The China Shop (1934) User Reviews

Sort of like the precursor of TOY STORY

[bellino-angelo2014 · 7/10 · 15 August 2022]

An old china shop owner closes the store for the night. As he leaves, all the statues come to life. They are all happy not until a devil ruins the party and creates havoc (including transforming the ostrich in a kiwi and burning the peacock's tail). It will be up to the young prince and the clock to break him and stop the chaos, and when the next morning the owner sees all the broken statues he transforms his shop in rare antiques.

I think that the writers of TOY STORY might have had ispiration from this short as there are the toys that come to life. It has nice animation and a good soundtrack as usual with Disney in those times. Only a few scenes made me sad (the ones aforementioned about the ostrich and the peacock), but that is a minor quibble. Still, just another decent Silly Symphony.

The main point of this brief cartoon is that there is nothing . . .

[pixrox1 · 7/10 · 18 October 2021]

. . . "Fine" about China. This story opens with an unsuspecting shopkeeper posting a "Fine China" sign in the front window of his store. However, when he closes up for the night, a nefarious jade devil smashes most of his wares before being smashed to bits himself by the pendulum of a wall clock. Historically, China has always been entirely too fragile for dependable service, United Nations membership or keeping control of its own citizens, minorities and borders. All it takes is a warship or two in the international Straits of Taiwan to put China's nose out of joint. THE CHINA SHOP shows that china should be relegated to the trash heap of history, with the few remaining intact pieces being relabeled as "rare antiques" and relegated to locked cabinets.

Smashing short!

[Foreverisacastironmess123 · 7/10 · 29 December 2015]

I always enjoyed the Silly Symphonies that tried out different themes and concepts, and this one certainly is no exception, being all about living ornaments that come to life and cavort and caper when the owner of the shop closes for the night! And just for a little drama, as a pair of Victorian dancers begin to dance together, there is of course an awfully devilish jade ornament that lurks in a more sinister corner of the place who is instantly green with envy and swipes the girl! I love the way that all of the characters have a certain look and movement to them, they have a reflective sheen to them that creations of pot and glass would, and that little detail just beautifully conveys that. I really appreciate how the animators went to the trouble of doing that, had they been lazy they wouldn't have bothered to include such a rich touch. It was mighty appealing to me, I enjoyed the different approach to some of the animation, it's very brightly textured and colourful. The shorts had really picked up in quality by this time, but they had yet to reach the best quality that they did. You can perhaps see very early echoes of what would later be expanded upon in Beauty and the Beast with the dancing plates and teacups of the legendary "Be Our Guest" song over fifty years later! I love how there isn't any dialogue whatsoever and everything we see is played out to wonderful music. It's like an adorable little ceramic opera! It is a very classic kind of story that most Disney shorts had at their core: A villain kidnaps a girl and a hero has to save her. And I'm not criticising that formula at all, it's one of the most easy to get into and simplest of stories that you could tell in such a short amount of time. I also liked the ending where the kindly old shopkeeper returns to find his wares mysteriously cracked and damaged and not knowing what to make of it, but deciding to re-label them as "antiques" and raising the prices as the female dancer bashfully giggles. It's a good short but there's nothing about it that I'd say makes it an outstanding one. It's very animated, that's just the best way to put it! Excellent idea and presentation, good short. Tally-ho!

Fine China and Rare Antiques

[ackstasis · 7/10 · 2 December 2008]

Many of the early Silly Symphonies were concerned with scenes of nature, but 'The China Shop (1934)' constitutes an interesting change. Directed by Wilfred Jackson, the film unfolds entirely in a china shop, whose ceramic inhabitants come to life the moment the elderly owner leaves for home. The idea of inanimate objects become animate when we're not looking has always been a popular one for audiences: literary characters emerged from their books in MGM's 'The Bookworm (1939),' and the tradition stretches all the way to Pixar's success with 'Toy Story (1995).' It's human nature to want to anthropomorphise machines and toys, to ascribe to them motivations and emotions, and here Disney takes advantage of this fantasy, paradoxically unfolding an epic romantic battle in the confines of a quiet china store. The end result is a pleasant and enjoyable musical cartoon, animated in brilliant Technicolor, with a plot fuelled by romantic tension, and a battle between hero and villain.

As soon as the china shop's old proprietor sluggishly closes up for the night, the wide-eyed wall-clock gives the signal that the coast is clear. Every ceramic figure suddenly comes to life, and the dreary old store is quickly abuzz with festive cheer, and a handsome male dances romantically with his beautiful lady-friend. However, evil is afoot. A devilish, goat-legged satyr comes to life and crashes the party, locking up the beautiful woman in a glass cage to claim ownership over her. The male, of course, does not take kindly to his love being snatched away, and, though he gets battered and bruised along the way, challenges the satyr to an epic battle of strength and will. I don't need to tell you how the cartoon ends, but suffice to say that the china shop winds up a little worse for wear. Fortunately, in the film's humorous conclusion, the old shop-owner thinks up the surest solution to a busted-up china collection, proving that every disaster is simply a blessing in disguise.

