The plot is something about faries and elves or whatever making the Danube blue to the tune of the Strauss waltz of the same name. Yada yada yada. The real story is the naked (and I mean NAKED) rotoscoped girl at the beginning and the end of this one. The first time I saw this one I flipped and I still flip whenever I see it. Amazing.
8 Reviews
classical
SnoopyStyle2 January 2021
This is a 7 minute MGM cartoon. Various woodland beings work to harvest blue from different sources to add to the Danube river turning it blue. It's all being done while The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss is played in the background. It's very classical. It probably needs a lead character of some sort although I don't see this continuing with different songs. I guess the river fairy is the lead. Maybe she can work on other rivers.
An Animated Feast For The Senses
Seamus28291 September 2008
Generally speaking, I'm not usually as impressed by M-G-M's 'Happy Harmony' shorts as much as the other shorts that they turned out during their era. Although they were beautifully illustrated & animated, and made full use of the Technicolor of the time, the plot lines were predictable & pedestrian (how many times do you want to see cute little forest creatures being terrorized by a bear or a wolf?). 'The Blue Danube',from 1939 is the exception to the rule. Like the H.H. shorts, it is a feast for both the visual & auditory senses. The artwork is beautiful to look at,the animation is smooth,the use of colour is to die for. The plot is how the Danube came to be as blue as the title suggests. The music is (no big surprise)Straus's 'The Blue Danube Waltz'. This short was produced nearly a year before Disney's 'Fantasia' (1940)incorporated animation with classical music (a medium that was,and would be used for years to come). Seek this short out,if you consider animation to be an art form.
Finest Cartoon Ever Made
Discern13 July 2003
Do your children a favor and introduce them to this cartoon at an early age. It was undoubtedly the stimulus for my own personal interest in both classical music and fine movies - telling the (fairy tale) story of how the Danube river became "blue". The screenplay and syncopation to Johann Strauss' classic "Blue Danube Waltz" are absolutely flawless. Clever plot twists are so well done that the unknowing viewer might believe that the music was written later than the plot to match it! It is truly unfortunate that Hollywood no longer produces art at this level of excellence.
Has to be one of the most beautiful cartoons ever made
TheLittleSongbird5 June 2015
One of the earliest animation-set-to-classical-music cartoons(pre-Fantasia) and also to me one of the finest. One where the animation, music and mood of the cartoon is so brilliantly done that one can ignore the lack of plot and originality(both of which The Blue Danube was never about in the first place).
What immediately stuck out as particularly great with The Blue Danube is the animation, The Blue Danube has to be one of the most beautiful-looking 30s(and perhaps even ever) non-Disney cartoons, and some of in the second half of the cartoon shows some good visual imagination. Particularly striking about the animation is the most exquisite use of colour I've ever seen in a cartoon and the effortlessly graceful movements on the Fairy, the rotoscoped design blending with the traditionally drawn backgrounds without jarring a jot. The colourful and meticulously drawn background art cannot be overlooked either.
Also outstanding is the music. The music, which for the entirety of the cartoon is the On the Beautiful Blue Danube waltz by Johann Strauss II(aka. The Waltz King), is one of those cases where one runs out of superlatives describing how good it is. It is a wonderful piece of music, one of the composer's most famous works for good reason, and has been used to iconic effect before in animation(i.e. A Corny Concerto) and in films(i.e. 2001: A Space Odyssey), it is also used brilliantly here and merges with the visuals without fault.
The animation and music are what make The Blue Danube, but the cartoon's sense of mood and the feeling one gets out of it are wonderfully done too. As said before, one shouldn't expect much from the story structurally, structurally the cartoon is pretty thin(one of those cases here though where that is not a bad thing) and not much new. That's completely forgivable though because the cartoon is never dull, it has a very natural flow and there is a real sense of harmony throughout.
The Blue Danube is also very high in charm and imagination(loved the idea of how the Danube turned blue, imaginative and didn't dissolve into silliness), the characters are among early animation's most adorable(without being too cutesy or sickly sweet), there's some cool imaginative animation with the dam and one's left grinning from ear to ear and in a good mood throughout the whole seven minutes(that's how happy The Blue Danube makes you feel during and after watching). There's no dialogue, meaning that the animation and music have more room to shine, and shine they certainly do.
