The Skeleton Dance is a 1929 Silly Symphony animated short subject produced and directed by Walt Disney and animated by Ub Iwerks. In the film, four human skeletons dance and make music around a spooky graveyard—a modern film example of medieval European "danse macabre" imagery. It is the first entry in the Silly Symphony series. Summary The short film begins when an owl perched on a branch, in front of the full moon, inflates and deflates when the wind blows. A branch appears from the owl's right and turns into a sinister hand and tries to touch it, which frightens the owl. Subsequently, the short film shows a church in the background. In front of it, there is a trunk with several branches, which are moved by the wind. The minute hand on the church's clock strikes twelve, causing its bell to start tolling, which causes a group of bats to flee from the belfry. The last two bats fly towards the screen before a spider drops down from the tree and crawls right, going offscreen. The silhouette of a dog inflates and deflates with a howl at the moon, while two cats fight over a grave. The fight ends when a skeleton emerges from the grave. This terrifies the cats, causing them to flee. The skeleton walks, runs and jumps until it hears the sound of the owl. This terrifies it, so it hides behind a grave. The skeleton throws its head at the owl, knocking the owl's feathers off. Then, the head moves on its own to the grave and returns to its body. There were four skeletons in the grave. They check that there is no danger. After this, the skeletons emerge from the tomb and start dancing. Then, one of them takes two bones out of one of their partners and plays its spine, vertebrae and head to produce music. Another skeleton dances alone and then plays a cat's tail as if it were a violin. The crowing of a cock scares them. The skeletons rush to hide, but their bodies collide and blend together. The skeletons, now mingled, return to the grave. Production The origins for The Skeleton Dance can be traced to mid-1928, when Walt Disney was on his way to New York to arrange a distribution deal for his new Mickey Mouse cartoons and to record the soundtrack for his first sound cartoon,