Pleasant Disney Cartoon

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 19 August 2000]

A Walt Disney SILLY SYMPHONY Cartoon Short.

When the old proprietor closes down THE CHINA SHOP for the evening, all the various plates, mugs & figurines come alive and start to frolic. Among these are the little china figures of a young lord & lady. Their romantic interlude is shattered, literally, by a jealous goat-legged satyr, who wants possession of the little lady. The resulting struggle between the young lord & his antagonist creates havoc about the shop.

A pleasant, though unremarkable cartoon. Disney often used romantic tension to fuel his plots. Seldom, however, does his hero & heroine end up so battered & bruised as they do here.

The SILLY SYMPHONIES, which Walt Disney produced for a ten year period beginning in 1929, are among the most interesting of series in the field of animation. Unlike the Mickey Mouse cartoons in which action was paramount, with the Symphonies the action was made to fit the music. There was little plot in the early Symphonies, which featured lively inanimate objects and anthropomorphic plants & animals, all moving frantically to the soundtrack. Gradually, however, the Symphonies became the school where Walt's animators learned to work with color and began to experiment with plot, characterization & photographic special effects. The pages of Fable & Fairy Tale, Myth & Mother Goose were all mined to provide story lines and even Hollywood's musicals & celebrities were effectively spoofed. It was from this rich soil that Disney's feature-length animation was to spring. In 1939, with SNOW WHITE successfully behind him and PINOCCHIO & FANTASIA on the near horizon, Walt phased out the SILLY SYMPHONIES; they had run their course & served their purpose.

Lovely animation...practically no story.

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 16 August 2022]

In the mid-1930s, the Walt Disney Company signed an exclusive contract with the Technicolor Company. Because of this, other company's cartoons were either black & white or used the much uglier 2-color process (made of blends of green and orange). Because of this, Disney's Silly Symphony series was simply gorgeous...and the fine quality animation sure was a big plus.

So, I wasn't surprised that "The China Shop" was a pretty film to watch...simply lovely. However, it also is incredibly dull...with practically no plot whatsoever.

The film consists of a lot of porcelain coming to life after the owner of the shop leaves. A green devil attacks a dancing couple...and he's dispatched. The end.

Singing, dancing and no plot. I cannot imagine most people enjoying this film and it proves that even the Disney folks aren't perfect.

As the clock strikes twelve, the china shop comes to life to present an enormously entertaining and wholly memorable silly symphony.

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 21 September 2009]

This is just living proof that you can never grow too old to appreciate Disney for the pure art it is. The China Shop is enormously entertaining, and has everything you can ever ask for in a silly symphony. Brilliant Technicolour animation, a truly excellent music score and a very fun storyline. All the characters are great, the elderly owner, the two dancing antiques, the monkeys and the green (centaur-shaped) antagonistic satyr. Give yourself a treat from watching the China Shop, it is an unforgettable Disney gem, that not only brings back fond memories, but is so beautiful in story and presentation, you have to like it. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Like a pre-Toy Story adventure.

[OllieSuave-007 · 9/10 · 12 June 2018]

This is like a pre-Toy Story adventure, where various figurines and mugs come to life in a China stop after the owner leaves. Some excitement and intriguing moments when a demonic figure captures an upper-class lady and then does battle with her lord.

A clever and imaginative story here, with all the shattering and clanging of dishes.

Excellent use of color and characterization, if reminiscent of other shorts

[llltdesq · 8/10 · 14 November 2014]

This is an early color short in the Silly Symphonies series produced by the Disney studio. There will be spoilers ahead:

Much of this will be familiar, at least in terms of plot-boy and girl are courting, a rival interferes and our hero ultimately triumphs through the adversity to once again win the girl.

In this one, all but two of the characters are things made of china. Three monkeys, beer steins, cups and saucers and the like. There's the old man who owns the china shop and an animated wall clock. Everything else is china, including three figurines. The first two are a couple, who dance in one of the better sequences of the short. The third figurine is the bad gut, a green satyr who covets the female china figurine and grabs her.

A fight, of course, is inevitable, though our hero must fight more or less alone, with the satyr throwing whatever it can grab while the more active figures scatter. Finally, our hero beats the satyr with some rather timely (sorry) help from the clock and the couple is reunited. When the proprietor returns in the morning, he takes the carnage in stride and gives the short a funny, happy ending.

This short is available on the Disney Treasures More Silly Symphonies DVD set and both the set and this short are worth your time. Recommended.