Fun Find Friday
July 24, 2015
Location: Frontierland, Magic Kingdom
Tom Sawyer's island has always been one of my
favorite locations inside the Magic Kingdom. With adventure around
every corner, there is so much to explore. Naturally, this leads to
some pretty amazing discoveries along the way. Today we are going to
be stopping by Harper's Mill (the story behind the name of the Mill
will be looked at in a future Fun Find Friday).

Within the mill, guests can see several different
cogs working together and resulting in some strange noises including
a bird chirping. The bird, seen below, rides around on a cog while
sitting on top of its nest. To the casual visitor to Harper's Mill,
nothing seems to be extra special. However, there of course is more
here than meets the eye (or in this case, ear).

Back in 1929, Walt Disney was riding off the success
of his new rising star, Mickey Mouse, and decided to create a new
group of cartoons that didn't focus on a central character, but
instead focused on new ways to enhance animation. The result? the
Silly Symphonies!
In 1937, one of the most famous Silly Symphonies was
released, The Old Mill. The short, which was the first time the
multiplane camera was ever used, focuses around an old mill in the
country where several animals live. One of these animals is
naturally a bird sitting on a nest which sits on top of a cog. I
know what you are thinking: That's what all the build up was for?
Not quite.
In addition to the bird making an appearance in the
short cartoon and Harper's Mill, the sound the cogs make is even
more unique. While they are constantly going through a musical
pattern that seems repetitive, and somewhat annoying, it is in fact
reenacting the noise the frogs make in the short, while the bird
chimes in on cue!
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