Original subtitles

(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)

ANNOUNCER: ...present Walt Disney's Disneyland.

JIMINY CRICKET: ♪ When you wish upon a star

♪ Makes no difference who you are ♪

ANNOUNCER: Each week as you enter this timeless land,

one of these many worlds will open to you.

Frontierland, tall tales and true from the legendary past.

Tomorrowland, promise of things to come.

Adventureland, the wonder-world of nature's own realm.

Fantasyland, the happiest kingdom of them all.

Presenting this week from Fantasyland,

"The Plausible Impossible."

And now your host, Walt Disney.

These animation drawings are from a part of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,

that was never seen by the public.

(SLURPS)

Ah!

These are just a few of the drawings out of an entire episode

that was not used in the picture.

And this is a scene from one of the musical numbers in Fantasia

called A Night On Bald Mountain.

This film portrays a medieval superstition

that grew into our modern conception of Halloween.

Later on, you'll see both of these sequences.

They will illustrate the principle in animation

which we call the plausible impossible.

The plausible impossible means

"taking something that is against the laws of nature,"

something impossible, "and making it

"appear rational and acceptable."

In short, plausible.

I'm quoting from our book The Art of Animation.

Herein, we have tried to answer the questions

of not only those who are merely curious about animation,

but also those serious students

who wish to go deeper into the subject.

One entire chapter is devoted to the plausible impossible.

First, you must understand the plausible impossible

is not something we, who draw animated cartoons, invented.

It's been around a long time.

Looking back into history, we find

many examples in art and literature

of things that are impossible,

yet they were plausible and acceptable in their time.

These Egyptian figures, each with a human body,

but with the head of a lion, jackal, or a bird

might seem merely fanciful to us, even amusing.

But to the ancient Egyptians they were quite real and believable,

because they were gods, supernatural beings.

To the ancient Chinese the dragon was very real,

even though no one had actually

seen one that looked like this.

Yet, there may be a very plausible

basis for their belief in dragons.

It is an established fact that

monstrous creatures roamed the Earth

in prehistoric times.

(THUNDER CRACKING)

(THUNDER CRACKING)

Now, it's possible that the age of dinosaurs somewhere overlapped

with man's earliest beginnings.

And the memory of these monsters

may have been passed on from generation to generation,

(THUNDER CRACKING)

to finally evolve into the Chinese conception of the dragon.

Greek mythology has many strange characters, too.

Impossible though they look, they are not hard to justify.

For instance, the idea of the centaur

could well have been the simple case of mistaken identity.

The ancient Greeks were accustomed

to seeing horses pulling chariots.

They'd been doing it for centuries.

It was not until about 1200 B.C.

that someone got the strange idea of riding on horseback.

Seeing a horse and a man together

in this manner for the first time

must have been quite a shock.

And the myth of the centaur may well have been created later on,

in a too enthusiastic retelling of the incident.

So much for the ancient history of the plausible impossible.

Now let's see how it applies to the animated cartoon.

Impossible cartoon actions will seem plausible,

if the viewer feels the action he's watching has some factual basis.

For example,

the idea that pulling a cow's tail

could ring a bell hanging on her neck,

may seem far-fetched,

but it has some basis in fact.

There is an anatomical connection between the bell here,

and the tail here.

That is the spinal column.

And so it seems entirely plausible

that pulling her tail would ring the bell.

(BELL RINGS)

(BELL RINGS)

(BELL RINGING)

(STRAINING)

(BELL RINGING)

Another important factor in making cartoon action believable

is correctness of sensation.

When an elevator starts up suddenly,

we feel as though our body is actually squashed.

So in our cartoon, Mickey's body really does squash.

(BELL RINGS)

And stretch.

(BELL RINGS)

Now, let's take Mickey to the mountains on a windy day.

Here's a different impossibility,

it's based on two plausibilities.

One psychological, the other physical.

First, is the idea that Mickey won't fall

until he realizes he's only standing on thin air.

And second, if he scrambles hard enough,

he might get sufficient traction in the air to get back to safety.

And here, the principle of momentum is involved.

If Mickey builds up enough speed,

it seems quite plausible for him to

keep right on climbing even after he has come to the end of his rope.

And finally, on the baseball diamond,

with Mickey on the pitcher's mound.

When he winds up to throw the ball,

if his action is vigorous enough,

it might very plausibly take him up into the air,

like a helicopter.

And now, here's another side of the plausible impossible.

It's been used so extensively in animated cartoons,

as to be almost taken for granted,

impossible though it is.

