Rating: 
Summary: Great cartoons - lots of mistakes though
Review: The cartoons are great - although I'm not sure why they didn't release a complete collection of the Silly Symphonies. The printed booklet that comes with the set is highly inaccurate - there are quite a few more cartoons listed than actually appear on the DVDs. Hard to believe a company like Disney would make such a huge blunder. The packaging is cool visually but pretty useless. The organization of the cartoons on the DVDs and play options are very lame - not well thought out at all. Again - hard to believe a company with the resources that Disney has could make such a huge blunder. Worth getting for the cartoons but I hope they will correct the errors on this set of DVDs and release another set of DVDs with all of the Silly Symphonies on them. (...)
Rating: 
Summary: 31 classic Disney cartoons. Ideal for young & old alike!
Review: Elegantly packaged in a silver tin box, these 31 early Disney classic are a wondrous treat for all ages. What a bargain too. Disney was always a perfectionist in everything he had his hand on, and it shows on his earliest works. The cartoons span from 1929's eerie and strange "Skeleton Dance" to 1939's "Ugly Duckling". There are the classics like Three Little Pigs, Tortoise and The Hare (The hare reminds me of today's obnoxious athletes) the charming Water Babies, The Country Cousin, Flowers and Trees and so much more. I started watching this around 6 PM, figuring I'd watch about half hour then put on the news, well, I was mesmorized for about five hours with these great cartoons, then finally went to bed. One thing about Disney, his art and color are the standard to be measured by, even with most of these from the mid 1930's. There are a few black and white cartoons that are quaint and historic. I'm buying the Mickey box next. Outstanding and a DVD that does have some historic significance as well as sheer enjoyment.
Rating: 
Summary: NOT REALLY THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION
Review: Although it is great to have all of these older Disney cartoons on DVD, among them many award winners, the DVD presentation leaves a lot to be desired.
There are esentially no suplements & the menu is extremely poor, giving you three or four options (grouped by theme) to view the DVD, but no direct access for individual cartoon viewing!!!
The cartoons themselves look & sound great, but there was no restoration whatsoever involved, you can see every speck of dust on the film. If you own these on VHS you should probably skip the DVD, I myself did not own the tapes, although I had rented them, so I have no complaints in that sense. It seems to me these were transfered according to the way they were organized in the tape collection, not in any chronological order, so there is no historical perspective for them.
There is no additional background text or even dates for the cartoons either in the DVD or in the liner notes. Speaking of the liner notes, there is barely any information on them and even the index in them does not match what is actually on the DVDs, plus, since you can not access them individually there is no way you can see what you have until you actually sit & view the cartoons one by one.
The notes claim these are uncensored & uncut & I cannot really negate this, not being that familiar with the original versions, but Disney does have a record of censorship for politically correct reasons thus erasing historically important information.
The people at Disney should really take better care on these Walt Disney Treasures editions.
Rating:
Summary: This is The BEST DVD I have ever seen.
Review: Yesterday, I bought 2 of the Disney Treasures sets, Disneyland U.S.A. and this, The Silly Symphonies set. I was actually more excited about the Disneyland USA dvd set then this. But when I put this one in, in a period of about 10 minutes I realized something...
This is the BEST DVD set I have EVER seen. Trust me, you're gonna get your money's worth (and much much more) from this set. You are getting five and a half hours worth of material here, folks, from the 31 cartoons itself, to the very insightful introductions provided by Leonard Maltin (granted, he does appear just a weee bit too much), The Disney people have TOTALLY outdone themselves. Can I talk about the cartoons? For those of you whose history of Silly Symphonies begins and ends with 'Flowers and Trees' (or even more basically, The Three Little Pigs), You're gonna get a complete history of these historical shorts. From the first, Ub Iwerks animated Skeleton Dance, to the many Academy Award winning animated shorts which are beautiful and textured (an excellent (Easter Egged!) example is the The Old Mill, which is soooooo gorgeous!)
The transfers range from excellent to so-so, with the so-so's happening on the older cartoons, but that is to be expected. All in all, an essential DVD for young and old, and will be admired for years to come (trust me)
Rating:
Summary: Awsome Limited Edition DVD Set from Disney!!
