The Golden Touch

1935 "A fable of a king whose touch turns everything to gold."
6.8| 0h10m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 22 March 1935 Released
Producted By: Walt Disney Productions
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

King Midas is visited by an elf; the elf turns his cat to gold, then claps his hands and it changes back. Midas begs for the golden touch, but the elf warns him it would be a curse to him. Midas insists. He dances about joyfully at first, but discovers the drawbacks when he sits down to dinner. Fearing death by starvation, he summons the elf and agrees to surrender everything he owns to have the curse lifted.

Genre

Animation, Comedy

Watch Online

The Golden Touch (1935) is now streaming with subscription on Disney+

Director

Walt Disney

Production Companies

Walt Disney Productions

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The Golden Touch Audience Reviews

Cortechba Overrated
DipitySkillful an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.
Bessie Smyth Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.
Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.
SnoopyStyle King Midas cares for nothing but gold. One day, he's visited by the diminutive magical Goldie. Despite Goldie's warning, Midas demands and is granted the golden touch. At first, he is overjoyed but eventually, he discovers that it is really a curse. He turns everything including his food into gold. In the end, he pleads to Goldie to have a hamburger sandwich in exchange for his entire kingdom.This is a Walt Disney Silly Symphony cartoon. There are none of the iconic Disney characters. It's strictly the classic tale told in a silly cartoon form. The tale still works and it works well in this short bite size. Goldie is a little creepy but Midas is a fun looking design. It's all very good.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "The Golden Touch" is an old Disney cartoon and at 10 minutes this one's a bit longer than they usually are. Director is Disney himself and the voice acting is provided by the prolific and successful Billy Bletcher. Here we have the story of King Midas that many know I am sure and really in an animated form, you cannot make it better than it is here. The looks are absolutely amazing for a film that is over 80 years old and there is a great deal of wit in here and a memorable lesson in terms of morale. Maybe you could say that the fun/comedy component is not existent here and you would be right, the somewhat funny onions comment at the very end cannot change that. But it's not a problem at all. The darker skeleton references make obvious anyway that this is not a Disney cartoon for the little ones, but teenagers and everybody above the agee can and should check this one out. We should be thankful for the huge treasure of quality films Disney left us and this is just one coin in the chest. Really loved the ending too because when he has almost nothing except a burger and his underwear is the first time he is really happy and not only tells us this film to not be greedy, but also to appreciate the little things in life, not just food-wise, that we often take for granted. This Silly Simphony is as close to a must-see as I was giving it an even higher rating. Maybe on rewatch. But I sure recommend it very much.
OllieSuave-007 This cartoon is based on the tale of King Midas, the greedy king who turns anything he touches into gold.This cartoon short wasn't bad, following along with the tale well. The animation was pretty good and the story was a little exciting; makes you want to see how the king would get himself out of his gold fever.The elf, who granted Midas the golden touch, didn't really give the king strong advice about the touch, only saying it would be a curse. The king, though, was a little too sappy.The cartoon does give off a good moral, telling you not to be greedy but be grateful of what you have, and be careful in what you wish for.Grade B-
Robert Reynolds This is a color short in the Silly Symphonies series produced by the Disney studio. There will be spoilers ahead:If you know the fable of King Midas, you essentially know the plot of this one. I don't even need to go through the plot, but here's the Cliff's Notes version-a greedy king named Midas wants even more gold than he has and is given the "gift" of the golden touch, so that everything he touches turns to gold.The king here isn't the shiniest pebble in the pond, so he misses the obvious more than once in this short. Despite warnings from the elf named Goldy that this "gift" would be a curse instead, he demands to be given the "golden touch" and gets his wish.You know what happens next-the obvious: Everything turns to gold. The beauty of the short is in the details, how things happen. The animation is beautiful and the gags are great, particularly the mirror gags, which have a bite to them.The Nimrod in chief finally grasps the obvious and begs to be released. But being as his bulb is still dimmer than a ten watt bulb at half power, he makes an even more idiotic bargain than before. The end is no less than he deserves.This short is available on the Disney Treasures Silly Symphonies DVD set and it and the set are well worth finding. Highly recommended.