Peculiar Penguins (1934) User Reviews

March of the peculiars

[CuriosityKilledShawn · 6/10 · 1 September 2013]

This animated documentary set on an Antarctic island features a colony of happy penguins as they go about their mating rituals and day-to-day habits. One of them tries to impress his girlfriend by catching fish, which she does in fact eat and swallow. But this, being a Disney cartoon, does not mean the fish is slowly and painfully dissolved in her stomach acid, so the fish escapes whole and she goes off to find her own lunch, leaving the male jilted.

He tries to warn her of an approaching shark, though I am sure than no sharks stalk Antarctic waters, but I could be wrong. The male eventually rescues her by bonking it on the nose with a stick - fine method of dispatching a squalus if there ever was one. Even after being swallowed by the shark the male, and other little fish do manage to escape.

Underlying message of cartoon: no animals are carnivorous.

A sappy story, but some excitement.

[OllieSuave-007 · 7/10 · 11 June 2018]

Two penguins attempt to woo each other, but a dispute led the female to swim off, leaving the male down in the dumps. But, some excitement comes when the male tries to save the female from a hungry shark.

A pretty sappy story overall, but the shark chase gives the cartoon some intrigue. Some funny moments as well.

Grade B-

Listening to this, it's not hard to see why Mr. Stalling . . .

[pixrox1 · 5/10 · 4 September 2021]

. . . fled the rodent ranch for the more thoughtful tenements of "Termite Terrace." After initiating the "Silly Symphonies" for the unappreciative tightwad ingrate Walt with SKELETON DANCE, Carl soon discovered that the mousy man was far more interested in pretty colors and mind-numbing pablum than in family entertainment for ALL ages. Take PECULIAR PENGUINS, for example. It's theme song is so obnoxiously saccharin that the shark "villain" seems happy to be murdered by boulder toward the end of this insipid mess, just to escape hearing the last grating reprise of the terrible tune.

Sweet Silly Symphony about penguins

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 20 September 2009]

This was really sweet, and seeing that I love anything to do with penguins, it does have a special place in my heart. There is some beautiful animation especially with the antarctic backgrounds, and the theme song is beautiful beyond words. The two penguin characters are so cute and likable, and the shark is ferocious enough so it is easy to hate him. Though I did kind of feel sorry for him at the end. The story is over familiar from seeing other shorts like Once Upon a Wintertime, but the characters, animation and music compensate hugely. And I loved how it ended, a happy but beautiful moment.

Overall, very sweet animated gem, that people will love. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Good, though a trifle familiar, short from Disney

[llltdesq · 8/10 · 3 April 2002]

This short is an entertaining, very cute bit of animation. It uses a lot of bits used in other shorts, so it's all quite familiar even though I don't recall ever seeing this before. The animation is up to Disney's standards for the time and this is well worth the time to get and watch. Good to see it's in print. Recommended.

Disney Visits Penguin Island

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 22 October 2000]

A Walt Disney SILLY SYMPHONY Cartoon Short.

Peter & Polly, a couple of PECULIAR PENGUINS, share a romance of frigid delights on Antarctica's Penguin Island. Their happiness is soon threatened, however, by the arrival of a ferocious shark...

A pleasant cartoon with cute characters, but no great significance. This was the type of animation which, by this time, the Disney artists could do in their sleep.

The SILLY SYMPHONIES, which Walt Disney produced for a ten year period beginning in 1929, are among the most fascinating of all animated series. 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.