Review: I bought this today, Dec. 4th, in a store here in Canada. For some reason it came out 3 days earlier than the expected Dec. 7th date listed on this page. Yay for us! heheh. The set comes in a metal tin that is stamped with a lot #. Mine was # 141056 of 150000. Inside theres a standard 2-sided Plastic keepcase holding the DVDs, a booklet about the release, a cool postcard, and some spam fliers. The video quality is pretty good, but not much better than I had expected. There appears to be alot of shimmer and grain, and some of the cartoons are extremely dirty. I guess Disney didnt think they were worth the cost of restoring. Also of note, there appeared to be some encoding defects in a few of the shorts that dont appear in previous releases on VHS (in 'Little Red Hen', watch very closely when she runs out of her coop). I also noticed some of these defects on the Mickey Mouse set (pay close attention to the wave that gets Goofy in 'Hawaiian Holiday'). I exchanged the discs, but they all have the same errors. Most people will probably not even notice, but Im just picky. The audio is fine, about what you would expect from the 1930's & 1940's. Theres a few extras on the discs, not much, a few unlisted 'bonus' toons, Leonard Maltin speaks a bit, and some of the promo stills are cool. The selection of cartoons is ok, but it would be nice if they had released them chronologicly, as there are lots of old B&W favorites missing. My only big gripe is that my favorite toon 'Skeleton Dance' has incorrect title and end credits pasted on. Incorrect opening music also. (this is compared to a version released in 1986 on VHS). I think Im reasonably happy with this release, its a ok effort on Disney's part, and the Mickey Mouse release is good too. I hope Disney decides to release all of the B&W Mickey Mouse cartoons as part of this series, and another set of Silly Symphonies would be nice also. Nudge, Nudge, Wink, Wink. :)
Rating:
Summary: it's about time!
Review: Disney has issued some really great animated dvd's worthy of the format(the little mermaid, fantasia, 101 dalmations etc.). Some of the straight to video animation is somewhat lacking in luster(Lion King 2, Little Mermaid 2, etc.) They finally have started to release the groundbreaking heartwarming animation from ages past starting with the Silly Symphonies Collection and also Mickey Mouse in Color DVD's. I have been chomping at the bit to have the classic animation shorts with Donald, Goofy, and Mickey for a long time! The Silly Symphonies collection was Icing on the cake. Now Mr. Eisner please release a Donald Duck in Color And a Goofy in color disk along with others and we're in business.
Rating:
Summary: Another Good Package
Review: This DVD will contain the following shorts in the following categories:"Fables and Fairy Tales": Mother Goose Melodies, Babes in the Woods, Lullaby Land, The Grasshopper and the Ants, The Tortoise and the Hare, The Flying Mouse, The Robber Kitten, Who Killed Cock Robin?, The Golden Touch, The Country Cousin, Elmer Elephant, Wynken, Blynken and Nod. "Favorite Characters": Three Little Pigs, The Big Bad Wolf, Three Little Wolves, The Wise Little Hen, Toby Tortoise Returns. "Accent on Music": The Skeleton Dance, The China Plate, Egyptian Melodies, Flowers and Trees, The Cookie Carnival, Music Land, Woodland Café, Farmyard Symphony. "Nature on the Screen": The Ugly Duckling (1931), Birds of a Feather, The Busy Beavers, Just Dogs, Father Noah's Ark, Funny Little Bunnies, Peculiar Penguins, Mother Pluto, The Old Mill, The Ugly Duckling (1939). Also includes introduction by Leonard Maltin, art galleries, making-of featurette, and "easter eggs".
Rating:
Summary: Another Good Package
Review: This DVD will contain the following shorts in the following categories:"Fables and Fairy Tales": Mother Goose Melodies, Babes in the Woods, Lullaby Land, The Grasshopper and the Ants, The Tortoise and the Hare, The Flying Mouse, The Robber Kitten, Who Killed Cock Robin?, The Golden Touch, The Country Cousin, Elmer Elephant, Wynken, Blynken and Nod. "Favorite Characters": Three Little Pigs, The Big Bad Wolf, Three Little Wolves, The Wise Little Hen, Toby Tortoise Returns. "Accent on Music": The Skeleton Dance, The China Plate, Egyptian Melodies, Flowers and Trees, The Cookie Carnival, Music Land, Woodland Café, Farmyard Symphony. "Nature on the Screen": The Ugly Duckling (1931), Birds of a Feather, The Busy Beavers, Just Dogs, Father Noah's Ark, Funny Little Bunnies, Peculiar Penguins, Mother Pluto, The Old Mill, The Ugly Duckling (1939). Also includes introduction by Leonard Maltin, art galleries, making-of featurette, and "easter eggs".
Rating:
Summary: something missing?
Review: GREAT STUFF!
But where is Ferdinand and the Santa Claus Workshop?
Rating:
Summary: What a Treasure!
Review: I can't possibly describe the awe that I feel while watching this DVD treasure of Disney's finest from the early years of animation. You get exactly what you expect and more. Just the two cartoons "Skeleton Dance" and "The Old Mill" are worth the cost. But even my young children love the colorful characters in these delightful cartoon shorts. The loveable three little pigs come to life as well as the tortoise and the hare, Mother Hen,(with a delightful appearance by a very early Donald Duck), and it even has some great surprises that you don't expect if you use your remote and find the Easter Eggs hidden throughout the DVD.
This DVD has more than you may expect and is worth every penny, particularly if you love these old Disney shorts. Thank you, Walt, for your contribution to the entertainment industry.
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