I always thought that they should have Included Midas daughter into the story. It's only after he accidentally turns her into gold that he wants to give up The Golden Touch. If they had showed that his love for his child was stronger that his greed, his character would have been more likable.

No matter how much this was Walt's least favorite short, it still proved how dangerous and deadly how greed is for the soul.

Has anyone ever done a retelling of this story where Midas can still live a normal life with his golden touch, but the massive abundance of gold he creates leads to gold rapidly decreasing in value, thus making his "gift" completely useless, and himself poor?

I'm not crazy about the cartoon either... The whole time I'm just feeling really worried for Midas' cat! But yeah, the main problem with the cartoon is that both main characters aren't very likable. For it to work much better, King Midas should've been a good kind-hearted king at the beginning, so we start off on his side. Then once he gets the golden touch, it turns him into a greedy jerk. Then the longer he has it, he realizes it's more of a curse once he can't touch food, drink, other people, or even himself (his teeth, etc) without turning to gold. THEN we'll care about his situation, because we want to see him learn his lesson and go back to the nice guy we were first introduced to.

This is surprising. I thought the golden touch was a nice cartoon. It was silly and nicely animated. But hey, they can't all be gems. But then again, I feel like walt was more good at being experimental with animation than being funny with it. Comedy wasn't really a Disney staple, that's more warner bros and mgm.

7:14 Coincidentally bringing things full circle, The Flying Mouse and his mother also cameo in Mickey's Polo Team, right next to Midas and Goldie oddly enough.

2:50 Honestly, I respect that he tried to downplay that, because yikes Walt.

Would love to see you cover the Silly Symphonies series

I actually don't mind this cartoon too much. I often rewatch it from time to time and there's something a bit disquieting about Midas' sudden realisation that his wish has backfired on him when he tries to eat.

To ghost of Mr. Disney, Meh. I chuckled at the onions line at the end. Sincerely, Me

These videos are nice to see. Taking a break from the Disney Villans Retrospective to show the little things is a nice thing to do and you should do this more often.

Anyone remember the YTP "The Golden Filler?" That's the most exposure I had to that particular cartoon. The problem here was that it was done as simplistically as possible in order to be goofy and wacky like the Three Pigs cartoon was, but the stakes just don't land when nothing is to be taken seriously. I've seen them tackle it in a certain kid's puppet series about literacy and it was German Fairy Tale levels of darker compared to this. Somehow, it reminds me of the earliest Fractured Fairy Tales sketches where they play the entire story out straight but throw a few gags in here and there, rather than completely subverting the concept. Also, NOTHING dates this cartoon like the phrase "hamburger sandwich." That's straight up archaic, and I remember when the word "donut" actually had the word "dough" in it.

This was my introduction to the King Midas story. It makes me sad to know Walt disliked it so much, but an artist is their own worst critic. Even though it isn't a perfect cartoon, I still remember it more than other Disney shorts and I think there's value in that.

I never knew Disney directed something outside of his own studio; fascinating! And yeah I do agree that the short wasn't all that impressive to me either and I thought the scenes would drag on for way too long and the intro song was unnecessary. But even Walt had to get his start somewhere, right?

I like the retelling featured in the series "Adventures from the Book of Virtues". Not only for the sake of a happy ending, but that Midas had redeemed himself and given a second chance.

This is a good lesson that it is not just about the character design for a good animation, the script and characters are important too

I actually liked The Golden Touch, though i'll admit it was kinda cruel for the King to loose everything to be a bum. Didn't care much for Goldie after that.

As someone who grew with the original myth in which this cartoon is based, one of the things I mostly disliked about The Golden Touch is that it removed the emotional part of the original myth where Midas fully realizes his foolishness of his greed when he accidentally turns his beloved daughter into gold, begging to the god who gave him the golden curse to remove it and resurrect/save his daughter. True, breaking down over not being able to eat is quite understandable, as we need food to survive, yet compared to the original, the reasons in the disney short seems to be more selfish and unlikeable. (At least this cartoon is better compared to one lousy adaptation where Midas had control over the curse, yet he transformed his daughter into gold)

I do think it was a mistake on Walt's part to prioritize comedy above all else for this particular short, since the myth upon which it was based doesn't really lend itself to comedy that much; plus, although his productions have never been devoid of humor, Walt was clearly more skilled as a storyteller than a comedian.

i personally really love this cartoon!! it’s so crazy to see that walt disney hated this one.

