The Old Mill

The Old Mill is a 1937 Silly Symphonies cartoon produced by Walt Disney, directed by Wilfred Jackson, scored by Leigh Harline, and released to theatres by RKO Radio Pictures on November 5, 1937. The film depicts the natural community of animals populating an old abandoned windmill in the country, and how they deal with a severe thunderstorm that nearly destroys their habitat. It incorporates the song "One Day When We Were Young" from Johann Strauss II's operetta The Gypsy Baron.

Like many of the later Silly Symphonies, The Old Mill was a testing-ground for advanced animation techniques. Marking the first use of Disney's multiplane camera, the film also incorporates realistic depictions of animal behavior, complex lighting and color effects, depictions of rain, wind, lightning, ripples, splashes and reflections, three-dimensional rotation of detailed objects, and the use of timing to produce specific dramatic and emotional effects. All of the lessons learned from making The Old Mill would subsequently be incorporated into Disney's feature-length animated films, especially 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Awards and accolades

 * The Old Mill won the 1937 Academy Award for Best Short Subjects: Cartoons.
 * It is ranked at IMDb as the 46th most popular short film ever.
 * It was included as #14 in the book The 50 Greatest Cartoons As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals.

Disney California Adventure
The Old Mill is featured in the World of Color show at Disney California Adventure.

Disneyland
The three mills from the short were seen in miniature on the Storybook Land Canal Boats ride at Disneyland. Beginning December 20, 2014, they were replaced by landmarks from Disney's Frozen. The miniature windmills were put into storage by Walt Disney Imagineering.

Disneyland Paris
The Old Mill is represented at Fantasyland at Disneyland Paris by a building resembling a Dutch windmill, which serves drinks and snacks.

Release
The Old Mill was released on Blu-ray on March 1, 2011, on the Bambi Diamond Editions Blu-ray disc as a special feature.

Influence
The Old Mill was stated by Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki as his favorite Disney film.