I'm a huge Fleischer fan, but I'd have a hard time agreeing the Silly Symphonies aren't as good. There are high and low points across each studio's output throughout the 30s, both had their own unique perspective on animation, and both made great historic contributions to the art form. What fascinates me maybe more than anything is to see the trajectory of animation technique and developing ethos of what animation could become during that decade. When you compare each successive short, you can see the animators trying, failing, succeeding, learning, and evolving as they went. It's also interesting to look at these shorts as preparations for the early feature films. Once Disney started discovering and mastering their techniques, bringing more pathos and sensitivity to the stories, and escalating their standards of observation, the quality of the films took off exponentially, and came to set the bar for all animation to come.
That said, certainly I don't consider this short the pinnacle of what Disney achieved, but I do have a special fondness for it. That's also not to say I'm not obsessed with many other projects from the Disney vault as well! If you're interested in animation, I can't recommend enough closely studying the whole Silly Symphonies series and learning about what was happening behind the scenes at each point.
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