As a man who used to watch Disney's late night block on the disney channel on cable TV years ago. (I am in my 30s so not that old. XD) I remember this. It's one of those things that is rent free in my head, and I remember laughing at the ending, cause I thought it was funny that a man would want one burger rather then a feast to eat. Why? Child logic. That's all I thought about. Not him with nothing. Not the cat. Just funny he wanted one burger. But in my age as a man who has gone days with out eating in some cases. I can relate to only wanting one burger. It's such a mood, and honestly Midas never left my headspace. His design was so colorful to me, that you can't miss him in a room I swear. It was also my first ever version of the tale, and when I did learn about the one everyone knows. I just always remember this short no matter what when ever the golden touch or Midas touch is brought up.

Not gonna lie: were it not for the fact I know it's from Disney, I would never have guessed.

I actually have the Jazz Loves Disney CD albums, both of them, so I already know about King Midas's song being given the jazz treatment. It's always neat to see songs that don't get repped nearly as much alongside the popular ones. One example being that "Why Don't You Do Right", Jessica Rabbit's song from Who Framed Roger Rabbit, being listed on the first album _right after_ "When You Wish Upon a Star", Jiminy Cricket's song from Pinocchio which has basically become the company's leitmotif... and that alongside "Let it Go" from Frozen and "You've Got a Friend in Me" from Toy Story. Actually, "Steamboat Willie" being on the second album is also surprising. It's a shame that they didn't include songs from their TV shows though, nor a third album even. It would be neat to hear a jazz rendition of the DuckTales theme or some of the songs from Phineas and Ferb.

There's an idea for a future episode, top 10 worst disney cartoon shorts, not movies, shorts, and surprisingly, it's really hard to find a list of any kind about the shorts.

I love this cartoon it’s so great the king got a hamburger at the end!

I always love it when you upload a new video, keep up the good work please.

At least this Midas didn't get his hands cut by Kratos.

With the Mouse who wanted to fly short, the thorn gag isn't funny, it's down right mean and unpleasant. Disney can be funny, but unlike say Tex Avery/Bob Clampett, and the others at MGM and Warner Bros who had much sillier senses of humor and were more open to ideas/gags/characters. Disney's biggest problem...was Disney himself, he was too hands on, too controlling, too my way or the highway. Not to Leon Schlesinger and Fred Quimby weren't controlling egos in their own right, but those two were way more hands off compared to Disney. And I think that's why you see Donald Duck and Goofy and later Chip and Dale/Humphrey the Bear get WAY funnier when Disney stepped away to focus on other projects leaving his teams to make their cartoons their way....and also why Mickey Mouse is so well....stale and boring because Walt kept an iron grip on him and didn't allow anyone to just do anything with Mickey.

A man who could turn anything to gold, flummoxed by the story of King Midas. There's some kind of pathos here hmm....nope, can't find it.

I haven't seen all Silly Symphonies but of those I have seen Lullaby Land would have to be the worst for squandering a great premise with entirely unimaginary imagery. We start of strong with a baby being sung to sleep by his mother and his dream mirroring the lullaby he is listening to. (A calmer version of Rockabye Baby - the bough merely "bends") However this is the last we see of lullabies in Lullaby Land. Instead of using the dreamlike wonder they evoked to their advantage, the animators make the baby protagonist watch a parade of diapers and baby bottles, apparently only able to picture a child's world from an adult's point of view. After being forced to remain passive for almost the whole short the baby is then punished for the first action he takes: interacting with the dangerous Forbidden Garden (just more household objects come to life) when there was no safe alternative activity for him to choose instead. The boogeymen that menace him again are entirely unimaginative: Three palette swaps of the same design that is way too reliant on its blackface inspiration (which would be boring even ignoring the racism). Then he rescued by a sandman that somehow looks creepier than the boogeymen and sung to sleep which somehow makes him wake up from the dream, bookending the short. The only clever idea in the whole thing. The short is neither funny, nor interesting (a large part is taken up by the parade all shown from the same angle) nor innovative (objects have been coming to life for decades in cartoons at that point). Also I'm questioning what the target audience is. Even at this point in history I doubt that babies were a common sight at cinemas and for older children most dangers portrayed in the Forbidden Garden such as forks and table knives are already no longer relevant. So I can only think that the short was geared at parents who want to see an unruly child put into place which would also explain the entirely adult perspective of the short. The premise is done much better in other shorts by other companies or even Disney's later Wynken, Blynken and Nod. Inagination is usually the strong suit of the Disney shorts. I really don't know what happened with this one.

Very interesting topic. Truly a fascinating story. The cartoon doesn’t look all that bad but I can see the storytelling is a little rough. Definitely agree with your final points about the value of building up your characters. Great job on this video!

