Sidney's Family Tree (1958) User Reviews

A cute cartoon, but it's Oscar nod is a real head-scratcher

[llltdesq · 7/10 · 20 November 2001]

This is a cute cartoon, but why it was nominated for an Oscar, I doubt I'll ever figure out! It was a borderline year for shorts, true, MGM didn't do much and they probably didn't want two shorts from Warner Brothers nominated. Maybe they decided to give Paul Terry a second nod because Terrytoons had only one previous nomination. It's a cute cartoon with a funny premise (neurotic elephant in search of a family tries to get one to adopt him) but this is nothing that special. Worth watching.

Sidney's Family Tree was one of three Oscar-nominated cartoons for 1958

[tonyvmonte-54973 · 7/10 · 9 March 2024]

This is one of three cartoons that was nominated for an Oscar for 1958. Sidney is an adult elephant who has a childlike personality. In this one, he's looking for a mother to love him. A hippo and a giraffe both reject him but a monkey accepts his offer but her hubby wants to get rid of him right away! This was pretty amusing but did the Academy Award people really think of this as worthy of a nomination? Maybe this was one of the better of the Terrytoon ones as this short was made after founder Paul Terry retired and sold his studio to CBS which then installed Gene Deitch as the supervising director which is the credit he gets here. Actual director is credited to Art Bartsch. Only two more nominees to go...

Sidney's Family Tree

[CinemaSerf · 7/10 · 10 February 2024]

"Sidney" is the somewhat melodramatic, forty-four year old, elephant who was abandoned as a calf and is desperately looking for someone to adopt him as their son. The hippo and the giraffe politely decline, but when a friendly monkey agrees, her husband thinks the world's gone mad - especially when "Sidney" starts climbing trees and helping them with the harvest. His mother even knits him a trunk-cosy! The animation is pretty basic, but the increasing frustration of his "father" as he tries to get shot of his new offspring did make me smile a few times and think of Johnny Weissmuller. Might true love come to the rescue, or will that just exacerbate things? I liked this.