“The Pied Piper” is a 1933 Classic Disney Short directed by Wilfred Jackson, part of the Silly Symphonies series.
It is, of course, an adaptation of The Pied Piper of Hamelin. The town of Hamelin is overrun by rats, and the Mayor offers a bag of gold to whoever will rid the town of the vermin. The Pied Piper offers his services, and leads the rats away. However, when the time comes to collect his payment, the Mayor reneges and gives him only one gold coin. As punishment, the Piper lures away all their children — but since this is a Disney short, there's actually a Happy Ending.
Tropes:
- Abusive Parents: The children of Hamelin are shown doing all the housework while their parents were out, so it's no wonder they prefer following the Piper rather than staying at home.
- Adaptational Heroism: Unlike the original character, the Pied Piper doesn’t lure the rats into a river where they drown. Nor does he leave out a crippled boy. Saving the children from the corruption of the adults in Hamelin is one of his motivations.
- Blowing a Raspberry: The rats razz the Mayor during his speech.
- Bullying a Dragon: After getting their rat problem solved, the town of Hamelin decides to mock the piper and give him a single coin instead of the full bag of coins the mayor promised, resulting immediately in the piper taking revenge by luring away all the children in the town.
- Cartoon Cheese: The rats eat a whole wheel of Swiss cheese, except for the holes! Later, the Piper conjures up a giant wheel of cheese, complete with holes. Once all the rats are eating it, the Piper makes it, along with the rats, disappear.
- Death Glare:
- The Piper when he realizes how dishonest and ungrateful the mayor and his people are.
- The mayor receives a collective one by the townsfolk as the Piper leads the children out of town.
- Delivery Stork: A stork is about to deliver two babies down a chimney when he sees the Piper leading the children out of town and follows them.
- Happy Ending: For the children, who are taken to a beautiful garden where they can play all day and not have to work.
- Jerkass: The mayor and the townsfolk! They are desperate to rid their town of the rats. Yet, they take the Piper’s effort in luring the rats out of town for granted. The mayor rewards the Piper with only one gold coin instead of the full bag of gold he promised.
- Laser-Guided Karma: The Piper rightfully rewards the Mayor and the citizens for their betrayal and mockery. He takes away their children as punishment. The mayor gets it the worst facing the wrath of his people.
- Magical Flutist: Along with luring rats and children, the Piper's music can also make a giant wheel of cheese appear out of thin air, and open a portal to a paradise inside a mountain.
- Never My Fault: The citizens easily blame their mayor for causing the Piper to take away their children. They simply ignore how they also participated in mocking the Piper while proving themselves ungrateful that he solved their rat problem.
- Oh, Crap!: The Mayor gets this reaction when the citizens become angry at him for being responsible for making the piper take away their children by underpaying him.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: The Piper rightfully calls out the mayor and the townsfolk as they prove themselves thankless for his effort to rid the town of rats.“You’re dishonest and ungrateful, and it really is a shame that the children of this city should grow up to be the same!”
- The Runt at the End. As in the original story, a boy in crutches is struggling to keep up. Instead of being left behind, however, the Piper lets him inside the magical garden.
- Step Servant: The children of Hamelin have to do all the housework that the adults were supposed to be doing. The Pied Piper lures them away, taking the kids to a magic place inside a mountain where they are free to play.
- Throwing Off the Disability: At the end, the lame child casts off his crutches and runs into the garden to play with the other kids.
- Ungrateful Bastard: The mayor and townsfolk prove themselves thankless to the Piper, dismissing his heroic deed of luring the rats away as a silly feat for playing a tune. To top it off, the mayor rewards the Piper with only one gold coin instead of the bag of gold he promised.
- You Dirty Rat!: As the short begins, rats are swarming all over Hamelin stealing all their food.