This is a trick of giving life to inanimate objects.

Now, by their very nature,

it's impossible for inanimate things to have life.

Yet a good many years ago, we made a picture,

in which, I think you'll find many plausibly alive objects.

This picture is based on Lewis Carroll's famous book,

Through the Looking-Glass.

We took many liberties in this film,

including substituting Mickey Mouse in the role of Alice.

Like Alice, Mickey Mouse found himself in a topsy-turvy land,

where the laws of nature were suspended and anything could happen.

Here, the plausible impossible was the order of the day.

(GRUNTS)

(BARKING)

(BARKING)

Oh!

(SHOUTING IN GIBBERISH)

Oh.

(LAUGHING) Nuts.

(GRUNTING)

(PHONE RINGING)

Hello, hello, hello, hello!

Oh, what's that? Hello?

Yeah, oh, yeah. Yeah, he's here.

Hey, you. Telephone.

(BELL RINGS)

Hello. Hello.

Hello. Hello.

Hello! Hello!

Huh, what do you want?

Pick up. (LAUGHS) Aw, skip it.

Skip it? Okay.

(SHOES TAPPING)

(TAP DANCING)

(RADIO TUNING)

(HICCUPS)

(RADIO PLAYING UPBEAT MUSIC)

(DRUMROLL PLAYING)

(MARCHING DRUMBEAT PLAYING)

Forward march.

(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)

Hard halt.

Hard shuffle.

Hard cut.

Hey! (LAUGHING)

(UPBEAT DANCE MUSIC PLAYING)

(WHISTLES)

(SWORDS CLANGING)

Call out the cards. Call out the cards.

BOTH: Call out the cards.

(RADIO TUNING)

Calling all cards. Calling all cards.

RADIO: Calling all cards. Calling all cards.

PHONE: Help! Help! Over here!

Help! Help! Over here!

Help!

Help, please, help!

Help, please, help! (PHONE RINGING)

(ALARM RINGING) (SNORING)

(ALARM CONTINUES RINGING)

Hello?

Hello? Hello?

In animated cartoons, there's nothing quite so important

for the characters themselves as being plausible.

Their problem is that they are not real individuals.

They must be created step by step.

Each and every animated cartoon character

starts out as a blank piece of paper,

which is drawn upon by a pencil.

WALT: Oh, by the way, this pencil you are watching

is in itself a plausible impossibility.

Animation gives movement, which in turn, gives life to the drawing.

But equally as important as animation is sound.

Sound helps to give the character plausibility in two ways.

(LAUGHING)

First, by giving him an appropriate voice.

Oh, that's very, very cool.

Second, we must have convincing sound effects. And now...

Donald, would you mind helping with a demonstration?

Oh, sure. I'd be glad to.

"Mary had a little lamb..."

(LAUGHS) No, no, Donald.

Let's do the sound effects first.

Okay, what do I do?

WALT: Take off your hat and face the audience.

Like this?

That's fine.

Now we all know that a head isn't really hollow.

But it is this idea which lends plausibility

to a sound like this.

(HOLLOW THUD) (EXCLAIMS ANGRILY)

WALT: Also, we know that a head can't sound like a gong,

but a heavy enough instrument can really make your head ring.

(RINGING)

Now, you take a real heavy object.

Say, something weighing three or four tons.

This can produce some very plausible effects,

both audible and visual.

First, the sound which was made by letting the steel tank

drop 10 feet onto the concrete floor of an empty swimming pool,

with reverberation added.

(EXCLAIMS IN PANIC)

(CLANGS)

Now, let's run the film back and hear that interesting sound again.

(REWINDING)

(EXCLAIMS IN PANIC)

(CLANGS)

And now, let's observe the pictorial result of our experiment.

(MAKING ACCORDION SOUNDS)

This visual accordion effect naturally demands an accordion sound.

(MAKING ACCORDION SOUNDS)

(BLOWING)

Now here is an unusual effect.

When a character is shot out of a cannon...

Oh, no! You can't.

(MUTTERING)

Ha! Let him do it himself.

Okay, Donald. Forget the cannon.

We're all through with the sound effects. Come on out.

Uh-uh. No, sir. Leave me out of it.

Oh, come on, Donald.

You'll enjoy this next demonstration.

No, no, no, no.

Absolutely not.

Donald, the people are waiting.

Ha! Let them wait.

Okay, Donald. I guess we'll just have to go ahead without you.

Now, next, we'll have a dining room table

full of lots of good things to eat.

