Egyptian Melodies (1931)

Egyptian Melodies Review

Egyptian Melodies is a 1931 Disney animated short film and the 21st Silly Symphony. It is easily one of the best early entries in the series.

The spider wanders into the Egyptian tomb and he encounters some creepy phenomena. I absolutely loved this film. The only problem I’ve had with it is that they could have done even more with this premise and the mummy dance is once again a boring, overly prolonged dance sequence. But everything besides that is great and it surprised me with its quality.

I liked the spider character quite a bit here and I loved how atmospheric the movie is. The score is also good and the setting is excellent and well used. But of course the major standout aspect of Egyptian Melodies has to be its animation which is absolutely amazing. Wow, do I respect the animators on this one! The spider walking into the tomb is conveyed with a 3D effect that I do not know how they pulled off, but it looks absolutely terrific. Then we have those symbols dancing and that bit of animation is also respectable. But the highlight for me is the last sequence where the whole screen becomes blurred and that thriller scene is conveyed beautifully with some truly groundbreaking effects.

Egyptian Melodies has a typical dance sequence, but it is otherwise an incredibly strong early Silly Symphony with a great setting, many excellent scenes and such a powerful, truly revolutionary animation that is one of the best in the series.

My Rating – 4.2