The Skeleton Dance

1929 "The greatest talking picture novelty ever screened! -- A laugh riot from start to finish! A comically clever cartoon classic with music, sound, and original effects"
7.6| 0h5m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 29 August 1929 Released
Producted By: Walt Disney Productions
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
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The clock strikes midnight, the bats fly from the belfry, a dog howls at the full moon, and two black cats fight in the cemetery: a perfect time for four skeletons to come out and dance a bit.

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Director

Walt Disney

Production Companies

Walt Disney Productions

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The Skeleton Dance Audience Reviews

Limerculer A waste of 90 minutes of my life
Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.
Edwin The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.
Skyler Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.
preppy-3 The first of Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies.There's no real plot or dialogue...just music. We see a "scary" graveyard late at night. We see an owl, a dog howling, cats fighting and bats with fangs flying around. Then four skeletons appear from a grave and start dancing to the music! It's basically a fun little cartoon with superb animation. There's also some mildly spooky stuff. Twice the camera goes into a skeletons open mouth and out the other end. That's pretty extreme for 1929! Disney had trouble getting this released in 1929. Many distributors found it too gruesome but he finally did get it out and it was a HUGE success. A 10 all the way.
MisterWhiplash The Skeleton Dance was made over 85 years ago, but if you put it on at a Halloween party, not only will it make for some awesome ambiance, people will very likely stop what they're doing and watch it. This is Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, with assist from musician Carl W. Stalling, putting on something extremely simple, you might even say, ahem, bare-bones: what happens in a cemetery at night? The movie has that truly awesome feeling, seeing it today, of the animators going 'hey, here's something we can try that has never been done before - skeletons dancing to spooky music (and the occasional Owl, who opens the short film in a great way by its eyes). There are some gags here and there; at the end, as the skeletons have to pack themselves back in their crypt, the little feet on one body has been left behind and they kick and kick at the crypt to let them back in.But in reality, this is a fun-but-spooky little movie. It's amazing to see how much times have changed, as this was originally not allowed in a good many theaters as exhibitors thought it was "too gruesome". Today it almost carries some kind of profundity that I'm sure hipsters will latch on to. Take it on its own terms, in the context, and see how extraordinary it is: images repeated, real technique going on (mediums and close-ups, varied to create a spectacular effect), and an attempt to evoke a place and moment in the middle of the night. Or to put it another way, this is like Thriller's grandfather.
J. Spurlin The night promises to be a scary one. Lightning flashes. The wind howls. A tree branch in the shape of a hand seems to grab for a frightened owl that spins its head around like a top. The clock on the church tower strikes midnight, sending the bats flying out of the belfry. Two cats on gravestones fight by pulling and stretching each other's noses like taffy. A skeleton rises from behind a gravestone, frightening the fur off the cats. But an owl's hooting scares it, and it retaliates by throwing its skull and knocking the bird's feathers off. It's time for the skeletons to dance; and they perform as no living creatures could.Less than ten years after this crude black and white cartoon, Walt Disney made "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." Disney may have quickly surpassed this film in technical virtuosity, but no one has surpassed it in artistry. "The Skeleton Dance," with its spooky charm and ineffable strangeness, is one of the great animated cartoons.
Angelfood Skeleton Dance along with The Incredibles are a true classic of the animated genre. The short holds up very well in 76 years. The music is great, the dancing skeletonrific, drawings spooky! Come on, watch it now! You won't regret seeing it once in your life! You haven't lived life till you have seen this short...The owl howling, the skeletons dancing, the famous close up is enough to make you a Disney fan forever. It's really unforgettable. When you've seen it, you might never erase it from your memory.Disney should get more Oscars for this excellent, excellent short. :DWonderful.