User reviews

'Ugly Duckling (1939)' was the final film in Disney's "Silly Symphonies" series, and was also their only remake of a previous Symphony. Wilfred Jackson's 'The Ugly Duckling (1931)' was a rather primitive black-and-white adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson's famous tale, which drastically altered the original story to make (at least in my interpretation) a rather touching plea for racial tolerance. Jack Cutting's 1939 film is considerably more polished, animated in vivid Technicolor that speaks to the extraordinary degree of prestige that Walt Disney's company enjoyed throughout the 1930s. It is also considerably more faithful to Anderson's story, following the "ugly duckling" around the pond as he attempts to find his place in society. Unlike the 1931 duckling, which was somewhat grotesquely, Cutting's version is cute and likable, if a bit gawky compared to his ostensible siblings. Nevertheless, either bird, however handsomely they are drawn, will immediately capture your heart with their wide-eyed innocence, amplified tenfold by the persecution that they much endure for simply being "different."

The duckling's hatching causes much consternation at the adult ducks' nest, with the father understandably anxious that his wife has apparently given birth to a youngster that quite obviously didn't inherit his genes. After being unceremoniously banished from the duck family, the "ugly duckling" strikes out alone, desperate to find somewhere where he can be accepted for who he is. Glancing down into his reflection on the pond surface, in one of the short's most touching moments, the duckling sees his own reflection, hideously distorted by the water ripples, and breaks into tears. Fortunately, a happy ending is just around the corner, and the duckling's lonely honks of despair are answered in kind by a family of swans, who immediately take our hero under their wing, so to speak. Unfaultable in terms of animation, music and characterisation, 'Ugly Duckling' is a touching celebration of accepting and savouring one's own differences, and was justly awarded with an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film, Disney's seventh Silly Symphony to do so.

The only reason I give this film a 9 and not a 10 is that it's actually a remake of a film this same studio made eight years earlier. I tend to be a little tougher on remakes plus it just doesn't take nearly as much effort to remake a film instead of do one from scratch. However, despite this concern, I can see why this film received the Oscar for Best Animated Short. It is simply wonderful from start to finish.

First, the animation is exactly what you'd expect from Disney from this era. In the 1930s, no other studio came close in quality of animation and music. The whole package was simply terrific and could not be beat. I particularly loved the wonderful backgrounds as well as the great use of colors--nicely muted and soft.

Second, the story, while very familiar to most, is wonderful. I am not ashamed to admit that by the end of the film, my eyes were very misty--it is a lovely and sentimental film. A joy to watch from start to finish.

Genre: Disney short, based on Hans Christian Anderson tale.

Main characters: The ugly duckling, the duck and the swan.

What happens: A father duck has managed to "dig" a ditch by walking around impatiently, waiting for his ducklings to hatch out of their eggs. Finally, this happens, but an unexpected egg also hatches, one with an "ugly duckling"…

Message: Often differences can be good.

My thoughts: Growing up with this short, this is a very cute Silly Symphony, one of many that Walt Disney created. This particular one I love dearly, as I do with most of the ones I have watched. It is very lovable and also very emotional (at points I nearly cry). You will understand this sadness whether you know the Hans Christian Anderson tale or not, it melts your heart (well mine anyway). I cannot understand people who are at least SLIGHTLY moved by something in this short. I like the character of the ugly duckling, he is lovable at first sight. If a family is watching this (and the children are between 0 and 7) you may want to be a little cautious so as not to upset the youngest. I was certainly upset when I was little, but thankfully that has changed, as sadness has also turned into love for this cartoon. I hope you are as warmed just as much as I was.

Recommended to: Children who like cartoons and adults who like cartoons. Enjoy! :-)

Disney's track record for adaptations of works of literature is decidedly mixed. This version of Hans Christian Andersen's, "The Ugly Duckling" is one of the most successful ones and quite deservedly won another Oscar for Uncle Walt. It's a beautiful short on all counts-animation, backgrounds, artwork, scoring, eveything-Disney at it's best. When Disney was at their best, no one could touch them. This short does justice to one of the most well-known fairy tales of all time and almost makes up for what they did to Felix Salten's "Bambi". Almost. This one should be in-print and runs on The Ink and Paint Club. An absolute masterpiece and anyone who loves animation has got to see this one! Recommended.