WALT: First, a steaming bowl of soup

full of succulent, fresh garden vegetables.

Next, some French peas, sweet, tender and drenched with butter.

And corn on the cob, cold cuts of meat,

spaghetti, French bread, donuts, coffee,

and finally for dessert, a chocolate cake that melts in your mouth.

Marshmallow in the layers, coconut on top and a cherry.

Oh, boy.

Actually it would be impossible for any one person to eat all this.

Oh, yeah? Watch me.

And since Donald absolutely refuses to demonstrate

how this can be plausibly achieved... What's that?

...we'll just have to find somebody else.

Oh, never mind, Walt. I'd be glad to do it.

So, we'll call on Donald's cousin, Gus Goose,

who I am sure, can show us

just how plausible an impossible appetite can be.

Am I hungry!

(DOORBELL BUZZING LOUDLY)

(RHYTHMIC KNOCKING ON DOOR)

All right, all right! I'm coming!

(KNOCKING CONTINUES)

I'm coming!

(SCREAMING)

What's the big idea?

Now, run!

(HONKS)

Hey!

What is this?

(DONALD READING)

Well, Cousin Gus!

How are you?

(ALARM RINGING)

"Dinner, tea, supper, lunch."

Well, I'll be doggone!

(SNIFFING)

(HONKS)

(SLURPING)

(MAKING TYPEWRITER SOUNDS)

(LAUGHING)

(MAKING ACCORDION SOUNDS)

(LAUGHING)

Boy, what an appetite.

(EXCLAIMS IN SURPRISE)

(HONKS)

Clever.

(EXCLAIMS IN SURPRISE) I'd better get started.

(MOCKING)

It's mine!

Such ignorance.

What? Two can play at this game.

Hey!

Oh, yeah?

Hey!

What?

(SUCKING)

What? (MUTTERING ANGRILY)

Come on, get out, go home!

(SIGHS)

Come on, you.

This is very, very exasperating.

I'll get rid of him.

(DONALD READING)

This will fix him.

Nice doggy.

Do your stuff.

Come and get it!

Now, for the fun.

(MEOWING)

(BARKING) (YOWLING)

(LAUGHING)

This is very, very funny.

Lie down.

(SNICKERING)

Now, roll over.

(LAUGHING)

At last I've done it.

(BARKING)

Go get it.

(BARKING)

Goodbye.

(SLAMS)

(LAUGHING)

(CLATTERING)

(ALARM RINGING)

(HONKS)

(ALARM RINGING)

(EXCLAIMING IN FRUSTRATION)

And now, the plausible impossible, as brought out

in the unfinished sequence that was made

for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

While this animation was still in the preliminary or pencil phase,

we found that the overall picture was too long.

Something had to be left out and this was it.

You see, even though we liked the sequence,

it was not essential to the telling of the story.

So when you look at this sequence,

it won't look like the pictures you remember seeing it in the theater.

Instead, you will see the animators' original pencil drawings.

These were photographed over simple outline sketches of the background,

and will look like this.

But before we see the unfinished sequence,

let's look at a few scenes that led up to it.

These, of course, are from the final, finished version of the picture,

in which all the action was traced on celluloids,

painted in color and photographed over full-tone backgrounds.

As you remember, Snow White's wicked stepmother, the Queen,

jealous of the girl's beauty, had attempted to do away with her.

Here, Snow White has found refuge in the cottage of the seven dwarfs.

She has taken over the household duties

and the dwarfs are about to sample her first meal.

(SNIFFING)

ALL: Ah! Soup.

Hooray!

(CHATTERING)

(ARGUING)

SNOW WHITE: Uh-uh, uh-uh! Just a minute.

Supper's not quite ready.

You'll just have time to wash.

ALL: Wash? Wash?

Wash? Wash? Wash?

Hah! Knew there was a catch to it.

March straight outside and wash, or you'll not get a bite to eat.

WALT: Now the dwarfs were all willing to go along

with even so radical an idea as washing up for each meal if need be,

in order to enjoy Snow White's cooking.

All except Grumpy, that is.

He was holding out his approval until he tried the cooking.

And the thought of washing up before supper didn't help.

(CLATTERING)

Hah!

Well, aren't you going to wash?

(GRUNTS)

(SLAMS)

Hah, women!

DOC: Courage, men, courage.

♪ Step up to the tub T'ain't no disgrace

♪ Just pull up your sleeves and get 'em in place

♪ Then scoop up the water and rub it on your face and go...

