Rating:
Summary: Essential for any animation fan
Review: Essential - and enjoyable. Fantastic animation from the people who basically wrote the book on animated shorts. The only drawback that I found was that several cartoons are hidden as "Easter Eggs". In an archival type product like this, making these cartoons only viewable if you arrow around and hit the right pixel seems like a bad idea. I'm still waiting for the rest of the Silly Symphonies - they made around 70. (and where's Ferdinand?)
Rating:
Summary: Great animation! Lot's of Fun!
Review: This is a great DVD! I had never seen the bulk of these Disney classics, and the few I remember I last saw decades ago on "Wonderful World of Disney." Wow! Some of the finest animation I have seen. In an interview on this DVD, Disney says that the Silly Symphonies were an arena for animators to experiment, without the financial risks of a feature length animated film. This format was a fertile field for the imagination. Artists who are free to take risks tend to produce more stunning work. "Wynken, Blynken and Nod" is a really beautiful cartoon that I had never seen before. It it packed with vivid colors and dynamic animation. The cloud men are impressive. "Water Babies" is very pretty and very funny. Each cartoon is a classic. I mainly wanted this collection for "The Old Mill" and "Skeleton Dance." Those did not disappoint. I had not seen "The Old Mill" for years and it is as dramatic and perfect as I remember. "Skeleton Dance" is a spooky treat. "Wise Little Hen," the first Donald Duck cartoon, was an unexpected delight. I can see why the character took off. There are some complaints about this DVD. Too many of the Leonard Maltin picks are duplicated elsewhere on the disk. They could have used the room to put in some more cartoons. The "Easter eggs" are easy to find, but may confuse people. Some older cartoons are scratchy. However, there is so much delight in the cartoons themselves, I don't mind the minor flaws. I'll say it again. This is a great DVD!
Rating:
Summary: What you've been waiting for...
Review: Disney's Silly Symphonies have made an absolutely stunning transition to DVD, every color and subtle detail intact. The best of them (Babes in the Woods, Music Land, Father Noah's Ark) are brilliantly innovative, richly textured full animation, like nothing else before or since. Funny Little Bunnies, though not the peak of Disney sophistication, remains at the very least, a triumphant display of early 3-strip Technicolor. Softer pastel hues imbue the charming Water Babies. On the other hand, not all the silly symphonies are an unalloyed delight. The Three Little Pigs spawned three inferior sequels (The Big Bad Wolf, The Three Little Wolves & Practical Pig); a fine music score alone is not enough to buoy the pallid whimsy of Wynken, Blynken & Nod. And only the most rabid Disneyphile will respond to the bland anthropomorphics of Farmyard Symphony and Peculiar Penguins. Still, there's more gold to be mined from the Disney archives, and some of the finest Silly Symphonies (Merbabies, Hot Chocolate Soldiers, Goddess of Spring) await rediscovery, so let's hope a volume 2 is forthcoming, perhaps supplemented by some of Disney's better work from the '50s & '60s (e.g. Cosmic Capers; It's Tough to be a Bird, etc..). In fact, Disney should be given carte blanche to work its restorative magic on other cartoon classics from the '30s, notably Harman & Ising's Happy Harmonies, and some of the Fleischer color classics. Wouldn't that be nice?
Rating:
Summary: Great animation! Lot's of Fun!
Review: This is a great DVD! I had never seen the bulk of these Disney classics, and the few I remember I last saw decades ago on "Wonderful World of Disney." Wow! Some of the finest animation I have seen. In an interview on this DVD, Disney says that the Silly Symphonies were an arena for animators to experiment, without the financial risks of a feature length animated film. This format was a fertile field for the imagination. Artists who are free to take risks tend to produce more stunning work. "Wynken, Blynken and Nod" is a really beautiful cartoon that I had never seen before. It it packed with vivid colors and dynamic animation. The cloud men are impressive. "Water Babies" is very pretty and very funny. Each cartoon is a classic. I mainly wanted this collection for "The Old Mill" and "Skeleton Dance." Those did not disappoint. I had not seen "The Old Mill" for years and it is as dramatic and perfect as I remember. "Skeleton Dance" is a spooky treat. "Wise Little Hen," the first Donald Duck cartoon, was an unexpected delight. I can see why the character took off. There are some complaints about this DVD. Too many of the Leonard Maltin picks are duplicated elsewhere on the disk. They could have used the room to put in some more cartoons. The "Easter eggs" are easy to find, but may confuse people. Some older cartoons are scratchy. However, there is so much delight in the cartoons themselves, I don't mind the minor flaws. I'll say it again. This is a great DVD!
Rating:
Summary: Essential for any animation fan
Review: Essential - and enjoyable. Fantastic animation from the people who basically wrote the book on animated shorts. The only drawback that I found was that several cartoons are hidden as "Easter Eggs". In an archival type product like this, making these cartoons only viewable if you arrow around and hit the right pixel seems like a bad idea. I'm still waiting for the rest of the Silly Symphonies - they made around 70. (and where's Ferdinand?)
Rating:
Summary: A Treasure Indeed
Review: This DVD is packed with hours of some of the best animation ever made! Sound and visual quality is top notch. As my kids can attest, you'll want to watch it over and over again. Better hurry, as a limited edition, this DVD will not last long.
Rating:
Summary: Silly Symphonies are wonderful!
Review: Great DVD for the entire family!
Rating:
Summary: A real treat
Review: Many wonderful shorts including some cool Easter Eggs. They can be play either in closed-captioned (CC) or subtitled but for the rest of DVD features such as The Song of the Silly Symphonies, Silly Symphonies Souvenirs, brief introductions by Maltin and Walt Disney, and a few others they are not closed-captioned or subtitled and that was very disappointing.
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