The Ugly Duckling, based on the story by Hans Christian Andersen, is a beautiful short, that not only has a wonderful message(being different can be good) but also has sentimental value. The animation, in Technicolour is truly lovely, and the music is one of the reasons why I have a soft spot for this short, it was so beautiful. The story of the short is simple, and sweet, and doesn't change the message of the original story. The ugly Duckling himself (which of course he isn't)is a really sweet and engaging title character, and when he cries, I can't help it, but so do I, because I really feel for him. He was created so beautiful, that it tugged at my heartstrings when he's sad. And when I saw the Ugly Duckling cuddling his newfound mother, I couldn't help cheering, seeing him so happy. The other characters are also well done. Overall, this is just beautiful, but I warn you, prepare for tears, when watching this, and this is for the title character alone. 10/10 Bethany Cox.

A duck couple impatiently waiting for their chicks to hatch are shocked when one of them looks different from the rest. Like any decent parents they shun and reject this dangerous different one after blaming each other for its existence. But the ugly one is desperate to be accepted and tags along despite it being made clear it is wanted by neither parents nor siblings. Not even surrogate bird families want anything to do with it.

Unlike the 1931 version this remake does actually have the duck grow up into a swan so it can spit in the face of those who initially rejected it. But there is still no explanation of how an elegant swan family could lose one of their eggs to a duck's nest.

A Walt Disney SILLY SYMPHONY Cartoon Short.

A gawky UGLY DUCKLING, only moments after birth, is hectored & harried from the family of ducks he was born into. Will he ever find happiness & learn his true destiny?

This is a pleasant cartoon, with the plucky personality of the protagonist firmly front & center; the by-play between the duck parents is also amusing. Based on the Hans Christian Andersen classic, it is a remake of a 1931 black & white Symphony. The SILLY SYMPHONIES ended with this film, but they went out with a bang - like 6 of its predecessors, THE UGLY DUCKLING was awarded an Oscar for Best Animation.

The SILLY SYMPHONIES, which Walt Disney produced for a ten year period beginning in 1929, are among the most fascinating of all animated series. Unlike the Mickey Mouse cartoons in which action was paramount, with the Symphonies the action was made to fit the music. There was little plot in the early Symphonies, which featured lively inanimate objects and anthropomorphic plants & animals, all moving frantically to the soundtrack. Gradually, however, the Symphonies became the school where Walt's animators learned to work with color and began to experiment with plot, characterization & photographic special effects. The pages of Fable & Fairy Tale, Myth & Mother Goose were all mined to provide story lines and even Hollywood's musicals & celebrities were effectively spoofed. It was from this rich soil that Disney's feature-length animation was to spring. In 1939, with SNOW WHITE successfully behind him and PINOCCHIO & FANTASIA on the near horizon, Walt phased out the SILLY SYMPHONIES; they had run their course & served their purpose.

For ten years, Walt Disney's talented animators pumped out cartoon after cartoon for his 'Silly Symphonies.' Walt decided it was time to shut down one of animation's most successful series. The final film of the 'Silly Symphonies' was April 1939's "The Ugly Duckling." The series went out with a bang, with the duck short winning the Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoon), the 'Silly Symphonies' eighth Oscar win. The 75-cartoon series proved to be an invaluable testing ground for Disney to create and test new techniques and technologies, resulting in Walt's first feature film, 1938's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."

Disney's animators, led by Jack Cutting and Ham Luske, had completed Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale cartoon the year before. But Walt elected to hold off its release until he secured a Radio City Music Hall premier during the Easter Week which happened to front-end Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers' "The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle." The 1939 version of "The Ugly Duckling" was his second telling of the 1843 Andersen story about a newly hatched white duckling who clearly didn't belong to the brood of baby mallard ducks the mother had just delivered. The most recent version was much sadder than its 1931 black-and-white predecessor, which played up the humorous aspects of the tale. But the Oscar-winning 1939 cartoon's ending was more in line with the written Andersen work than the earlier one.

