22. Flowers and Trees (1932)- Walt Disney

Flowers and Trees (8 mins.)

"Flowers and Trees" was undoubtedly revolutionary and changed the dynamic of cartoons for, well, forever. It was not only the first ever recipient of the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, but the first cartoon produced in color, technicolor to be specific. It is a part of a larger collection of short films, entitled, "Silly Symphonies," where Walt Disney would compose a piece of music and then draw a cartoon that fit in timing and tone with the music. The series is tied for first (with Tom and Jerry) for most wins in its category, with seven. Apart from being important to the history of film, I found this short traumatizing and upsetting. All is well in the enchanted forest at first, until a jealous revenge-obsessed tree decides that he is determined to ruin the romantic relationship between two other trees. He tries to burn down everything in sight, forcing mushrooms to go back into the ground, and so on. The only way for the habitants to stay safe is to hide and run away from the fire, and those who try and put it out with water, fail miserably. I would still recommend watching this short film, if for no other reason than that it changed the film industry indefinitely, the score is beautiful, and who doesn't love singing flowers? Just don't let your children watch it, they might start obsessing over imaginary tree relationships and become paranoid about forrest fires. But besides that, its great!