El Terrible Toreador (1929)
El Terrible Toreador Review
El Terrible Toreador is a 1929 Disney short film and the second entry in the Silly Symphony series. It is a typically gag-oriented short of the time.
The short is quite typical in its nature. It does not have any plot or point to it whatsoever and it basically consists of gag after gag. And although those gags are solid, they aren’t particularly funny which is troublesome as the film was supposed to be funny. Its structure is too unconnected and too scattershot and it is definitely a much weaker entry than the much appreciated debut in the series ‘The Skeleton Dance‘.
But it does have its strengths which are mainly the score and the animation. The character design is pretty unappealing to me, but the animation overall is pretty good for the time and the movements are well handled. But the score is the highlight as it wonderfully accompanies the action scenes and it has so many great tunes in it. In the end, El Terrible Toreador is a basic entry in the series, not bad, but certainly far from great or inspired.
