Foreverisacastironmess123 Review of King Neptune

King Neptune (1932)

Pirates "plunder the sea" in this rather brackish Silly Symphony.

[6/10 · 23 October 2012]

After getting a load of the lame pig Neptune, one of the first things I noticed was something, oh shall we say, "amiss" regarding the wardrobe of the mermaids. Are those actually buppies I see before me in a Disney cartoon? Wow! I mean they don't have distinct shape or nipples or anything, but that's pretty damn outrageous for a cartoon from 1932, or any cartoon for that matter. I think you'll find that one of the more memorable things about King Neptune is the boobies! The pirates featured are definitely not the lovable rogues of Peter Pan. When the mermaid who vaguely looks like Ariel is fending them off, it goes without saying what their intentions are. Something else that I thought was pretty adult and scary for a children's short. The third thing that I felt stood out was when Neptune churns up the ocean and sinks the pirate ship-slaughtering all aboard! You don't see any bodies, which greatly blunts the effect, but jeez, couldn't they have just had a slap on the wrist and sent on their scurvy way? Talk about your disproportionate revenge! For me the grimness of that moment does not at all go with all the big celebration fanfare and jovial singing of the final scene. The animation, which I mostly found pretty poor, I found most impressive during the storm sequence.:::2:::The Neptune portrayed here has got to be the worst ever. King Neptune should be a proud and noble entity, not a chortling bloated creep pawing at his mermaids. They weren't all that worse off with the pirates! His design was so poor and mixed-up. A Santa Claus body and beard, Mickey Mouse hands, and a big red clown nose. He was very similar to the King Triton character from The Little Mermaid. I don't know if they're two different versions of the same character, just with a different name maybe? I got it! At some point Neptune got his act together and started going to the gym and became Triton! There are several precursors to the Little Mermaid here. For instance, near the end, the similarity to that great villain Ursula growing huge and stirring up the ocean with the trident is unmistakable. The more I see of these Silly Symphonies, the more I see what everyone talks about. They truly were a testing and training ground for the early Disney animators in many ways. A part of the fun of this series is noticing and appreciating all that. All in all, I'd have to say this isn't one of my favourites. Although it's got it's moments, I really don't like the more violent aspects of it at all. Thank you very much.