The Silly Symphony Collection Review

One of the things that Disney is known for is great music.  Since the beginning of his cartoon days, Walt Disney wanted not just great cartoons, but great sounding cartoons.  Eventually he married the two in the acclaimed Silly Symphony shorts.  These experimental films incorporated music almost like a character itself.  There have been 75 Silly Symphony cartoons.  Though a few have been released as soundtrack tracks, not all have appeared on albums before…until now!

IMG_2445At the D23 Expo, I had a chance to be one of the first to purchase an historic collection of musical tracks: The Silly Symphony Collection.  This eight LP showcase features every single soundtrack of the great series Walt produced.  Enclosed in a grey, canvas slipcase with individual album sleeves, this is an exquisite album.  Also enclosed are specific download codes for the digital album of each.

The sleeves and album covers that each record has is a symphony of art.  Pictures from the shorts as well as descriptions of them are in the covers.  On the sleeves are posters of the more notable cartoon shorts, like Flowers and Trees.

So, does the collection bode well to the ears?  Yes, it does.  Being a huge fan of Disney cartoons, and very much including the Silly Symphony shorts, this is a collection that I’ve been waiting for a long time to have.  Since these films are all about the music, it’s a delight to finally have each symphony to listen to at pleasure.  My only critique is that the tracks don’t seem to be remastered, but rather presented in original quality.  Nonetheless, it is a great collection of one of the best sets of songs Disney has done.  The casing and artwork is icing on the cake, and a lot of it.  The covers look great and have a collectible quality to it.

In all, this is a wonderful set of records and digital albums.  It’s nice for the collector.  It’s nice for the Disney music fan.  It’s great for the Disney historian.  I’m delighted to have it!