OllieSuave-007
A small Indian child attempts to go hunting in the forest, but ultimately spares the life of a little bunny rabbit after cornering him. As a result, when he comes under attack by a ferocious bear, the forest animals return the favor and try to save him. A nice little cartoon about compassion and heroism. It's full of excitement and thrills - a good Silly Symphony from Disney.Grade A
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"Little Hiawatha" is a 9-minute cartoon from 1937, so this one has its 80th anniversary this year already. The director is David Hand and if you have not heard the name yet, then it is probably your loss (as it is mine too) because he worked on some of the classics that are certainly more known than this short film by Disney we have here. It is the story of an Indian, who goes out hunting, but realizes he just isn't tough enough and makes friends with the animals of the forest instead. Then again, even if he had that bunny, he may not have the greatest talent for hunting as you maybe saw from his earlier unsuccessful chase of a grasshopper. The animals are grateful they may live and they help him afterward when the boy is chased by a wild bear and again the bear is really only mad because Hiawatha came to close to his cub, so there really are no true villains in here, just a protective bear mother, a curios and clumsy Indian kid and many harmless animals who just want to live in peace. And yes this is of course from the Golden Age of Animation, so the visual side is top-notch. Overall, maybe the film was not the greatest in in-depth story-telling and love to detail in the script, but for under 10 minutes, it is good enough. Go check it out if you love old cartoons. The only thing that bothered me a bit was the recurring naked butt joke that wasn't funny the first time even, but that is really pretty much the only flaw I saw in it. I give this one a thumbs-up.
RbDeraj
I first saw this as a bonus feature on Disney's Pocahontas 2 which I have thoroughly enjoyed ever since. It follows the story of a little Indian (Native American) boy who wants to be a mighty warrior. All of the animals in the forest mock him because he is just a child and can do them no harm, but hen he corners a baby rabbit they take him more seriously. Little Hiawatha fails to go through with it though and pardons the bunny letting it go back to its parents. He then stumbles upon an angry bear and the little forest animals help him on an adventurous escape to flee from the beast, and in the end become his friends like his brothers of nature.The animation and movements are perfect which is typical of old school Disney cartoons. It is really enjoyable to watch these and see some of the actions or characters that Disney uses in later movies. For example the opossums swinging little Hiawatha throughout the trees is copied in The Jungle Book where the monkeys do the same with Mowgli. The story was entertaining, funny, and cute. All around a great little short.
MartinHafer
If you are looking for this short, try the "Disney Timeless Treasures: Volume 3". It's there along with several other seldom-seen cartoon shorts.I wasn't too thrilled about seeing this short, as I am NOT a huge fan of poetry and I have little interest in the Longfellow poem that inspired this film. However, when it began I was immediately captivated by the wonderful animation--with brilliant colors, amazing backgrounds and top-notch quality throughout. In fact, for a 1930s short, I can't think of one that looked any better than this one. It's also interesting because "Snow White" and "Bambi" debuted just a short time later--and you can really see how this film influenced these two wonderful full-length films. Simply put, the animals looked almost exactly like Snow White's woodland friends and an awful lot like Bambi's pals (but to a lesser extent).As far as the story goes, it's really NOT the Longfellow poem--and it's only used a tiny bit at the beginning and end. Instead, you see a cute American-Indian boy running about with the animals--trying to be tough. That is, until a big nasty bear nearly gobbles up the kid! And, thanks to the nice (and cute) animals, Little Hiawatha is able to escape--just barely.All in all, while not among the best of the Silly Symphonies from Disney, it is one of the better ones and is highly enjoyable even 73 years later. A lovely little film.
AD
