LITTLE HIAWATHA (Disney, 1937)

LITTLE HIAWATHA (Disney, 1937) was released the same year as SNOW WHITE. The studio was in full artistic bloom. The extravagant artistry developed for DIsney's first feature was very evident in its short subjects.

I highly recommend getting the official Disney DVD releases of the Silly Symphonies. While not in current release, the boxed sets (part one and two) remain available on eBay.

Here, in the meantime, the cartoon (thanks YouTube)...

Here's the opening Background art...

Now the pièce de resistance: one of the longest most elaborate pan backgrounds I've ever seen, or attempted to digitally re-assemble. It is so long, and so elaborate, instead of just breaking it in halves for study, I've also broken it into quarters, as well as the center section.

Truly, an animation backgrounds masterpiece... one of the most magnificent pieces ever to appear on this blog, or in any film. Be sure to click on each section to get the enlarged version for a look at the beautiful details.
First, the complete background:

The left side:

The right side:

And now, broken into five segments to best display all the wonderful details. Segment one, far left:

Segment two, middle left:

Segment three, center:

Segment four, right of center:

And segment five, far right:
In the next pan B/G I eliminated as much of the water ripple effects as possible:

Out of dozens of scampering woodland creatures, I was able to eliminate all but the possum and a very tiny chipmunk. No animals were harmed during the making of this artwork!!!



At the very end of digitally re-assembling the B/G below, I could have eliminated the bunny at the far right. But he was SO cute, I just couldn't!



Little Hiawatha froze during a pan shot, so he remains there in this pan B/G:

That's not a red rock... that's a bear!!!