Wordiezett So much average

FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Foreverisacastironmess Feeling a bit festive lately so this is one of old short animations that I thought I'd check out again after a long while. Um, it's adequate. I've seen way better Christmas-themed vintage cartoons though. The mass of Christ used to be my favourite of all the traditional holidays, before it was usurped by the darker and more fun magic of Halloween! When it starts though, oh my what a lovely enchanting opening scene of the busy workshop with the snow and sun around it in the North Pole, so exactly what generations of kids would picture in their heads when reminded of Santa's workplace. This short sees a most classic version of jolly Saint Nick reading off a long list of good and bad little children as his many elf helpers go about constructing the gifts that he will be delivering for Christmas Day. Like in all short animations now that I think about it, I love the smaller things in the animation like all the colourful wrapping paper and baubles in the backgrounds, and the machinery that helps build the rocking horses and when they're painting the blocks and the adorable little parade of wooden clockwork animals which was my favourite part of the short. Like with many of the Silly Symphonies in one way or another, there's a definite emphasis on the industry of what's going on, with the many working together to create some greater goal, and I always love to see that kind of imaginative animation on display. I do wish however, that the animators had opted to give Santa a nice rosy pink face, because I don't know if it was just the print that I watched, but he looks white as a dang ghost.. When Santa's teaching the dolls to say mama I just knew they couldn't resist having a black doll leap out and yell "Mammy!" Well I thought it was funny, and hey at least Santa appreciated her sass and didn't throw her back! It's a cute enough short with a bit of Christmas spirit behind it, but nothing about it leaps out at me that much at all. I liked the sequel Symphony "The Night Before Christmas" better. I mean it is over 84 fricking years old and is bound to be rough around the edges, but it's never the age or state of the animation that bothers me, only when a short is bland and fails to hit me! But regardless of my view of this particular short, I still love that good old-fashioned sweet heartwarming image of Christmas and I sincerely hope that young families of today still celebrate the season in that way with their kids because there's priceless emotional worth attached to those traditions that you don't fully appreciate until you're a little older. So give and love and feel that spirit of festivity and don't forget to be good, you know why! X

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "Santa's Workshop" is another really old Silly Symphony from Walt Disney. The master himself appears as voice actor in here and so does the legendary Pinto Colvig. Director is Wilfred Jackson, who also made many many of these 7-minute short films. Some of the action takes place in the snow here, especially towards the end, but the toy shop sequence is when this movie really shines. The music is very good too from start to finish. Wild, but not over-the-top and perfectly adjusted to what we see. The animation is of course not too mind-blowing, but keep in mind that this is over 80 years ago. For the early 1930s, it's actually really good. And there is no denying its traditional charm. I enjoyed the watch. It is not among Disney most or least famous short film works, but definitely worth checking out, especially now with Christmas approaching. May get you in the spirit. Thumbs up.

MartinHafer This is the sort of Disney film that played very, very well back in the day but today it would certainly not be received so warmly. This short is a snippet of the North Pole and Santa's workshop. It has little in the way of actual plot and mostly consists of singing and cuteness. Today, it would probably be seen as very saccharine and bland. Additionally, there are some unnecessary but typical racial stereotypes that will offend today but were considered perfectly normal back in the day. So, with all this going against it, why do I give this a 9? Well, the animation is simply gorgeous and it's in full Technicolor-- and nothing from any of the rival studios of the day came close when it came to quality. It simply looks great. Worth seeing even today but not up to the standards of many of the other Disney shorts of the day in regard to story.

Robert Reynolds This is a very good short and the animation is the quality you expect from Disney in this time-period. But it isn't one of the best Disney did in the 1930s, which should give you an idea just how great Disney was in the 1930s. No one else could consistently even come close to them until about 1938 or 1939. Other studios were doing good work, but until Disney started focusing more on features, they were all but alone at the top in terms of animated shorts. Well worth tracking down. Recommended.