Interesting that Walt Disney mourned losing director Burt Gillette, who by many accounts was clinically insane; Gillette must have been on a more or less even keel while still working at Disney. You can imagine what Freud would say about Walt's penchant for butt gags. The less successful Silly Symphonies showed that Walt was not infallible as a storyteller ("The Golden Touch" was probably not the best cartoon for audiences in the pit of the Depression), but the cartoons--and many of them were, of course, wonderful--were most valuable as training for the artists to prepare them for feature work: what makes characters appealing so audiences will care what happens to a drawing; how to use music, color, gags, how to pace stories.

Did you know that Walt Disney himself hated Goofy

I am baffled why it would bomb so hard; seems to be a standard telling of a popular story.

honestly i like the golden touch it may have not been hilarious, but it was still entertaining not everything is supposed to be built with comedy

I thought of this cartoon as teaching about the dangers of greed. it was entertaining to me as well. Some critics over analyze films.

Do you think this short could have been less "bad" if the character of Goldie was Mickey Mouse and King Midas was Pete (Billy Bletcher voiced both Midas and Pete already), so audiences could have some sort of emotional attachment to the characters before watching the short?

It always baffles me when I hear about a cartoon that I like not doing well or going over well with audiences. I thought the Golden Touch was really funny, so I guess I'm in the minority. XD

Would love to see more videos about animated shorts! I'm sure they won't be as algorithm-friendly, but I think Disney's shorts are just as interesting as their features, and you seem to have a good insight into what makes them work.

Just looked up the Disney loves jazz album because of this it's so good xx

I was searching for this for ages thank you for being cool

The king kinda reminds me of the one in the Pied Piper cartoon. I didn't know about this short, thanks for sharing!

I remember seeing the cartoon about the mouse who wanted to fly, and I can relate to him. Teaching me to learn to be myself and not wish I was something else. As for The Golden Touch, I watched it for the first time on KZfaq and I have to say, it was quite a dark toon with the possibility of King Midas starving to death. In most King Midas adaptations I've seen, his biggest regret is turning his daughter into gold, but food also makes a lot of sense.

I guess I just learned that Walt Disney was an ass man. Didn't really need to know that.

I remember catching this short on TV as a kid. Always found the ending really unsettling

I never have liked "The Golden Touch" either, not only because its subject matter is much, MUCH too grim for a children's cartoon, but because I feel it does injustice to Midas as well. In the original myths, he is more sympathetic than depicted here. I'd characterize him as more like a spoiled, naive, impulsive, but generally good-intentioned teenage boy than an arrogant, demanding man-child. (Of course, there was a historical King Midas, and he lived hundreds of years before the legends about him were written down, but that's another story.) The story about Midas I prefer to the "gold" story is the one in which he judges a music contest between the gods Apollo and Pan. I like this story because it shows that terrible things can often happen to the people who least deserve to suffer them. Midas honestly believes that Pan performs better on his pipe than Apollo does on his lyre. Unfortunately, Apollo is so egotistical that he cannot accept losing, and he gives Midas the ears of a donkey so that the whole world will know how stupid (Apollo thinks) he is. Midas's life is pretty much ruined from that point on, all because he tried to be fair with someone who could not imagine ever being bested and so turns into a sore loser when it happens. The Greek gods were narcissistic and cruel, and while sometimes mortals did go out of their way to offend and provoke them, Midas did absolutely nothing worthy of Apollo's wrath. There's something strangely cathartic about a story in which the people who hold all the power in the universe are nothing but mean-spirited villains, but not only will they punish you severely if you dare complain about your lot, but for all your hatred, you couldn't physically hurt them even if you tried. All you can do is viciously mock them and hope they never find out. But then, that kind of message - namely, the bully wins - is pretty grim and bleak, and the classic Disney cartoons already have an undercurrent of darkness, so I suppose it's a good thing Disney didn't adapt THAT myth.

With onions! Whoopie!

For some reason Goldy makes me think of Stan from South Park.

I really enjoy the villain retrospectives but it's nice to see something different:)

"Goldie the Gold Sprite"? I wonder if he's related to Coily...

Tbh, imagining a Mel Blanc yelp over the mouse thorn thing does sound pretty funny. Simple schadenfreude which can give a burst of laughter without being truly sadistic

I'm actually a bit fond of this short - even if it was a poor adaptation of the myth I always think updates of myths are interesting. The Jazz loves disney cover is also pretty good which added to it. Didn't realize Walt disliked it so much. Great video!