(SPUTTERING)

♪ Pick up the soap, Now don't try to bluff

♪ Work up a lather And when you've got enough

♪ Get your hands full of water and you snort and you snuff and go...

(SPLUTTERING)

♪ You douse and souse Rub and scrub

♪ You sputter and splash all over the tub

(BUZZING)

♪ You may be cold and wet when you're done

♪ But you gotta admit it's good clean fun

♪ So splash all you like, T'ain't any trick

♪ As soon as your through, You'll feel mighty slick ♪

Bunch of old nanny goats, you make me sick, going...

(SPUTTERING)

(SPUTTERING)

Hah! Next thing ya know, she'll be tyin' your beards up in pink ribbons

and smellin' ya up with that stuff called "perfoom."

Hah! (SPITTING)

(WATER SLOSHING)

A fine bunch of water lilies you turned out to be.

I'd like to see anybody make me wash if I didn't wanna.

(CLEARS THROAT)

(WHISPERING)

(CHUCKLING)

(WHISTLING)

Get him!

Hey, let go of me!

Get him over to the tub! Get him over to the tub!

Let me loose, you fools! Let me loose!

Get him up on the tub. Get him up!

Hang onto him. Bang him! Pound him!

Get him up on the tub! On the tub. That's the tub. That's the tub.

Don't, don't, don't, don't get excited!

Don't get... Don't get up... Don't get...

(GRUNTS)

(CHATTERING)

Get the soap!

DOC: Steady, men. DWARF: We'll get him there. We'll get him.

HAPPY: Never say die. Never say die.

GRUMPY: You don't...

(CHATTERING)

(HICCUPPING)

(ALL LAUGHING)

DOC: ♪ Now scrub good an' hard It can't be denied

♪ That he'll look mighty cute As soon as he's dried

♪ Well it's good for the soul

♪ And it's good for the hide to go... ♪

(SPUTTERING)

(LAUGHING)

(HICCUPPING)

WALT: And now, the plausible impossible.

How they got the soap out of Dopey.

The first public viewing of the unfinished sequence,

still in the form of preliminary test animation.

Supper! (BANGING)

(ALL CLAMORING)

Yippee! Yay!

(CHATTERING)

(ALL SLURPING AND BLOWING)

♪ With a spoon With a bowl

♪ With the music in your soul

♪ You can cheer things up With the zub, zub, zub

♪ Of the music in your soup

♪ With a gulp With a grin (CHUCKLES)

♪ Get a wiggle on your chin

♪ You can make things hum With the zum, zum, zum

♪ Of the music in your soup (SLURPS)

ALL: ♪ Swing that spoon Gotta keep on dippin'

(ALL SLURPING)

♪ Scoop that soup Gotta keep on sippin'

(OINKING)

♪ Till the bowl is dry And your face is drippin'

(GURGLING)

♪ Let her rip! (CLINKING)

♪ Let her roar!

♪ To the first and the second and the third encore ♪

(ALL SLURPING)

Ah!

(SLURPS)

(ALL SLURPING)

(SNIFFING)

(SLURPING)

Please! Please! (DWARFS CONTINUE SLURPING)

(BANGING)

(SLURPING)

(SIGHS) Where did you learn to eat soup that way?

Oh, guess it just comes natural.

Hah. Anybody can do it. With practice.

(LAUGHING) Yes, but you don't understand.

This is the way gentlemen eat soup.

DWARFS: Gentlemen? SNOW WHITE: Yes.

Now, watch. Spoon in the hand.

Bending the wrist into the bowl

and out with a twist.

DWARFS: Spoon in the hand, bending the wrist,

into the bowl, and out with a twist.

Fine, that's perfect!

DWARFS: Perfect?

(DWARFS SLURPING)

(MAKING SLURPING AND WHISTLING NOISES)

(HICCUPPING)

(SPOON CLATTERING)

Wha... What's the matter with Dopey?

He's swallowed his spoon.

(HICCUPPING)

DWARF: Hey, catch him! I got him!

(CONTINUES HICCUPPING)

(ALL CLAMORING)

(HICCUPS) Hey!

There! Now we got him.

(HICCUPS)

Open his mouth, I'll get it.

Say "Ah."

Ah... (HICCUPS)

DWARF: There it is! Grab it! I got it!

(CLATTERING)

No, no, that'll never work. Turn him upside down. Snake it, shake it out!

(CLATTERING)

Here, I'll get it. Bend him over.

That's it. There.

Ready? ALL: Ready!

Clear the way.

DWARFS: Hooray!

Now, here is a more serious side of the plausible impossible.

