Peculiar Penguins

Peculiar Penguins
Peculiar Penguins
Directed by	Wilfred Jackson
Produced by	Walt Disney
Music by	Leigh Harline
Animation by	Art Babbitt; Pete Burness; Dick Huemer; Hamilton Luske; Archie Robin; Louie Schmitt; Ben Sharpsteen; Frenchy de Tremaudan
Color process	Technicolor
Production; company	Walt Disney Productions
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	September 1, 1934
Running time	6 min
Country	United States
Language	English

Peculiar Penguins is a Silly Symphonies animated Disney short film. It was released in 1934.^[1] The song played during the cartoon is called "The Penguin Is a Very Funny Creature", by Leigh Harline.^[2]

Plot[edit]

On an island near Antarctica, a male penguin named Peter sees a female named Polly, and attempts to woo her. First he offers her an ice cream made of snow and icicle, which she accepts. Next, he tries catching her a fish, but only succeeds in catching a pufferfish. Polly accepts it graciously, but when she swallows it, she begins inflating and deflating repeatedly until Peter makes her spit out the fish, which then returns to water.

Peter shrugs in embarrassment, but feeling humiliated, Polly slaps him and leaves to swim on a small iceberg. On the shore, Peter kicks a nearby stick for letting her get away, but then notices a sharkfin moving towards Polly's iceberg. He squawks a danger warning to her, but Polly ignores him, thinking that he's just begging for forgiveness that he won't get. Soon enough, the shark attacks Polly, who swims away in panic. Needing to act, Peter picks up the stick and charges out to help.

The shark chases Polly around the bay for a while. When it looks like he has her cornered, Peter arrives and clobbers him on the nose. Enraged, the shark starts chasing after Peter. After a while of fighting and swimming away from the shark, Peter tries to escape by climbing up onto a cliff with a boulder on top. Peter unintentionally dislodges the boulder, which falls into the shark's mouth, who then swallows it. Due to the boulder's weight, the shark sinks to the bottom of the bay. The shark struggles until he's too tired to move. Passing fish begin to poke fun at him.

Meanwhile, Polly and Peter reconcile and fall in love, thus Peter's wooing succeeded. They cuddle, and their bodies form a heart-shaped silhouette on the horizon.

Production[edit]

Disney animators observed a group of live penguins in preparation for making this cartoon.^[3]

Reception[edit]

In Animated Short Films: A Critical Index to Theatrical Cartoons, Piotr Borowiec writes, "Beautiful music and competent animation put this Silly Symphony above most other plotless cartoons featuring cute animals playing in their natural habitat."^[4]

Comic adaptation[edit]

The Silly Symphony Sunday comic strip ran a three-month-long adaptation of Peculiar Penguins called "Penguin Isle" from July 1 to September 19, 1934.^[5]

Home media[edit]

The short was released on December 4, 2001, on Walt Disney Treasures: Silly Symphonies - The Historic Musical Animated Classics.^[6]^[1]

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b Merritt, Russell; Kaufman, J. B. (2016). Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series (2nd ed.). Glendale, CA: Disney Editions. pp. 150–151. ISBN 978-1-4847-5132-9.
^ Hischak, Thomas S.; Robinson, Mark A. (2009). The Disney Song Encyclopedia. Scarecrow Press. p. 157. ISBN 978-0-8108-6937-0. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
^ Merritt, Russell; Kaufman, J.B. (2006). Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Series. La Cineteca del Friuli. p. 37. ISBN 978-88-8615-527-4. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
^ Borowiec, Piotr (1998). Animated Short Films: A Critical Index to Theatrical Cartoons. Scarecrow Press. p. 126. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
^ Duvall, Earl; Taliaferro, Al; Osborne, Ted; De Maris, Merrill (2016). Silly Symphonies: The Complete Disney Classics, vol 1. San Diego: IDW Publishing. ISBN 978-1631405587.
^ "Silly Symphonies: The Historic Musical Animated Classics DVD Review". DVD Dizzy. Retrieved 20 February 2021.

External links[edit]

Peculiar Penguins at IMDb

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[symphony1-1] Merritt, Russell; Kaufman, J. B. (2016). Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series (2nd ed.). Glendale, CA: Disney Editions. pp. 150–151. ISBN 978-1-4847-5132-9.

[2] Hischak, Thomas S.; Robinson, Mark A. (2009). The Disney Song Encyclopedia. Scarecrow Press. p. 157. ISBN 978-0-8108-6937-0. Retrieved 18 February 2024.

[3] Merritt, Russell; Kaufman, J.B. (2006). Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Series. La Cineteca del Friuli. p. 37. ISBN 978-88-8615-527-4. Retrieved 18 February 2024.

[4] Borowiec, Piotr (1998). Animated Short Films: A Critical Index to Theatrical Cartoons. Scarecrow Press. p. 126. Retrieved 18 February 2024.

[IDW-v1-5] Duvall, Earl; Taliaferro, Al; Osborne, Ted; De Maris, Merrill (2016). Silly Symphonies: The Complete Disney Classics, vol 1. San Diego: IDW Publishing. ISBN 978-1631405587.

[6] "Silly Symphonies: The Historic Musical Animated Classics DVD Review". DVD Dizzy. Retrieved 20 February 2021.

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v t e Silly Symphony film series
1929	The Skeleton Dance El Terrible Toreador Springtime Hell's Bells The Merry Dwarfs
1930	Summer Autumn Cannibal Capers Frolicking Fish Arctic Antics Midnight in a Toy Shop Night Monkey Melodies Winter Playful Pan
1931	Birds of a Feather Mother Goose Melodies The China Plate The Busy Beavers The Cat's Out Egyptian Melodies The Clock Store The Spider and the Fly The Fox Hunt The Ugly Duckling
1932	The Bird Store The Bears and the Bees Just Dogs Flowers and Trees King Neptune Bugs in Love Babes in the Woods Santa's Workshop
1933	Birds in the Spring Father Noah's Ark Three Little Pigs Old King Cole Lullaby Land The Pied Piper The Night Before Christmas
1934	The China Shop The Grasshopper and the Ants Funny Little Bunnies The Big Bad Wolf The Wise Little Hen The Flying Mouse Peculiar Penguins The Goddess of Spring
1935	The Tortoise and the Hare The Golden Touch The Robber Kitten Water Babies The Cookie Carnival Who Killed Cock Robin? Music Land Three Orphan Kittens Cock o' the Walk Broken Toys
1936	Elmer Elephant Three Little Wolves Toby Tortoise Returns Three Blind Mouseketeers The Country Cousin Mother Pluto More Kittens
1937	Woodland Café Little Hiawatha The Old Mill
1938	Moth and the Flame Wynken, Blynken, and Nod Farmyard Symphony Merbabies Mother Goose Goes Hollywood
1939	The Practical Pig The Ugly Duckling
Related	Donald Duck Comic strip Silly Symphonies: The Complete Disney Classics Bucky Bug "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" The Thrifty Pig Mickey Mouse Works Once Upon a Studio
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