Cartoon: Hell’s Bells, 1929

Hell’s Bells is a 1929 comedy horror animated short film directed by Ub Iwerks and produced by Walt Disney. It was distributed to cinemas by the film company Columbia Pictures, who would also distribute other Walt Disney films such as Winter. The film follows Satan and the other devils’ happenings in Hell. One of these devils revolts against Satan and ends up kicking him off the cliff of Hell. The short is part of short film series Silly Symphonies.

The film score features a variety of classical compositions, including “In the Hall of the Mountain King” by Edvard Grieg, which is used near the end of the film as one of the demons kicks Satan off the cliff. Another is “Funeral March of a Marionette” by French composer Charles Gounod, which is also known as the theme tune to the television series “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”. The opening theme of Felix Mendelssohn’s “Hebrides” overture is also heard.