Imagine stepping into a Los Angeles movie theater on a Wednesday morning in March 1929. As you settle into your seat at the United Artists Theater, little do you know you’re about to witness not just a cartoon, but a pivotal moment in animation history, deeply intertwined with centuries-old European traditions. This groundbreaking short? Disney’s “Skeleton Dance.”
This wasn’t just entertainment; it was a playful nod to the danse macabre, or “dance of death,” a powerful art form born from the sorrow and resilience of medieval Europe. Following the Black Plague, communities grappled with widespread mortality. The danse macabre emerged as a way to confront death’s inevitability. It manifested in vivid performances with costumed figures representing the dead, and striking paintings depicting skeletons gleefully dancing amongst the living or in graveyards. This artistic expression extended into music and literature, with compositions and writings from the 15th century onwards exploring this eerie yet compelling theme of the dead rising to dance. Centuries later, animation was poised to offer a fresh, and surprisingly lighthearted, take on this age-old motif, thanks to Walt Disney.
Years after the Plague’s shadow receded, animation pioneer Walt Disney, based in Kansas City, Missouri, collaborated with Carl Stalling, a talented organist and composer for silent films. Their goal was to create music for Disney’s fledgling cartoon shorts, featuring a mouse character on the cusp of global fame – Mickey Mouse.
This collaboration sparked a revolutionary idea: cartoons crafted to the rhythm of music, reversing the conventional approach of adding music to pre-existing animation. Stalling proposed a captivating concept: skeletons engaged in a lively dance around their graves. And with that, Disney’s Silly Symphonies series was conceived, with “The Skeleton Dance” as its inaugural, danse macabre-inspired piece.
Interestingly, while one might expect Camille Saint-Saëns’s renowned Danse Macabre to be the obvious musical choice, it wasn’t. Although the cartoon echoes elements of Saint-Saëns’s composition, such as the iconic tolling bells at the beginning and the prominent use of the xylophone, Disney opted for a different path. According to Stalling, copyright issues prevented them from using Danse Macabre. Instead, Disney tasked Stalling with creating a similar musical atmosphere. Stalling’s ingenious solution was a foxtrot, interwoven with elements of another classical piece – Edvard Grieg’s “March of the Dwarfs.”
Alt text: A vibrant scene from Disney’s Skeleton Dance featuring animated skeletons joyfully playing musical instruments and dancing in a moonlit graveyard, showcasing early animation style.
Grieg’s “March of the Dwarfs,” from his Lyric Pieces, conjures images of a spirited gathering of mythical nocturnal beings inspired by Norway’s dramatic Jotunheimen Mountains. In “The Skeleton Dance,” this music segment perfectly complements a memorable sequence where a skeleton’s ribs are playfully used as a xylophone, adding a touch of dramatic flair to Stalling’s lighter, original compositions that frame it.
Another subtle nod to Grieg appears towards the short’s conclusion. As a pair of skeletal feet linger outside their grave, waiting to be re-interred, the suspense builds, underscored by the final moments of Grieg’s dramatic “In the Hall of the Mountain King.”
Alt text: Detail from Disney’s Skeleton Dance focusing on two animated skeleton feet tapping with anticipation outside a grave, highlighting the cartoon’s suspenseful and humorous elements.
Stalling dedicated approximately two years to composing music for Disney’s shorts, significantly contributing to their early success. Later, after a brief period as a freelancer, Stalling joined Leon Schlesinger, becoming the musical force behind Warner Brothers’ iconic animation projects: Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes. It was at Warner Brothers that Stalling truly cemented his legacy, demonstrating how music could elevate great cartoons into unforgettable cultural touchstones.
But the story of how music and macabre tradition danced together in animation begins definitively with Disney’s “Skeleton Dance,” a testament to creative innovation rooted in historical art forms. It was truly, at least for animation, just the beginning.
Alt text: Archival image of Walt Disney and Carl Stalling in a collaborative session, likely discussing music for early Disney cartoons like Skeleton Dance, emphasizing their partnership.