In conclusion, one of the most beautiful cartoons ever made. 10/10 Bethany Cox
What immediately stuck out as particularly great with The Blue Danube is the animation, The Blue Danube has to be one of the most beautiful-looking 30s(and perhaps even ever) non-Disney cartoons, and some of in the second half of the cartoon shows some good visual imagination. Particularly striking about the animation is the most exquisite use of colour I've ever seen in a cartoon and the effortlessly graceful movements on the Fairy, the rotoscoped design blending with the traditionally drawn backgrounds without jarring a jot. The colourful and meticulously drawn background art cannot be overlooked either.
Also outstanding is the music. The music, which for the entirety of the cartoon is the On the Beautiful Blue Danube waltz by Johann Strauss II(aka. The Waltz King), is one of those cases where one runs out of superlatives describing how good it is. It is a wonderful piece of music, one of the composer's most famous works for good reason, and has been used to iconic effect before in animation(i.e. A Corny Concerto) and in films(i.e. 2001: A Space Odyssey), it is also used brilliantly here and merges with the visuals without fault.
The animation and music are what make The Blue Danube, but the cartoon's sense of mood and the feeling one gets out of it are wonderfully done too. As said before, one shouldn't expect much from the story structurally, structurally the cartoon is pretty thin(one of those cases here though where that is not a bad thing) and not much new. That's completely forgivable though because the cartoon is never dull, it has a very natural flow and there is a real sense of harmony throughout.
The Blue Danube is also very high in charm and imagination(loved the idea of how the Danube turned blue, imaginative and didn't dissolve into silliness), the characters are among early animation's most adorable(without being too cutesy or sickly sweet), there's some cool imaginative animation with the dam and one's left grinning from ear to ear and in a good mood throughout the whole seven minutes(that's how happy The Blue Danube makes you feel during and after watching). There's no dialogue, meaning that the animation and music have more room to shine, and shine they certainly do.
In conclusion, one of the most beautiful cartoons ever made. 10/10 Bethany Cox
A picture of beauty, filled with nature's call
Foreverisacastironmess12313 February 2013
Warning: Spoilers
My eyes!!! Oh wow, is this ever a nice cartoon! Truly one of the most visually breathtaking I've ever seen. It's so...I don't know...Majestic! Utterly enchanting and beautiful. It's not pointless. The point as I see it is simply to breathe in and appreciate all the magnificent representations of the wonder of nature. Anything so trite as a plot falls into insignificance in comparison. The animation of the water alone is astonishingly well done and makes it well worth viewing. There's an abundance of the colour blue-cobalt blue if I'm not mistaken. The gorgeous tone seems to have its own certain special mood that comes with it. There's a great sense of serenity and harmonious flow to all that is seen. One thing that I find especially soothing to look upon is the delicate grace and movements of the ghostly fairy. Her gossamer design and garments are very similar to the legendary Blue Fairy from Pinochio-although needless to say, that classic character is far more memorable and superior. There are just a few minor things about it that I don't like as much. I think perhaps they may have gone just a bit overboard with the adorability factor. I found the rainbow and the swan-boat to be a bit too cutesy-poo, and I thought the designs of the forest creatures could have been done a little more realistically-I'd have probably loved this completely had they been. And then there was the little forest nyads or whatever they were supposed to be that looked like human babies more than anything else. I found their nakedness a little more weird than cute, but that's probably just me. The director of this had previously co-directed the Water Babies Silly Symphony, which had very similar aquatic sprites. And my last minor annoyance with this short probably isn't really an annoyance at all, depending on your point of view-it just seemed to be over too quickly. You get so caught up in the mesmerising motions and colours that the short wraps up before you know it. I infinitely prefer these traditional hand-drawn animations to anything generated by a computer. These are true treasures, and they always will be. What fond and cherished memories they have all brought to so many... "Thus they gathered Nature's Blue, for the Danube's Glorious Hue".
A flight of the imagination
simonhbailey17 October 2006
This is a short 'film' that is so well worth seeing that I believe it should be on general release so that our younger generation may have the chance to view it. The drawings are of such a beautiful quality and set to a piece f popular and well known music, this takes your imagination and feeds it with a fuel that can last a lifetime. As you can tell this cartoon had a profound effect on me as a small child and I have never forgotten it in all my years. Now in my middle years I would like to revisit it, but I have no idea where I could get hold of a copy. Can anyone help? I would very much like to show my 5yr old niece who loves fairies and has an amazing imagination. If you know where I can get hold of this then please write and let me know. If you haven't seen it then I urge you strongly to try.
Top Animation
judy-999122 January 2021
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