The Goddess of Spring is a 1934 Silly Symphony directed by Wilfred Jackson. While it is ostensibly an adaptation of the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone, it was actually created in order to give the Disney animators practice on drawing realistic humans, in preparation for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Unfortunately, the animators weren’t quite there yet, and the short initially flopped. Today however, it’s one of the more famous Silly Symphonies.
The short opens with the Goddess of Eternal Spring frolicking through the woods, surrounded by her animal and plant subjects. As the narrator says, the whole world loves her because she keeps the Earth in eternal springtime. However, she is soon kidnapped by the god Pluto (who in this case looks a lot more like the Christian devil) so that they can be married. He takes her to his underground layer, full of jewels, fire, and dancing minions. Meanwhile, winter sets in and everyone on Earth is miserable. The Goddess is miserable too, so much so that Pluto allows her to stay above ground for 6 months out of the year, and that's why we have winter.
The Goddess of Spring contains the following tropes:
- Abhorrent Admirer: The Goddess is kidnapped by Pluto because he wants to marry her, but she's absolutely distraught when with him.
- Adaptation Distillation: The basic plot comes from the story of Hades and Persephone, but Demeter, Zeus, and the part about the pomegranate seeds are cut out.
- Adaptation Explanation Extrication: Because there’s no pomegranate seeds in this version of the myth, there doesn’t seem to be a reason why the Goddess should keep her promise of returning every six months (unless she’s worried that Pluto might do something bad if she doesn’t).
- All There in the Manual: The god is never referred to as “Pluto” in the short, only in the script, and Persephone's name is only given in modern-day descriptions.
- The Almighty Dollar: The one thing Disney did get right about Pluto was that he was the god of wealth (because jewels are found underground). He showers the Goddess with all manner of shiny things, but it doesn't make her any happier.
- Art Shift: The whole short was an exercise in realistic human movement, completely different than the previous shorts. Furthermore, the Goddess' face looks a less cartoony than previous animated heroines.
- Composite Character:
- Demeter and Persephone are combined to form the Goddess of Spring.
- Pluto takes his name and mythological role from the Roman god, but his appearance and demeanor are entirely those of the Devil of Western fiction and folklore.
- Creepy Jazz Music: The Cab Calloway-esque "Hi-dee Hades" number the imps play for the Goddess at Hades.
- Everybody Hates Hades: This version of Hades (called by his Roman name, Pluto) is basically just the Christian devil, complete with fire and pitchforks all over his lair. Oddly, he is only so aesthetically, and in demeanour he is actually more pleasant than a lot of actual Greek gods.
- Fire and Brimstone Hell: Hades is a vast cavern full of leaping flames and Pluto's demonic minions.
- Have a Gay Old Time: When the Goddess is miserable, Pluto tells her to "Be a little gay!"
- Hell: This version of Hades (called by his Roman name, Pluto) is basically just the Christian devil, and so is his realm basically just the modern Western imagination of hell.
- I Gave My Word: The Goddess promises Pluto to return every six months, and she keeps her word.
- Incorruptible Pure Pureness: There’s absolutely nothing Pluto can give to the Goddess to make her stay with him longer than six months.
- Melodrama: The whole thing plays out like an opera, complete with everyone singing their lines.
- Non-Standard Character Design: The Goddess and Pluto are more realistically designed than the more traditionally cartoony imps and dwarfs that surround them.
- Pet the Dog: While Pluto kidnaps the Goddess, upon realizing nothing he does will make her happy and learning of her concern for the world above, he agrees to let her go back as long as she returns every six months.
- Princess Classic: The Goddess is kind, beautiful, and literally causes spring on Earth. She is constantly surrounded by animals and flowers who adore her.
- Rubber Man: The Goddess and Pluto, but not intentionally. The animators were trying to make realistic human movements, they just weren't very good at it yet.
- Shout-Out: This version of Pluto is basically Mephistopheles from Gounod's Faust.
