Santa's Workshop (1932)

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

A different way of telling a story

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

"Santa's Workshop" is another really old Silly Symphony from Walt Disney. The master himself appears as voice actor in here and so does the legendary Pinto Colvig. Director is Wilfred Jackson, who also made many many of these 7-minute short films. Some of the action takes place in the snow here, especially towards the end, but the toy shop sequence is when this movie really shines. The music is very good too from start to finish. Wild, but not over-the-top and perfectly adjusted to what we see. The animation is of course not too mind-blowing, but keep in mind that this is over 80 years ago. For the early 1930s, it's actually really good. And there is no denying its traditional charm. I enjoyed the watch. It is not among Disney most or least famous short film works, but definitely worth checking out, especially now with Christmas approaching. May get you in the spirit. Thumbs up.

This is the sort of Disney film that played very, very well back in the day but today it would certainly not be received so warmly. This short is a snippet of the North Pole and Santa's workshop. It has little in the way of actual plot and mostly consists of singing and cuteness. Today, it would probably be seen as very saccharine and bland. Additionally, there are some unnecessary but typical racial stereotypes that will offend today but were considered perfectly normal back in the day. So, with all this going against it, why do I give this a 9? Well, the animation is simply gorgeous and it's in full Technicolor-- and nothing from any of the rival studios of the day came close when it came to quality. It simply looks great. Worth seeing even today but not up to the standards of many of the other Disney shorts of the day in regard to story.

Delightful Christmas cartoon from Disney, part of the Silly Symphonies series. The simple story is about Santa Claus and his elves preparing for Christmas, getting all the toys ready. Made in a different era with a different (lost?) kind of magic than we see today. Lovely music and rhyming dialogue throughout the short help keep things lively and bouncing. The animation is very nice for its time. Love that beautiful Technicolor! It's a wonderful, creative Christmas short that is sure to leave a smile on most faces. There's something very innocent about it all. If you're able to still enjoy things like this, I'm sure you'll love it. Try to watch it with little kids and pass the fun on to them before they're too old to even give it a shot.

This is a very good short and the animation is the quality you expect from Disney in this time-period. But it isn't one of the best Disney did in the 1930s, which should give you an idea just how great Disney was in the 1930s. No one else could consistently even come close to them until about 1938 or 1939. Other studios were doing good work, but until Disney started focusing more on features, they were all but alone at the top in terms of animated shorts. Well worth tracking down. Recommended.