Only a scream from a Tom and Jerry cartoon could have made that painful thorn gag funny. How do I know? Because in a TierZoo video on cheetahs he shows a clip of a cheetah getting bodied by a lion and splices in one of Tom's hilarious screams from a Tom and Jerry cartoon. If he used the actual cheetah sound, it wouldn't have been funny. Too bad The Flying Mouse predated that iconic scream, provided by William Hannah, by at least ten years.

That parade of the award nominees short sounds cool. Also, Mickey with green shorts? Scandalous! As for the Midas short, I think it would have worked better if they had kept his daughter in it. That's a very humanizing element, and I think would have been more effective in making Midas realize his mistake than simply starving to death.

I had a thorough Disney marathon a few years ago, including every single short. I can honestly say that, compared to the trash of today, ANYTHING from those times looks fantastic to me. I love this short, as well as all the traditionally animated shorts and movies from the 20th century. King Midas may have the flaws you listed, but I still love him, his expressions, and his little story. The same goes for Robin Hood, the alleged "lazy" and "low-budget" Disney movie. If THAT's low budget and lazy, I don't know what we can call most of the animation today. I checked Cartoon Network the other day, and those CGI shows are soulless and dreadful, to say the least.

I watched this yesterday and still found the cartoons animation to be so creative and realistic

More videos on these shorts would be nice

The hot chocolate soldiers looked kinda fun to watch.

I literally just came across the golden touch a few months ago and I like it, I didn’t know ppl thought lowly of it

Hold on why didnt Midas's clothes turn to gold? 🤔🤔🤔.

I have this on DVD, must be one of the longest Disney short films ever made

I never completely got over why goldy came to say I can give you a golden touch only to be like well to you it would be a curse.

I'm glad he learns his lesson in the end, but I'm wondering what he's going to do now. He's got no home, no money, no clothes, and that hamburger's only going to last for so long. And if he gave away his whole kingdom, then does that mean all the people living in it are gone now too?

I think this short isn't too bad. Not only because the moral at the end is something more people should've taken home, but also the usual creativity coming from rubberhose cartoons! No?

I prefer the Fleisher studios short with a greedy king version of Humpty Dumpty, that thinks the sun is made of gold. He has all his subordinates make him a tower to reach it. lol

Actually, a number of the 1930s-1950s Disney output featured sympathetic characters getting treated horribly who didn't deserve it (like Alice in Alice in Wonderland or Pluto in the 1940s-1950s shorts, there are many other examples). Contrast this with other studios' works like Warner Bros where most of the time the protagonists either win in the end or did something to earn their defeat.

Fairy in the mouse short looks surprisingly similar to Blue Fairy in Pinocchio (apart her having Snow White’s model).

I liked the Golden Touch, the part witht eh golden skeleton in the mirror is pure OG Disney genius.

current disney would love to get one of those

I wouldn't want a power like that.

Well that's sad This was one of my favorites

i honestly would love to see a modern Disney Movie that is based on the myth (like how Frozen is based on the Snow Queen) and have this Midas cameo in the background, through a painting or something

The original myth had everything they needed. When Midas turns his beloved daughter into gold when she embraces him, killing her, we see how his greed has stolen not only food from his lips, but his fatherhood and the ability to be loved himself. Keeping that moment, and having her turned back at the end so he can appreciate the wealth of the human heart, is a crowd pleasing moment.

Awh, really? This was one of my favorites when I was little! Now I'm sad...

still remember the bats song from the flying mouse(wonder if the silly symphonies will be added.) when i haven't seen it for years. agree it's not the worst disney cartoon but can see why walt views it as an old shame as when i watched it honestly felt mean spirited with how foolishly greedy the king was(ending with him losing everything with no real hope spot for his pitiable situation.),that poor cat turning to gold never being seen again(likely being taken by goldie whose a jerk trickster than a blue fairy esque figure.) and not handling the comedy(do think even back then disney's pretty funny as even the looney tunes had weak moments or very dark mean spirited endings at times like daffy being an unlikable outright villain or the brown mouse.). as well as missing the sympathetic moments like his daughter or even including some servants to show the king's likability/the turning point to change the wish in his darkest moment accidentally turning them to gold. do love how the midas touch was used in aladdin king of thieves(though those thieves were definitely screwed when their ship sunk from it.) and like the cameo in legend of the 3 caballeros.

Greedy means more. Actually the cartoon The Flying Mouse helped to make the film Pinocchio. It was the fairy in the silly symphony and it's an inspiration for The Blue Fairy.

