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6.6/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.6/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. The Goddess of Spring remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you have nine minutes to spare today and want to see where Disney's entire golden age started wobbling into existence, yes, The Goddess of Spring is absolutely worth your time. Anyone obsessed with weird animation history or theatrical villains who sing like they are in a high school opera will love this.
But if you hate constant, high-pitched operetta singing, you should probably stay far, far away. 🌸
It is basically a test run for Snow White, and boy, does it show. You can practically smell the panic in the animator's offices as they tried to make a realistic girl move without looking like she is made of wet noodles.
Persephone starts off dancing with some birds, and her arms just... bend in ways that bones shouldn't bend. She has no elbows at all. It’s wild to watch.
Then Hades shows up. He is easily the best part of the whole thing. 😈
He looks like a classic red devil with a pointy beard, and his voice is this booming, hilarious operatic bass. He literally sings 'Come with me to the underworld!' while doing jazz hands.
I love how dramatic he is. He doesn't just kidnap her; he makes a whole theatrical production out of it, complete with literal smoke and fire.
It reminds me of the over-the-top melodrama you get in old silent films, like Night of Terror, where everyone is just constantly gesturing at the sky. Except here, they are singing every single line.
The underworld scenes are honestly where the art gets good. The little devil minions dancing around the fire have so much more life than Persephone.
Disney always excelled at animating monsters and goofy creatures before they figured out actual humans. The devils look bouncy and sharp, while Persephone just kind of mopes around in a draping white dress that looks like a napkin.
There is this one incredibly specific shot where a little devil creature plays a harp made of... rib bones? Or something? It is on screen for like two seconds, but it is such a great, creepy little detail. 🦴
Then we get the winter montage on earth. The flowers freeze and the trees look sad.
The transition is so fast. One second she's gone, the next second the world is a frozen wasteland with no middle ground.
In the end, Hades makes a deal because she won't stop crying. He's like, 'Okay, fine, you can go back for six months, just stop the waterworks.'
Its a bit of a mess, but a gorgeous, fascinating mess. I've had the main song stuck in my head for three hours now.
IMDb 5.8
1923
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