"The Ugly Duckling" of 1939 concluded the 'Silly Symphonies'' storied series beginning in 1929 with "The Skeleton Dance." The string of successive cartoons was intended to be a platform for mainly musically-based animations with very little yapping. Over the course of its ten-year lifespan, the symphonies introduced a variety of innovations in animation, including the first three-strip Technicolor cartoon in 1932's "Flowers and Trees," special effects, more realistic human and animal movements, the multi-plane camera, and on and on. Only the cartoon series 'Tom and Jerry' would achieve the number of Academy Award wins as the 'Silly Symphonies.' After the overwhelming success of "Snow White," Walt decided to concentrate on his ambitious full-length films and his Mickey Mouse shorts. Some say the spirit of the series was carried on by his all-musical animated feature film, 1941's "Fantasia."

The familiar tale is given the Disney treatment, although we have to endure some pretty harsh treatment of the title character by his surprised 'parents' and siblings before arriving at a typically sentimental Disney ending.

This is a touching Silly Symphony cartoon from Walt Disney - a retelling of Hans Christian Anderson's tale, The Ugly Duckling. Here, somehow a swan's egg ends up in the nest of a mother goose and when it hatches along with the other ducklings, the little ugly duckling is immediately repulsed.

The ugly duckling was actually pretty adorable and will immediately grab your sympathy and heart as you see him try to get along with his new family and surroundings. But, the poor thing couldn't catch a break and seemed to remain lonely until his real family, a flock of swans, befriended him. The most satisfying part was when the mother goose and her ducklings look with awe as the ugly duckling swims away with his swan family.

A great little cartoon with a great message.

Grade A-

This is a simple story and we all know it. While it is nice to look at, it isn't exactly suspenseful. Also, the duck family needed some bit of you know what to pay for the way they treated the little guy. There are a couple of others that aren't so polished but are more interesting.

Beautiful and it makes my 2 year old daughter laugh and laugh!

"The Ugly Duckling" is one the oldest stories ever told. It is a Danish Fairy tale dating all the way back to 1843. The story has been told and retold hundreds of times. Children grow up knowing the story, almost through osmosis that is how omnipresent it is. You can argue whether the morals being taught in the story are successful. A duckling who is ugly is shunned until he is revealed to be beautiful, then everyone becomes his friends. There are various bad lessons that can be taken from this, but Fairy Tales aren't meant to be 100% literal.

This adaptation actually does take some liberties from the original tale. The lesson becomes less about being patient, and one day you will be beautiful. And focused more on finding your place in the world. There are likewise bad faith interpretations that could be gleaned from this story, but the emotional story telling works well in this short.

This adaptation is sweet, cute and still holds up today all these decades later.

The last of the "Silly Symphonies","The Ugly Duckling" demonstrates the heights that Walt Disney and his artists had reached by the late 1930s and early 1940s. In just eight or nine minutes, and without a word of dialogue, we are presented with Hans Andersen's wistful fairy-tale. Exquisite drawings by animators including Milt Kahl and Eric Larson (both of whom would provide major contributions to the feature-length "Bambi")and lush watercolour layouts by David Hilberman combine with elegant camera movement and a lilting score by Albert Hay Malotte to create a miniature jewel of animation. The scene where the little duckling plays affectionately with the wooden decoy duck because it is the only thing in the world not to reject it, is one of the saddest in all cinema. The great Warner Bros animator Chuck Jones acclaimed "The Ugly Duckling" as one of the greatest short subjects ever made - and indeed, it is.

A great short animation offering to Hans Christian Andersen text new touches, significances and nuances.

A remake , seductive for colors but especially for the echo in contemporary crisis , from social exclusion to need of love and the apparences, selfishness, migrants and the truth more significant than the misery of previews details.

So, I saw it after good decades and I saw it from different perspective , first in context of its time, then in the context of our time , dizzy , confuse and looking for sense.

So, easy to define it as loving and just precious. So, the ugly duckling and the steps to find its happiness.