It concerns music.

We all know it's impossible to see music.

Yet many composers have tried to take musical sounds

and give them a pictorial meaning.

This is known as program music.

It is meant to describe a certain picture or tell a definite story.

Here's an example of program music

written by the great Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky.

WALT: Let's take this characteristic theme

carried principally by the trombones and tubas.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)

No one would question that this theme suggests power.

But when Mussorgsky wrote it, he wasn't thinking in general terms.

He had a specific picture in mind

and he intended his music to convey that same picture to the listener.

Now to do this is impossible because music is an arbitrary art form

and exists only as sound.

So regardless of what Mussorgsky had in mind,

his musical theme is equally descriptive of a wide variety of scenes.

For instance, it might picture the power of magic

as shown in a scene from our cartoon feature Fantasia.

Here we find Mickey Mouse dreaming that he is a sorcerer.

He stands on a high crag overlooking the ocean

and imagines he is able to direct and control the movements of the sea itself.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)

WALT: This very same musical phrase might equally well portray the terror

of a forest fire as shown in this episode from our feature cartoon Bambi.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)

WALT: Or Mussorgsky's theme could describe the battle of the dinosaurs

from another part of Fantasia.

Here, the gigantic Stegosaurus meets his match

in the terrible Tyrannosaurus rex,

the most dangerous and vicious killer ever created by nature.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)

WALT: Of course these were not the pictures Mussorgsky had in mind.

What he actually wished to portray with his music

was a Halloween night revel of witches and goblins.

He called it "A Night On Bald Mountain."

Now as we've just seen, it's impossible for the music all by itself

to describe this picture exactly.

Also, we know witches and goblins don't exist,

so it is impossible to see them.

But with the combined help of Mussorgsky's music,

the world-famous Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra,

the celebrated conductor, Leopold Stokowski,

and the animated cartoon we will try to make this impossible thing

seem plausible.

This is Bald Mountain. It is Halloween night.

The Prince of Darkness, Satan himself, summons the spirits of evil

and a ghoulish revelry takes place all the night long.

In the music, this witches' Sabbath is finally interrupted

by the sound of church bells,

which Mussorgsky used to symbolize the triumph of good over evil.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)

(MUSIC STOPS)

(CHURCH BELL RINGS)

(CHURCH BELL RINGS)

(CHURCH BELL RINGS)

(CHURCH BELL RINGS)

(CHURCH BELL RINGS)

(CHURCH BELL RINGS)

(MELANCHOLY MUSIC PLAYING)

(CHURCH BELL RINGS)

(CHURCH BELL RINGS)

Next week, our show comes to you from Adventureland.

We have two stories to tell.

One takes place behind the cameras on the island of Samoa.

The other, behind the dykes of Holland

during one of the darkest hours in Dutch history.

Here, now, are a few highlight scenes from that program.

ANNOUNCER: Next week, Walt Disney brings you "Cameras In Samoa."

And the thrilling eye-witness report on the great national disaster,

"The Holland Story."

With our people and places cameras, you'll visit Samoa

the island paradise of the South Pacific.

You'll see how Disney cameramen photographed

the relaxed way of life of these happy, carefree island people.

Watch the women making intricate and beautiful tapa cloth designs

and the closely woven mats for which they're famous.

In flimsy outrigger canoes, you'll brave the rolling seas beyond the coral reefs,

where daring Samoan fishermen cast their nets to catch

the more than 500 varieties of marine life that abound there.

You'll become a part of this idyllic land and its people,

watching them build their homes,

sharing their simple pleasures,

and thrilling to the rhythms of the native songs and dances

that are a part of the language of these happy dwellers

in a Polynesian paradise.

(SINGING IN NATIVE LANGUAGE)

Then we go to Holland to enjoy the pastoral beauty of the country's canals.

And to visit Amsterdam, the Venice of the North.

In winter, everyone takes to the frozen canals

for skating and ice boating.

There's even dancing on the ice at the mid-winter festivals.

But the coming of spring brings disaster.

Whipped to a fury by hurricane winds,

the sea breaches the dykes in more than 500 places,

creating havoc never equaled in the history of this lowland country.

How will the indomitable Dutch fight back?

How will they battle time and tide to close the breaks in their dyke system?

How will they rebuild their homes

and reclaim their ruined farmland?

You'll see all this in our dramatic report

of Holland's never-ending battle against the sea.

So, be with us next week when Walt Disney brings you

"Cameras in Samoa"

and the epic struggle of man against the elements,

"The Holland Story."

(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)