Peter and the Wolf is an animated short of the segment in Make Mine Music. It was released in 1946 and produced by Walt Disney, with Sterling Holloway providing the voice of the narrator. It was reissued as a stand-alone short on September 14, 1955.
Synopsis[]
The musical tale of Peter, a small Russian boy who goes out to hunt a wolf, and almost bites off more than he can chew!
Characters[]
Each character is represented by a corresponding instrument in the music:
- Peter (string quartet)
- Sasha (flute)
- Sonia (oboe)
- Ivan (clarinet)
- Peter's Grandfather (bassoon)
- Misha, Yasha, and Vladimir (timpani and woodwinds) and their guns (kettle drums)
- Wolf (French horn)
This version makes several changes to the original story, for example:
- During the character introduction, Peter's animal friends are given names: "Sasha" the bird, "Sonia" the duck, and "Ivan" the cat.
- As the short begins, Peter and his animals friends already know there is a wolf nearby and are preparing to catch him.
- The hunters get names at a later point in the story: "Misha, Yasha, and Vladimir".
- Peter daydreams of hunting and catching the wolf and exits his cabin carrying a wooden "popgun" rifle with the purpose of hunting the wolf down.
- At the end, in a complete reversal of the original (and to make the story more child-friendly), it turns out that Sonia has not been eaten by the wolf. (He is shown chasing her, who hides in a tree's trunk. He attacks out of view, then returns in view with some of her feathers in his mouth and licking his jaws. Peter, Ivan, and Sasha assume he has eaten her. After he has been caught, Sasha is shown mourning over Sonia. She comes out of the tree trunk at that point, and they are happily reunited.)
This version of Peter and the Wolf was featured in House of Mouse, and characters from it appeared in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and an audio recording of it with expanded narration by Sterling Holloway was released on Disneyland Records (DQ-1242). On one of his television programs, Disney recalled how Prokofiev himself visited the Disney studio, eventually inspiring the making of this version. Disney used an actor to recreate how the composer sat at a piano and played the themes from the score.
Voice Cast[]
- Sterling Holloway - Narrator
- Pinto Colvig - Vocal Effects
- Jimmy MacDonald - Vocal Effects
- Clarence Nash - Vocal Effects (Ivan the Cat)
Trivia[]
- The opening scene of the story and a part of the wolf's first scene were used for the "Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow" montage in the Disney Sing Along Songs volume Very Merry Christmas Songs.
- Parts of the scene of the instruments that represented the characters were seen in the documentary The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: The Story Behind the Masterpiece.
- The sobs heard during the scene where Sonia appears to have been eaten are re-used stock sound effects of Grumpy and Dopey's sobs from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Releases (standalone)[]
Television[]
- Disneyland, episode #4.1: "The Fourth Anniversary Show" (1957)
- Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, episode #11.8: "Ben and Me/Peter and the Wolf"
- Good Morning, Mickey, episode #71
- Donald Duck Presents, episode #21
Video[]
Gallery[]
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