Nelly’s Folly (1961)

Nelly’s Folly Review

Nelly’s Folly is a 1961 animated short film from the Looney Tunes series. It is a very charming short.

A singing giraffe leaves the jungle to pursue a singing career, but finds herself lonely and out of work following an affair. This movie was one of three Warner Bros. shorts to be nominated for an Oscar that year, which makes this year probably the most successful in studio’s history when it comes to the awards. Qualitywise, is it a great film? Not really. But it is good enough.

The overall plot is very familiar as we’ve seen similar stories told countless times before in animation, but the execution matters and here it is pretty strong. Nelly is an instantly likable character and you root for her happiness while the soundtrack is quite pleasant and fun in its 60s retro feel. The plot structure and pacing are nothing to write home about, but the narration was solid and the visuals are mesmerizing. The film has a very unique visual style composed of silhouettes and darker hues that made it quite soothing to watch.

Nelly’s Folly is very familiarly plotted, but its soundtrack is nice and the animation is very artistic and strong, leading to a pretty good Oscar nominee overall.

My Rating – 3.9