I always had a personal liking for this short. Though, that could be because I really like the original tale.

and so in the end King Midas knew the moral to the story: "who needs gold when you can have food"

my favorite cartoon

Admittedly that was unexpected. I thought you were going to talk about canceled movies made around Walt's tine. Since you did already talked about Captain Henry Morgan's Treasure and Chanticleer.

I remember this cartoon and it's on Disney plus.

He actually co-directed the early shorts with Iwerks.

I've always been curious about why he'd be dissatisfied with this short in particular, since it was a pretty good version of the cautionary tale. Saying "hamburger sandwich" does sound a little weird --and eating a hamburger with onions is gross--

I really love Silly symphonies, is amazing how many of them inspired Cuphead character, even the rapist ones like the Old Man of The Mountain.

I've seen that short film years ago. I never thought it was bad, but I definitely didn't think it was meant to be funny. I mean I get the message about not being greedy and enjoying even the small things in life, but the guy ended up homeless and practicality naked. That hamburger will only last him a few hours before feeling hungry again and have no shelter once it gets dark. I know it's just a movie, I've always felt like it could've been directed way better than it was.

I wouldn't blame the cartoon's problems too much on none of the characters being likable. I mean it's a comedic short. It's nice when they can have likable characters, but humor is the main thing. And it's not like we don't see Midas getting comeuppance, which would be annoying.

What is your favorite early Walt Disney Cartoon

My brother and I actually love this cartoon so this sure surprised me

The short should’ve been a much different and true-to-text adaptation of King Midas with the story set in Ancient Greece, just like the Greek myth itself!

I actually thought the golden touch was creepy and also dark, too, with the gold skeleton, and that he couldn’t eat anything but looking at second time with my brother, I actually kinda thought it was pretty funny towards the beginning how greedy he was in everything is kinda of like Mr. Krabs or Scrooge McDuck. I gotta say the ending is sort of funny I mean who eats burgers with onions anyway gross

Huh, interesting how Walt didn't like this short. On the other end of the spectrum, there's me, who really enjoyed this short as a kid. I fondly remember watching it and a few other shorts i had in a dvd collection. Opinions differ between people

How come you talked about the heffalumps and woozles before Edger? Is it because they have been in more stuff like comics and tv shows?

I pretty much like the little mouse with bat wings. He's Batmouse!

I find it funny that Walt Disney, the biggest name in animation, had problems with writing characters in his own cartoons and inserting comedic scenes where they just didn't work.

The subject looks like the Butler from Aristocats lol.

I think this cartoon's main flaw is the limit characters of Midas and Goldie. For the most part, it's Midas singing and dancing in empty space, playing with his powers. Not very entertaining. The audience needs more pathos. The obvious choice is including his daughter to give Midas more empathy and a greater reason to give up his powers. She wasn't part of the original Greek myth and was added into modern fairytale adaptations for that reason. Without her, the story is just some greedy guy who only regrets his wish when he can't have basic self-preservation. Giving him someone he loves more than money and accidentally hurts through his selfishness really sales the "greed is bad" message. I get that Walt wanted to keep the tone light and comedic so maybe he felt putting her in would bring down the mood. In that case, show how Midas's greed affects those around him. Show how he over taxes his kingdom, leaving the people in squalor while he counts his gold. Or show him being awful to the staff of his castle. That way, the final scene where he's homeless and overjoyed to find a hamburger (with onions!) lands way better.

2:24 well, that's a sentence.

"If you never make any misstakes you will never improve." I did like the golden touch okay as a cushionaire tale but not for liking the characters. They are whatever. And yeah not funny mostly just imagine what greed can do.

I never knew walt never directed any of this shorts, I never knew the only short he directed was the hot chocolate soldiers, I have a challenge for you that challenge is to your fans in the comment section to find a clip of the obscure short , If you manage to at least find a small snippet or a clip of it dosnet have to be with the aduio. of the Hollywood party, The reason I am asking this is because you have the most InSite of Disney's animations, You an defunctland are the most when it comes to your vast knowledge of cartoons for instance defunct land talks about a wide array of topics not just about cartoons but theme park rides he bascually goes into a long in depth anlysis about the history of the ride why it work why it didn,t, you own the other hand just review disney theathiral shorts and movie and i kind of like they thats because I grew up watching alot of Disney movies like peter pan, I Rember I use to watch them with my mom every night We had a vhs tape of it, And in add ion to that I grew up on a lot of old cartoons, I like that you are atleast giving theses product's some love if you keep taling about this then people will start to remember.

Is it also because the blustery day short came out before the film “The Aristocats”?