| The Wise Little Hen | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Wilfred Jackson |
| Produced by | Walt Disney |
| Starring | Florence Gill Clarence Nash Pinto Colvig |
| Music by | Leigh Harline |
| Animation by | Archie Robin Clyde Geronimi Art Babbitt Louie Schmitt Ugo D'Orsi Frenchy de Tremaudan Wolfgang Reitherman Dick Huemer[1] |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
Release dates |
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Running time | 7 minutes (one reel) |
| Language | English |
The Wise Little Hen is a 1934Walt Disney producedSilly Symphoniesanimatedshort film, based on thefableThe Little Red Hen. The film features the debut ofDonald Duck, dancing to "The Sailor's Hornpipe".[3] Donald and his friendPeter Pig try to avoid work by faking stomach aches until Mrs. Hen teaches them the value of labor.
The Wise Little Hen of the title is looking for someone to help her plant her corn for the winter. Peter Pig and Donald Duck both feign belly aches to get out of the chore, since they would rather play than work. With help from her chicks, she plants it herself. Harvest time comes; again, Peter and Donald claim belly aches, but the hen sees through this when boards of their clubhouse fall off showing their little act when they shake hands with each other for evading responsibility. Upon wising up to their ruse, she and her chicks wink at each other upon knowing what to do with Peter and Donald later. She cooks up a tantalizing assortment of corn dishes, and heads over to Peter and Donald to help her eat them, but before she can open her mouth, they already fake their belly aches. Once she asks them to help her eat the corn, they snap out of their façade and are excited to eat, but all she gives them iscastor oil. As the hen and her chicks eat the corn themselves, Peter and Donald repent with all their might by kicking each other in the rump.
Though distributorUnited Artists gave June 9, 1934 as the cartoon's release date, it was actually first shown on May 3, 1934, at theCarthay Circle Theatre inLos Angeles for abenefit program, while it was later given its official debut on June 7 at theRadio City Music Hall inNew York City as a short subject to its showing ofSisters Under the Skin.[2][4]
This cartoon featured the first appearance of Clarence Nash in a Disney production. Nash had been a performer in Chautauqua and vaudeville during the 1920s and later met Wilfred Jackson who wanted Nash to provide bird sounds for a cartoon. During the call, Nash performed a rendition of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" as a duck, and Jackson sent the music into Walt Disney's office. Disney himself proclaimed "[t]hat's our talking duck".[6]
The short was animated byArt Babbitt,Dick Huemer,Clyde Geronimi, Louie Schmitt, and Frenchy de Tremaudan (with assistance from a group of junior animators headed byBen Sharpsteen)[7][1] and directed byWilfred Jackson.[8] Animation on the hen was done by Wolfgang Reitherman and supervised by Ben Sharpsteen. Art Babbitt worked on Peter Pig and Donald Duck.[9] Ward Kimball worked as an inbetweener on this short.[10] The song featured in the short, "Help Me Plant My Corn" was written by Leigh Harline.[11]
The Wise Little Hen had its world premiere as the underbill toGulliver Mickey at the Carthay Circle Theater in Los Angeles, California, on May 3, 1934.[12]
TheSilly Symphony Sunday comic strip ran a three-month-long adaptation ofThe Wise Little Hen from September 16 to December 16, 1934.[13] The story was adapted byTed Osborne andAl Taliaferro,[13] and it also was Donald Duck's first appearance inDisney comics.
The 1962 storybookWalt Disney's Story Land: 55 Favorite Stories featured an adaptation of the cartoon called "Mrs. Cackle's Corn". In this version,Clara Cluck is telling the story. By 1962, Donald Duck was thought unsuitable for a bit part in a fairy tale, so they use Daniel Duck instead. Patsy Pig was substituted for Peter Pig.
Dr. Tracey Mollet suggests that the short's narrative reflects the economic reality of the time,the Great Depression, andPresident Roosevelt's efforts to bolster the agricultural sector. Mollet surmises that Peter Pig and Donald Duck's actions, not helping to cultivate and harvest crops, is a rejection of "earlyNew Deal policy of self-sufficiency in farming".[14] The short reinforces the belief in New Deal policy by having Donald and Peter pay a consequence for theirrugged individualism by being fed castor oil as the Hen and her chicks eat their crops.[14] The featured song also draws upon contemporary elements as it references the "harsh weather [that] had antagonized the crises in the rural sector" across the 1933-1934 winter as the Hen seeks to grow corn "so she is 'not left short when winter comes again'".[14] The short's end reinforces the "self-sufficiency of the hen" in contrast to "Donald and Peter's laziness [which] is punished as they are left hungry".[14]
The short has been released several times on home media. The first release was in 1986 on Betamax onDonald Duck Volume 1. It was released in 1989 on VHS, Beta, and Laserdisc onMickey Mouse & Donald Duck Volume 2. It was re-released on those same three formats in 1991 onDonald Duck's 50th Birthday.
It was released on December 4, 2001, onWalt Disney Treasures: Silly Symphonies - The Historic Musical Animated Classics,[15][4] and on May 18, 2004, onWalt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald, Volume One: 1934-1941.[16]
The film's copyright was renewed in 1961, so it will enter the public domain on January 1, 2030.[17]
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