This is a plotless Silly Symphony, where a spider makes his way in an ancient Egyptian tomb and witnesses mummies dancing and hieroglyphics move. That would have been an enchanting scene had there been Egyptian-style background music. Instead of that, jazzy-type music was used. There's really no excitement or substance to this short. And, a spider as a main character is kind of awkward. Overall, one of the least entertaining, and downright boring, Silly Symphonies.Grade D---

Just watched this Walt Disney Silly Symphony on YouTube. In this one, a spider goes inside the Spynx as the camera dollys with him through the corridors. Once at the heart of the place, the little arachnid sees mummys come out of their homes and start dancing. And then the hieroglyphics come to life and do the same...There's really nothing else that goes on there other then what I described though I don't want to reveal what happens to the end. You'll just have to see for yourself. It's certainly fascinating to see the early works of the Disney animators during the initial talking picture era before they would become even more accomplished when they would all do features several years later. So on that note, Egyptian Melodies comes highly recommended.

The only quote in this film is 'Mummy!' by the little spider. Other than that, the music is brilliantly done. The mummies are great, The palm trees are great, The spider was great, The Sphinx was great, The long johns were great (!), The sound effects were great, Even the creeping pyramid was great!, My compliments to Walt Disney! The colour usage works just fine. It's just wonderful how Disney films are non-violent and without bloodshed (most of the time). Silly Symphonies are brilliant (and musical, like they're supposed to be!) If you like 'Egyptian Melodies', then try 'China Plate', a Chinese/Japanese short film with the same black and white colouring and cute music. Available on DVD, thank goodness.

A Walt Disney SILLY SYMPHONY Cartoon Short.A large spider enters the Sphinx at Giza and makes its way to the burial chamber. Once there, the adventurous arachnid gets the scare of its life when the mummies & wall paintings come to life to the strains of EGYPTIAN MELODIES...This is a wacky, wonderful black & white cartoon. Forget the plot - there almost isn't any. When the stylized wall paintings awake, the animators indulge themselves in a perfect riot of humorous movement which delights the eye. These few moments are one of the great unheralded gems of early Disney animation. Also noteworthy is the sinuous ease with which the `camera' flows along the corridors & down the staircases inside the Sphinx.The SILLY SYMPHONIES, which Walt Disney produced for a ten year period beginning in 1929, are among the most fascinating of all animated series. Unlike the Mickey Mouse cartoons in which action was paramount, with the Symphonies the action was made to fit the music. There was little plot in the early Symphonies, which featured lively inanimate objects and anthropomorphic plants & animals, all moving frantically to the soundtrack. Gradually, however, the Symphonies became the school where Walt's animators learned to work with color and began to experiment with plot, characterization & photographic special effects. The pages of Fable & Fairy Tale, Myth & Mother Goose were all mined to provide story lines and even Hollywood's musicals & celebrities were effectively spoofed. It was from this rich soil that Disney's feature-length animation was to spring. In 1939, with SNOW WHITE successfully behind him and PINOCCHIO & FANTASIA on the near horizon, Walt phased out the SILLY SYMPHONIES; they had run their course & served their purpose.