Silly Symphony: “Playful Pan” (1930)

The Greek God Pan comes to Earth, coaxing music and dance out of the flora and fauna. Lightning strikes start a fire that nearly burn everything. Pan uses his music to lure the flames into a nearby pond where they are safely extinguished.

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Pygmalio (1990-91)

 

Pygmalio consists of 39 episodes (25 min. in length) produced by TV Tokyo and is based on the manga of the same name by Shinji Wada, which was published between 1978 and 1990. It tells the story of Kurt/Coult, the prince of the kingdom of Loon, son of King Stephan and Galatea, whose mother is the goddess Aganade. She has blessed Kurt with a cheerful spirit and special talents which he has to use to defeat Medusa. When Kurt was a baby, Medusa transformed Galatea and others into statues out of envy at her happy marriage to the king. Medusa also forced King Stephan to swear allegiance to her and to promise to make Kurt do so on his eighth birthday in order to save his kingdom. When the day comes Kurt declares he will defeat Medusa and restore those transformed back into humans. He sets out on a long journey to the Land of the Dead in order to complete his quest.

More:

https://myanimelist.net/anime/3765/Pygmalio

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=1817

 

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Allegro Non Troppo: “Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune” (1976)

This feature-length Italian film, directed by Bruno Bozzetto, is a parody of Disney’s Fantasia. It features six animated vignettes which are interspersed with live-action black and white scenes showing the fictional animator, orchestra, conductor and filmmaker commenting and working on the production of the film in a humorous fashion.

Two of its animated episodes derive their subject matter directly from Fantasia — the first of these is the first vignette in Allegro non Troppo set to Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, which was inspired by the Centaur scene set to Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony. In this story, an elderly satyr pursues nymphlike nude female figures, all in a failed effort to restore the virility and good looks of his youth. The erotic yet humorous storyline depicts the humiliation of the satyr as he grows ever smaller in size. The scene ends on a peaceful note, with the landscape traversed by the satyr transformed into a woman’s body.

More:

http://www.bozzetto.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegro_Non_Troppo

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“It’s a Greek Life” (1936)

One of the final shorts produced by Van Beuren Studios, the 25th entry in their Rainbow Parade series. A centaur cobbler is hired to to repair Mercury’s flying sandals with the help of a couple ducks. Instead of getting the job done, he takes the sandals on a fun flight over the Greek landscape while the ducks antagonize him. Mercury returns before the centaur has completed the job and mischief ensues. The characters have stereotypical Italian accents and there’s lots of clever animated play with the sculpture.

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Run, Melos! [走れメロス!] (1992, 2nd version)

Released in Japan in 1992 by Bandai, Run, Melos! (Hashire Melos! in Japan) is a 107- minute animated adaptation of the famous 1940 short story by Osamu Dazai and a remake of the 1981 animated film. It featured direction and screenplay by Masaaki Osumi and was produced by Visual 80. This was the second of three versions of “Run, Melos!” — click here to learn more about the 1981 film and here to learn about the 2009 version.

Note: The story was also animated as a 30-minute stop-motion short for the Classic Children’s Tales series (1992), and again, as a 10-minute short directed by Keisuke Morishita, for the Famous Japanese Fables series (1997).

 

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