The Old Mill Inducted Into National Film Registry for 2015

Yesterday, it was announced that Walt Disney’s Silly Symphony classing The Old Mill is being inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry. Here is the included essay explaining its’ inclusion into the collection:

The Old Mill (1937)

This cartoon, produced by the Walt Disney Company as one of its Silly Symphony entries, depicts a community of animals—mice, doves, bats, bluebirds and an expressive owl—battling a severe thunderstorm that nearly destroys their home in an abandoned windmill. Directed by Wilfred Jackson, the film acted as a testing ground for audience interest in longer form animation as well as for advanced technologies, including the first use of the multiplane camera, which added three-dimensional depth. It also featured more complex lighting and realistic depictions of animal behavior that would be perfected in “Snow White,” “Fantasia” and “Bambi.” The dazzling imagery was complemented by Leigh Harline’s compelling orchestral scoring inspired by a Strauss operetta. In “The 50 Greatest Cartoons Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals,” edited by historian Jerry Beck, Disney animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston recalled, “Our eyes popped when we saw all of The Old Mill’s magnificent innovations—things we had not even dreamed of and did not understand.” The film won an Academy Award for best animated short in 1937, and the studio won an Oscar for its revolutionary camera.

The Old Mill joins numerous classical and ground-breaking films in the National Film Registry, including Disney icons Steamboat Willie, The Three Little Pigs, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Bambi, Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast, and Fantasia. Also included are Tin Toy, Luxo Jr., and Toy Story from the Pixar franchise, Jim Henson’s The Muppet Movie, and from a galaxy far, far away… the original Star Wars movie, which we now know as Episode IV: A New Hope, and Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.

Looking over what the collection entails…. I might have to make it a point in 2016 to see some of these. A lot of amazing movies, shorts, and other film footage have been included… including a 1956 home movie titled “Disneyland Dream”, which was added because it paints a perfect picture of California in the 1950’s. This might be first on my list.

What will 2016 have in store? I guess we shall find out.