The Little Goldfish (1939) User Reviews

Big Disney influence in MGM cartoon from 1939...

[Doylenf · 7/10 · 20 March 2008]

Delightful MGM cartoon directed by Rudolf Ising tells the tale of a goldfish inadvertently washed down the drain by a careless woman changing the water in his fishbowl.

The fanciful tale is beautifully animated with lush backgrounds that become especially innovative and attractive once the fish has his underwater adventures in the ocean. All sorts of dangers lurk everywhere as every kind of predator fish tries to ensnare the little goldfish with absolutely no luck.

The colors are dazzling, the array of fish is worthy of something Disney did with the underwater world in "Pinocchio", and the little goldfish himself is creatively animated and given the Disneyesque treatment wrapped up in spunk and sympathy. And that ending is something you'd never suspect unless you're a real movie buff.

Well worth watching, especially if you liked the early animated art of Disney that's captured in this non-Disney MGM cartoon.

Underwater adventure of the goldfish

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 7 November 2018]

Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes, Hanna Barbera, Studio Ghibli and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons. With significantly broader knowledge of different directors, animation styles and studios, actually appreciate and love it even more now.

'The Little Goldfish' is fairly typical of Rudolf Ising, leaning towards the cute kind of cartoon with a lot of sentiment in alternative to the laugh a minute and hilarious kind, the latter being the one that a lot seem to prefer (understandably, though am hardly biased against the former). This approach has varied with Ising. In some instances it has been very sweet and charming, in others it can be cloying and too cutesy. Generally 'The Little Goldfish' belongs in the former category, despite the danger of falling into the latter with the premise.

'The Little Goldfish' has a lot to like and deserving of more attention.

Yes it gets a bit too saccharine in places, and it is best perhaps to not talk about the story because there really isn't much of one.

What 'The Little Goldfish' does so well however eclipses these problems. The animation is especially brilliant, it is rich in detail for design and backgrounds, vibrant in colour and crisp. Composer for the prime-era 'Tom and Jerry' cartoons and regular Tex Avery composer Scott Bradley provides a lush and atmospheric music score.

It is hard not to fall in love with the goldfish, who has charm, spunk and cuteness in bucket-loads, and it has enough likeability and personality to not be dull. 'The Little Goldfish' is rich in natural sweet charm and some very imaginative ideas and visuals, the underwater world so richly rendered. There is not much hilarious and the cartoon's hardly laugh a minute, but a good deal of it does raise a smile and the conflict has the right amount of tension and urgency without being over the top. The predatory characters add a lot to the cartoon, with colourful personalities. The pace avoids being draggy.

Overall, lovely cartoon. 8/10 Bethany Cox

solid cartoon short

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 23 July 2022]

A little goldfish wishes to get out of its little fish bowl. That's exactly what happens one day but the big wide ocean is full of scary creatures. Sometimes, a dream is not really a dream.

It's a MGM Rudolf Ising production. William Hanna is the supposed writer. It's a pretty simple story. The animation is old school. It's a nice simple cartoon short. The crab has interesting claws and is a little bit comical. This is solid.

Crabs are jerks!

[Foreverisacastironmess123 · 7/10 · 9 August 2017]

That's something I learned from this sweet little animated dirty from 1933 cartoon land! It's all about a sad and bored goldfish who yearns for fun and freedom in the big blue ocean, and this is one fish who one day gets his wish as the water of his small dwelling is rather carelessly changed, and he about immediately regrets his decision to make his great escape as he's shot on a wild little ride through the pipes and sewers until he's dunked on the ocean floor where he soon bumps into nought but very ill tempered and unfriendly sea life such as murderous crabs and a voracious pike that gives chase until the goldfish is eventually trapped and it appears doomed - until a very 'classic' twist is revealed, that everything that happened was merely his dream, and he awakens to find himself with a newfound appreciation of the snug safety of his little bowl - and be it ever so humble, apparently there really is no place like home! I could tell where this short was going as soon as I saw the picture book right next to the bowl, plus that is a twist that is used many times throughout the old cartoons of this era. I love how fluid the animation is and how brightly beautiful and well coloured all the backgrounds and fish and everything is, all of the creatures love about so smoothly through the vivid undersea surroundings which just had to have inspired the sea floor sequence in Pinocchio or been connected to it in some way because the similarities are pretty unmistakable. It get top marks for colouring and animation but as far as the overall impact goes it's a little thin and too simplistic somewhere for my tastes and is very by-the-numbers, not that I ever loved any vintage animated short for the fantastic plot but it's a tad lacking for me. I find the similar Tom and Jerry short "The Cat and the Mermouse" to be quite superior. It's certainly a very enjoyable bit of animation though, perhaps no sea dream cartoon classic but a real fine kettle of fish? X

Alma, Where Are You Going?

[boblipton · 5/10 · 23 July 2022]

A bowl-bound goldfish accidentally gets washed to sea, where he has many cute adventures.

Which I don't like. Another reviewer admits this is one of the cute cartoons, not a funny one, and I am one of those people who don't care for them. True, director Rudolf Ising has put a bunch of visual puns into this one, including catfish who meow and seahorses who whinny, but I'm a slapstick-and-wisecrack sort of guy.

As usual, the art and animation is topnotch, but even so.....