Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, it was the recipient of the Caldecott Medal for illustration in 1943.Īuthor Virginia Lee Burton has stated that "The Little House was based on our own little house which we moved from the street into a field of daisies with apple trees growing around". In conclusion, beautifully drawn, emotionally charged and sweet, one of my favourite Disney shorts of the 50s.The Little House is a 1942 children's picture book written and illustrated by Virginia Lee Burton. The titular character is a sweet one and one that we do feel genuine sympathy for, it is always great to have a lead character to root for all the way and The Little House definitely has that. Sterling Holloway's narration is remarkably sensitive and doesn't fall into the trap of explaining too much or being annoying, after hearing narrations in animation that start saying things that we can easily see on screen or are better off shown. Disney shorts have been known to make me cry, like with Mickey's Good Deed, The Old Mill and The Ugly Duckling and The Little House does that as well. The Little House's story is very simple but is an involving one and also one of Disney's most emotionally charged. It is beautifully orchestrated while not being syrupy, which it could easily have been, and it is certainly not without energy or driven rhythms either.
Also great is the music, not surprising considering that if there is a component that is consistently good in the Disney shorts it is the music. The animation on the house and the increase in size is very inventively done.
There is no denying how wonderful the animation is, the backgrounds look so smooth and flow equally so and the colours are very rich. Quite possibly one of my favourite Disney shorts of the 50s (Jby TheLittleSongbird): There is so much to love about The Little House, though it might be a touch over-sentimental for some.
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