In-Betweener 1: The Skeleton Dance

Hope everybody is having a safe and spooky Halloween!

This Halloween, Aly and Sarrah are filling your treat bags with an In-Betweener. This episode discusses the Silly Symphony short: The Skeleton Dance.

Aly goes a little bit sideways and takes this opportunity to talk about Edvard Grieg, the man who composed the classic movement: The March of the Dwarves - which Carl Salling incorporated into the short.

Sarrah gives us the highlights on the life of Ub Iwerks, the other man who started the Disney Studio. Mr. Iwerks is generally a little overshadowed by Walt, and we wanted to make sure that our listeners got the scoop on this very talented man who was on the ground floor when Disney started.

Together we discuss the impact of the Silly Symphonies and how they helped Disney Animation become what it is today.

So rattle those bones, get the bets out of the belfry, and get ready for a spooky good time!

And everybody have a safe and spooky Halloween!

It’s time for some SPOOOOOOKY HALLOWEEN PODCASTING!

For our very first In-Betweener , Aly and Sarrah are discussing an oldie but a goodie: Disney’s 1929 Silly Symphony: The Skeleton Dance.

So turn off the lights, grab your candy bucket, it’s time to get scary.

First off, Aly decided that this was the perfect opportunity to take a look at classical music. Because that’s just how she rolls. So she tells us all about the composer Edvard Grieg, who composed the song ‘The March of the Dwarves’ that was used near the end of this piece. Please note that the beginning music, and the modifications of Grieg’s piece for this film, were all done by the composer Carl Salling. Salling did the music for most of the Silly Symphonies, and was there from the beginning. But hey! Let’s learn about Norwegian folk/classical composers because we can.

Sarrah then talks about the team that created Silly Symphonies (this being the first of that venture) and how they came to be. She highlights the incomparable Ub Iwerks, a man who helped Disney become to Disney Studio we know and love today. Unfortunately, Mr. Iwerks often gets forgotten in the history of Disney, and we wanted to shine a light on his contributions!

Together we talk about the impact that the Silly Symphonies had on the world of animation, the Walt Disney company itself, and on other artists.

Lastly, we do a very strange walk-through that involves comparisons to Slender Man, an appreciation for the amount of detail put into these characters, and the ultimate question of why these skeletons all appear to be buried together in one grave.

So polish up your old’ bones, and let’s get to dancing!

Have a Spook-tacular Halloween, everybody!

Source Material:

Wikipedia Article on Silly Symphonies
Wikipedia Article on Ub Iwerks

Mnc.net page on Edvard Grieg
Britannica.com page on Edvard Grieg
Oh My Disney.com article on Silly Symphonies

Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons. Leonard Maltin

Podcast Music by:

http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music

Hall of the Mountain King Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/