Original release date: September 16, 1933

Rating: TV-G and “It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”

Length: seven rat-filled minutes

Background: “The Pied Piper” is a Disney take on the classic short story of the same name released under their Silly Symphony line.

Review:

First note: the color is really great in this short.

The town has a major rat problem with rats eating all the food, running crazy, and general chaos. The townspeople get together and sing “Rats, rats, we’ve gotta get rid of the rats” instead of actually doing anything. The mayor sings back to them, offering a bag of shiny gold to anyone who can get rid of the rats. Just in time, Pied Piper himself walks in with his pipe and says he can do it. He plays a tune which the rats love (because rats love pipe music) and follow him right out of town and to a massive wheel of cheese that is just sitting in the country. Why haven’t I found a massive wheel of cheese somewhere.

Piper returns to town and is laughed away by the Mayor (sigh, government corruption) who offers him one piece of golf because all he did was play a pipe. The townspeople, who ten minutes earlier were singing in protest about their rat problem, also laugh at him. Piper threatens to pipe the children away from the town and away from the cruel townspeople.

Sure enough, he plays his tune and the kids follow him. This is of course kind of shocking in 2019, but I guess in 1933 kids just marching away behind a dude with a pipe seemed safe. They follow him to a land full of candy canes and playground equipment and then CLOSES A MOUNTAIN WALL WHERE THE PARENTS CAN NEVER GET TO THEIR KIDS AGAIN. Holy crap. What a horrifying end.

I noticed no cultural depictions.

Extras:

Why would you even want more after creepster walled off the kids from their parents?

Should you watch it?

I’m throwing a big “skip it” on this one. It’s a classic story and all but it’s also a big creepy. Parents, teach your kids to not talk to strangers… or follow them if they start playing pipe music and offering them giant candy cane-filled playgrounds.