THE SKELETON DANCE (1929) Walt Disney & Carl W. Stalling | Animation | Short | B&W | Timeless Film

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The Skeleton Dance is a 1929 Silly Symphony animated short subject with a comedy horror theme. It was produced and directed by Walt Disney and animated by Ub Iwerks. In the film, reanimated human skeletons dance and make music around a spooky graveyard—a modern film example of medieval European "danse macabre" imagery. It is the first entry in the Silly Symphony series. The short's copyright was renewed in 1957, and as a published work from 1929, it entered the US public domain on January 1, 2025.

Synopsis:

The short film begins with an owl perched on a branch, in front of the full moon, then shows an empty graveyard with a church in the background. The minute hand on the church's clock strikes twelve, causing its bell to start tolling, which causes a group of bats to flee from the belfry. A dog howls at the moon, while two cats fight over a grave. A skeleton emerges from the grave and frolics, but at the sound of the owl, the skeleton hides behind a grave. Upset about overreacting to the owl's hooting, the skeleton detaches its head from its neck and chucks it at the owl, knocking the owl's feathers off. Then the head bounces back to the grave and returns to its body.

Next, four skeletons emerge from the grave and start dancing. One of them takes two bones and plays its partner's spine and head to produce music. Another skeleton dances alone and then plays a cat's tail as if it were a violin. The crowing of a rooster tells them it's close to dawn. The skeletons rush to hide, but their bodies collide and blend. The skeletons, now mingled, return to the grave.

Cast & Crew:

Director: Walt Disney
Story by: Walt Disney
Producer: Walt Disney
Starring: Walt Disney, Carl W. Stalling
Music by: Carl W. Stalling, Edvard Grieg ("March of the Trolls" from Lyric Suite)
Animation by: Ub Iwerks, Les Clark, Wilfred Jackson
Layouts by: Ub Iwerks
Backgrounds by: Ub Iwerks
Production Company: Walt Disney Productions
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Release Date: August 22, 1929
Running Time: 5 minutes, 31 seconds
Country: United States
Language: English