Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Bergorks If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Horst in Translation ([email protected]) These 7.5 minutes we have here are a Disney color cartoon from 1933, so the very early days of the Golden Age of Animation. It was directed by Wilfred Jackson, one of the company's finest. Well what can you say here. The looks of characters and landscapes are really amazing visually and this film is so far ahead of its time it isn't even funny. The music is also on a very high level and this one is evidence that Disney really is not relying on their trademark characters (Mickey, Donald) when it comes to making quality films. I am amazed and not surprised that this one really made it as a cartoon of under 10 minutes into the list of NBR's top10 films back then from that year. The story is good too and has a nice moral. Also this is really one movie where ecerybody has shades and you don't always see that in (old) animation. The rats early on, the piper and the townsfolk. Everybody is somehow bad in its own right, but you can make an argument for everybody too why they do what they do, even if it is certainly quite a challenge for the townsfolk. At the end, Disney keeps it light and charming with the kids arriving in Toyland and that boy even losing his crutches hides the fact very well that the parents all lost their children, even the innocents who maybe wanted to pay the piper for what he did with the rats. The stork scene was a nice addition and overall with this ending Disney definitely keeps it family friendly. I was tempted at times to give this one an even higher rating, it is definitely among the very best 1933 has to offer in terms of film, not just short film. I especially liked the piper's looks. So yeah, no hesitation here, I think you really wanna check this one out. Big thumbs-up.

utgard14 This early Disney Technicolor short, part of the Silly Symphonies series, tackles the old story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. The story is the one most of us know - town is overrun by rats so the town leaders hire the Piper to lure the rats out of town. He does this but they refuse to pay him, leading the Piper to exact his revenge in a manner that has creepier undertones these days than it did when this was made. Anyway, this is a good cartoon version of the story and teaches kids valuable lessons about paying your debts and the power of wind instruments. I guess it also teaches kids if a strange man shows up playing a flute you should follow him because he'll lead you to Toyland. The animation is very good, especially the backgrounds. The color is just gorgeous. The music is lively. All of the voice work is fine. Really not much bad to say about it except that, while it's good, it's not great.

TheLittleSongbird With a few new twists on the classic poem, this is an interesting and charming Silly Symphony. What I loved most was the beautiful animation and the sweet, charming music that is playful, whimsical and simple. I found myself chanting along the townspeople in the chorus "Rats!Rats!We Gotta Get Rid of the Rats!" The characters aren't too bad either, the pied Piper of the title is very likable, the children are cute and the Mayor is seen as quite greedy and manipulative.The pacing is a little uneven here, but compared to how much I enjoyed The Pied Piper it is a minor criticism. Overall, this is very enjoyable and charming with a few new and nice twists on the poem. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Neil Doyle This Silly Symphonies cartoon begins with a graphic example of how rats are overpowering Hamelin Town, all to the tune of a spirited song about the little creatures. The mayor of the city offers a bag of gold to anyone who will help the townspeople get rid of all the rats. The Pied Piper turns up, announcing he'll reduce the overrun rat population and accept the bag of gold for reward. Next thing you know, the little critters are all following him down a country road far away from town and he's ready to return for his gold. "I've done my work as I was told and now I'll take my bag of gold." The Mayor refuses to carry out the bargain and the townspeople say all he did was play a tune, so the Piper declares he'll remove all the children of the town from their influence. And so, he woos them off to a childhood paradise where they can sing and play rather than be used as little more than hard-worked servants by their parents.Charming animation helps make it a morality tale with a happy ending.