One of my all time favorites.

Absolutely the worst movie.

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

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

This short film was released in the full-length Disney film "Make Mine Music"--a very, very uneven collection of short films with musical themes. I assume that because so many of the shorts in this film were just awful, that's why Disney later released several of the better shorts as stand-alone shorts. Heck, until I recently saw "Make Mine Music", I always thought that "Peter and the Wolf" was a stand-alone short, as that's how I saw it as a kid.The film begins with Sterling Holloway (the voice of Winnie the Pooh) narrating. First, he explains how each character in the story is represented by different musical instruments and then he narrates the story itself as the animation is presented. For the most part, it's great for kids who can tolerate classical and neo-classical music---others might be a bit bored. However, the animation is nice and there is a sweet charm to the story.

This wonderful short is part of Disney's 'Make Mine Music' but clearly deserves a separate review.Disney's version of 'Peter and the Wolf' is very good. It has a nice story well narrated by the legendary Sterling Holloway, wonderful artwork and sceneries, brilliant Russian classical music, darkness, suspense, sympathetic characters and a fabulous "villain" (the wolf).This may sound crazy, but the classical music is used mostly to represent the characters. A different musical instrument is used for each individual character. What's even crazier is that this method is actually very effective. The music tells a lot about the characters, as much as words themselves (if not more). The music varies in its rhythm and temperament according to each individual character. In the case of the wolf, the music has that predictably dark, spooky and suspenseful feeling.It's not just the music that has Russian roots. This short feels Russian in everything. Peter has the Russian looks. Some of the characters's names are Russian. The narrator does a very good job at saying a few Russian words. The cinematography is typically Russian, with those settings and all the snow...The wolf is my favorite character. I really, really love that wolf. It is astonishing and must have been the nightmare of many children from my generation. That wolf has everything to be a winner in a terrifying way: it is awesome, powerful, noble, intimidating and vicious. Its expressive large eyes transmit pure viciousness and terror. That is one big wolf. Its roar is genuine. Its mouth is enormous and slobbery, its tongue is endless and its many sharp teeth demand respect.Ironically, the smallest of all the characters, Sasha the little bird, is the only one who doesn't seem to be that afraid of the big beast... even after nearly becoming food for the wolf 3 times (the number of times he ends up in its huge maw).Title in Portugal: 'Pedro e o Lobo'.

"Peter and the Wolf" is a wonderful Disney animated short. It is one of the segments from "Make Mine Music" (the 8th animated Disney classic). However, I was never really a fan of "Make Mine Music" and I don't remember much from it.But I always loved "Peter and the Wolf" and I'm familiar with it, so I decided to write a review just for that one.It is a perfect Disney classic. Along with "Fantasia", this is a good way to introduce classical music to children, so that they can appreciate this type of music since an early age. Classical music is often an underestimated sort of music, which is unfair.However, "Peter and the Wolf" has the classical music of Sergei Prokofiev. It is a beautiful, soft and very relaxing music to hear.The music is also used here for a peculiar aim: to represent thematically each character by the sound of several musical instruments (violins, flute and others).The characters are adorable: Sasha (a bird), Sonia (a duck), Ivan (a cat) and the brave little boy Peter.Peter is a very brave child because he decides to get out of his house (where he lives with his grandfather) to try to hunt a big bad wolf. But the wolf isn't just big - it is enormous! It is also quite scary, especially on his first appearance when he looks literally to the camera. This wolf is also absolutely amazing and majestic!Once Peter leaves home he makes immediately friends (animal friends): Sasha, Sonia and Ivan. They have a great time together, but when they have to confront the wolf, they're all (except Sasha) in panic and absolutely frightened, especially Ivan.Sasha doesn't show off his fear and confronts the wolf in a brave but at the same time hilarious way: he uses his beak as a defense and then he tries (unsuccessfully) to roll the wolf's lips. That's when the wolf takes the bird into his enormous and amazing mouth and starts to close it... Sasha is almost the wolf's lunch - a scene full of tension and suspense.The beauty of the artwork and sceneries is another quality of this great and timeless classic.This should definitely be on Top 250.

Because crocodiles are always getting the hots for them!!LOL More seriously, few animals have had a facial expression mold an image of how they look more than wolves. Some say their howl gave them their reputation, I think it's their growl, & teeth baring. Traditionally, paintings of wolves showed them growling enough to easily lead to the impression that the snarl is a permanent facial fixture, & that image is reflected in the way they're drawn in animations like PATW. If cartoons of the time were all one had to go by, one could easily believe wolves look like hairy crocodiles w/ bushy tails & long legs who's dental daggers are on 24/7 display. Of coarse, their noses aren't that long, & they don't snarl much more than most any other canine, although their growl is a little more menacing. This was my favorite version of the musical, & my favorite portrayal of the wolf. I remember a stage-play version where the wolf was played by some hot babe who shook her booty to the wolf music. Not that my hormones weren't kicking in yet, but I liked the good & ferocious wolf of the 1946 Disney version, & didn't cotton to the awesome score being adapted to sexual overtones. I think I've noticed some versions of this try to downplay the wolf's music, probably because it was too dark & menacing for such a cute story.Probably thought it a genre conflict. However, Disney probably said "That's not conflict! That's CONTRAST!" Disney-true to its nature, is legendary at blendingsomething that's kid-friendly & something that's dark sided enough toentertain older watchers. They don't say it's for all ages for nothing!Best 10 minute feature Disney ever had. Would love to see the RichLittle version. Heard that he used the voice of Carol Channing as theDuck, Paul Lynd as the cat, & Richard Nixon as the wolf.Scene where folks are dancing in the street over the wolf's capture wouldn't go over well where wolves are being reintroduced however.