The Skeleton Dance is the first of Disney’s Silly Symphony shorts, an animated cartoon series where music is integral to the whole piece. In this classic animation, as the clock strikes midnight four skeletons rise from their graves and proceed to have merry fun.
Considering that this was released in 1929 the macabre matter is somewhat surprising, however the animation is top notch and incredibly fluid. Check it out!
The Cobweb Hotel is a spooky 1936 animation by Fleischer Studios. The cartoon tells the tale of a malevolent spider who runs a hotel where he traps unsuspecting travelling flies, bugs and other creatures in his cobwebby lair. However, the spider’s luck changes when a newly married fly couple come to stay.
The cartoon is beautifully animated and the sound design adds to the creepy atmosphere. The whole thing is a horrifying hellscape of nightmarish imagery which will stay with you long after the cartoon ends.
Mickey Mouse is the face of the Disney corporation but compared to the likes of Donald Duck and pretty much any other Disney character Mickey seems to lack any ooomph, well at least in his most modern CGI iterations. However checking out the Mickey shorts from the early years (late 1920s and 30s) reveals a cool character with lots of personality and charisma. Don’t believe me? Check out the beautiful but spooky The Mad Doctor. Hotdog is it good!
I was about 6 when I first saw Trap Door on ITV, the great intro music and opening credits had me hooked and the funny but kinda weird dark undercurrent of the show appealed to the stranger/ offbeat part of me.
The claymation art style appealed to me as a 6 year old kid.
The claymation art style was all herky-jerky and I think that lent to its otherworldly perculiarness that I fondly recall. I watched an episode today with my 3 1/2 year old daughter and she loved it so it just goes to show, classics will always remain classics!
Now recite after me….
Somewhere in the dark and nasty regions, where nobody goes, stands an ancient castle. Deep within this dank and uninviting place, lives Berk ("Allo!"), overworked servant of "the thing upstairs" ('Berk! Feed Me!') But that's nothing compared to the horrors that lurk beneath the trap door, for there is always something down there, in the dark, waiting to come out....
The following lines of the theme song would then sing out:
Don't you open that trapdoor, You're a fool if you dare!... Stay away from that trapdoor, 'Cos there's something down there...
