THE BRAVE TIN SOLDIER

THE BRAVE TIN SOLDIER very closely follows the original story by the Brothers Grimm. A one-legged tin soldier is cruelly mocked by other toys because of his deformity. The soldier falls in love with a toy ballerina who is desired by the toy king. The king exercises his military power to get the girl for himself. The tale ends tragically, with a surprisingly graphic execution by firing squad. This is probably too violent and weird for little kids. The cartoon itself is very nicely animated, perhaps even moreso than the other Ub Iwerks fairy tales. There are some celebrity caricature toys, including a Groucho Marx jack-in-the-box. The video transfer of The Brave Tin Soldier is not as good as those of many other Iwerks cartoons, but it's watchable. There are places which appear to have bleed-through from something previously recorded on the same video tape from which the cartoon was transferred.