The Old Mill

The Old Mill is a 1937 "Silly Symphonies" cartoon produced by Walt Disney Productions, directed by Wilfred Jackson, scored by Leigh Harline, and released theatrically to theatres by RKO Radio Pictures on November 5, 1937. The film depicts the natural community of animals populating an old abandoned windmill in the country, and how they deal with a severe summer thunderstorm that nearly destroys their habitat. It incorporates the song "One Day When We Were Young" from Johann Strauss II's operetta "The Gypsy Baron".
"The Old Mill" was the first "Silly Symphony" cartoon to be released by RKO and was added a new "Silly Symphony" logo, some new titles, and a burlap background which was used for several other Disney theatrical cartoon series like "Donald Duck", "Goofy", "Mickey Mouse", and "Pluto the Pup".
This "Silly Symphonies" cartoon was re-issued to theatres by Buena Vista Distribution.
Like many of the later "Silly Symphony" shorts, "The Old Mill" was a testing ground for advanced animation techniques. Marking the first use of Disney's multiplane camera, the film also incorporates realistic depictions of animal behavior, complex lighting and color effects, depictions of wind, rain, lightning, ripples, splashes and reflections, three-dimensional rotation of detailed objects, and the use of timing to produce specific dramatic and emotional effects. All of the lessons learned from making "The Old Mill" would subsequently be incorporated into Disney's feature-length animated films, such as "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937), which was released a month later, as well as "Pinocchio" (1940), "Fantasia" (1940) and "Bambi" (1942).
In 2015, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry, finding it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Awards and accolades.
"The Old Mill" won the 1937 Academy Award for Best Short Subjects: Cartoons. It was included as #14 in the book "The 50 Greatest Cartoons As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals".
Homages.
Disney California Adventure.
"The Old Mill" is featured in the "World of Color" show at Disney California Adventure.
Disneyland.
The three mills from the short were seen in miniature on the Storybook Land Canal Boats ride at Disneyland. Beginning December 20, 2014, they were replaced by landmarks from Disney's 2013 3D computer-animated musical film "Frozen". The miniature windmills were put into storage by Walt Disney Imagineering.
Disneyland Paris.
"The Old Mill" is represented at Fantasyland at Disneyland Paris by a building resembling a Dutch windmill, which serves drinks and snacks.
"The Simpsons".
"The Old Mill" was parodied in "The Simpsons" episode "Bart Has Two Mommies", where Homer tries to win a rubber duck race by making his rubber duck cross the finish line first. The duck however floats to an abandoned windmill very similar to the one in the Disney short, with a sign declaring: "The Old Mill." The scene where the duck is nearly squashed by the water wheel is a direct reference to the most famous scene of "The Old Mill." Raymond Scott's "Powerhouse B" is heard in the scene where Homer protected the duck from the water wheel.
Home media.
"The Old Mill" was released on Laserdisc as part of Academy Award Review of Walt Disney Cartoons in 1985.
It was released on December 4, 2001 on "" and on Blu-ray on March 1, 2011, on the "Bambi" Diamond Edition Blu-ray as a special feature.
Influence.
Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki has called "The Old Mill" his favorite Disney film.