Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Michelle Ridley The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

utgard14 Wonderful Disney animated short that has a lot of significance, both artistically and from an animation history perspective. I just love this cartoon. The plot, such as it is, has various adorable animals living in an old windmill and dealing with a scary thunderstorm. It's so simple but so effective and just gorgeous to look at. The animation is sublime with beautifully drawn characters and backgrounds, rich colors, and some of the best use of lighting to create atmosphere you'll ever see in a cartoon. If you loved the spooky part of Snow White where she's running through the woods, you'll love this. This is Disney's first use of the multiplane camera, which creates a short of three-dimensional effect. It played a big role in the making of those early Disney feature-length classics we all know and love. The music in this is also very enchanting and perfectly matches the animation. This is truly a work of art. Lovely from start to finish. A real classic that everyone who loves vintage animation should see at least once.

Horst in Translation ([email protected]) This is an Academy award winning Disney cartoon from almost 80 years ago and it is a great example that a (short) film does not really need a story to succeed. This one does not have any unless you count the short storm sequence maybe. From start to finish, we see a whole lot of animals living in an abandoned old mill. She is home to them and they are in danger of losing their home when a huge thunderstorm appears and the mill is struck by lightning. But in the end we see, it's all good and the animals are still in there. They are still in love with each other and their children are fine too. These 8 minutes are mostly a watch for the beauty of the animals depicted in here and also for their noises. I had a good time watching this. Thumbs up for Wilfred Jackson, who is not half as known as he should be given on how many famous Disney classics he worked. "The Old Mill" certainly also falls into that category. Recommended.

Foreverisacastironmess This to me is by far the most visually powerful and thrilling Silly Symphony of them all. Despite there being no words it speaks louder than most other entries in the series. The music is so wonderfully subtle. It's there, but unlike many of the others it's by no means the only thing that this short is about. You don't such hear the themes as feel them. I love all the various and endlessly rich details there are to take in, particularly of the mill itself. It was as if the place had a life of its own like the various creatures to which it gave shelter to. You can spot something new on every viewing. The striking sense of building momentum and force during the big storm sequence is nothing short of incredible. The orchestration of the wind, rain and lightning is awe-inspiring. The award was very well-deserved. It's a stunning example of what human hands and minds can create. I for one appreciate how the happy ending has something of a dark overtone to it. This is very probably just me, but even though the danger may be over this time, that windmill is afterwards noticeably precarious. If ever such a storm were to occur once again... You know, The Simpsons, of all things, made an affectionate little homage to this in an episode titled: "Bart has Two Mommies." Something I also found very welcome indeed was how the animals really did look like the real thing, unlike the singing and dancing sparkly-eyed animal-like sprites you usually get - not that there's anything wrong with that, but it was just a very nice change! The only bit I didn't enjoy as much was that of the little froggy chorus. I love frogs, but it was a little too whimsical compared to the rest. I love the humorous antics of the grouchy camera-shy owl. He's very similar to an owl seen during the "Little April Showers" scene in Bambi, and the Archimedes character from Sword in the Stone. Definitely one of the most striking and memorable sights is the blue momma bird who so bravely shields her eggs in what would be a futile effort had she not luckily happened to choose just the right crevice in which to nest. It's funny, even though you know she's safe and isn't gonna get smushed, I still feel a little shock of peril each time the wheel comes around! It really is like a glimpse into a little hidden world of nature. A world I imagine, still thoroughly unseen and unknown to the general public at the time. If some choose to view this as symbolising survival of world war or whatever, that's fine, but to me it just plain represents the way that life is fragile, but can with a little luck weather any storm and carry on even as things fall apart. Nice full-circle like effect, with the serenity of the opening and closing scenes. The ever-changing fortunes of nature, and of life... True quality in every sense of the word. Thank you.

courage1999 I would watch this film almost everyday when I was a toddler, now that I am a teen, I still watch it often. This film has such beauty in it with the color, music, detailed animation, and backgrounds. This film also brings out my love for windmills (which I know may sound kind of crazy). The entire film was beautiful, but I felt that the love doves were kind of a little to childish.