This is a sentimental little story of a blue car that is so cute to start with, but which suffers from what all cars do. She begins to age and to rust and to fall apart. It is also a story of identity. But in the end, it is youth that takes over, giving her a new lease on life. It's about second chances and the love that creates them.
9 Reviews
Before Cars, there was Susie
Rectangular_businessman4 March 2024
Warning: Spoilers
The Disney short which served as the main visual inspiration for Pixar's Cars.
This animation really does a pretty job into turning an inanimate object like a car into a very endearing character in a story which turned out to be much more dramatic that I was expecting despite the extremely cutesy beginning.
I liked a lot the message at the end, which might not be intentional (and probably just given in order to make the story to end in a happy note), but it was nice to see how plenty of old media encouraged repairing stuff instead of merely discarding them, a lesson which sadly modern society seems to have completely forgotten with the increase of lower quality artifacts and the planned obsolence pushed by many companies which only has served to increase the amount of electronic waste into a dangerous level.
Consumers deserve a right to repair, but modern society and techbros only encourage mindless consummerism to people. Even from worse, from very young age kids are urged to convert into mindless consumers too, with cell phones raising them instead of their parents. Grim.
This animation really does a pretty job into turning an inanimate object like a car into a very endearing character in a story which turned out to be much more dramatic that I was expecting despite the extremely cutesy beginning.
I liked a lot the message at the end, which might not be intentional (and probably just given in order to make the story to end in a happy note), but it was nice to see how plenty of old media encouraged repairing stuff instead of merely discarding them, a lesson which sadly modern society seems to have completely forgotten with the increase of lower quality artifacts and the planned obsolence pushed by many companies which only has served to increase the amount of electronic waste into a dangerous level.
Consumers deserve a right to repair, but modern society and techbros only encourage mindless consummerism to people. Even from worse, from very young age kids are urged to convert into mindless consumers too, with cell phones raising them instead of their parents. Grim.
Lovely underrated Disney short
TheLittleSongbird4 February 2016
Can't believe how long it took this long to see Susie the Little Blue Coupe, especially considering being a huge lifelong Disney fan. Didn't even know about it, until coming across it quite by accident reliving some childhood favourites on Youtube.
Now this viewer wishes they came across it sooner, for it is a lovely Disney short that is deserving of more exposure. As always, as with the Disney cartoons of the 50s and before, the animation is wonderful and perhaps the component that makes Susie the Little Blue Coupe. It is so colourful, so fluid, so detailed, so smooth and Susie is nicely designed and a visually appealing character. Another great asset is the music score, which is lively and characterful as well as beautifully orchestrated, especially the title theme. It is easy to mistake it for the music of Oliver Wallace, though Wallace's music tends to enhance the action just a little more.
Sterling Holloway narrates with just the right amount of restraint and he is also entertaining to listen to. Thankfully he is not overused or distracting, and he is certainly not overly didactic. Stan Freberg's contribution is even more important with the voicing of multiple characters and sound effects and shamefully he isn't credited in the title credits. Susie the Little Coupe has a very poignant story, where it is easy to feel sympathy for Susie (mainly because it is heart-breaking to see her suffer as much as she does. That said, it does amuse as well, really enjoyed the inside joke with reference to Bill Peet with the Peet's Ice truck that Susie drives behind. And it also inspires in its portrayal of real life, showing that you can stay strong no matter how bad the circumstances are. The story is expertly paced and Susie is immediately identifiable as a character, her suffering portrayed very affectingly.
Overall, a lovely and underrated Disney gem. 10/10 Bethany Cox
Now this viewer wishes they came across it sooner, for it is a lovely Disney short that is deserving of more exposure. As always, as with the Disney cartoons of the 50s and before, the animation is wonderful and perhaps the component that makes Susie the Little Blue Coupe. It is so colourful, so fluid, so detailed, so smooth and Susie is nicely designed and a visually appealing character. Another great asset is the music score, which is lively and characterful as well as beautifully orchestrated, especially the title theme. It is easy to mistake it for the music of Oliver Wallace, though Wallace's music tends to enhance the action just a little more.
Sterling Holloway narrates with just the right amount of restraint and he is also entertaining to listen to. Thankfully he is not overused or distracting, and he is certainly not overly didactic. Stan Freberg's contribution is even more important with the voicing of multiple characters and sound effects and shamefully he isn't credited in the title credits. Susie the Little Coupe has a very poignant story, where it is easy to feel sympathy for Susie (mainly because it is heart-breaking to see her suffer as much as she does. That said, it does amuse as well, really enjoyed the inside joke with reference to Bill Peet with the Peet's Ice truck that Susie drives behind. And it also inspires in its portrayal of real life, showing that you can stay strong no matter how bad the circumstances are. The story is expertly paced and Susie is immediately identifiable as a character, her suffering portrayed very affectingly.
Overall, a lovely and underrated Disney gem. 10/10 Bethany Cox
The original Cars!
OllieSuave-00715 June 2018
This is a very neat Silly Symphony, following the life story about a little blue coupe named Susie. The plot takes you on an intriguing and entertaining look at the life of Susie, from her first purchase to her traffic adventures, and from her declining motor health to her stop on the junkyard.
The cartoon has great, colorful animation, and nice narration from Winnie-the-Pooh voice actor Sterling Holloway. There's also a nice mixture of comedy and touching moments. Great Silly Symphony!
Grade A
The cartoon has great, colorful animation, and nice narration from Winnie-the-Pooh voice actor Sterling Holloway. There's also a nice mixture of comedy and touching moments. Great Silly Symphony!
Grade A
Susie certainly makes this one work
Horst_In_Translation13 December 2017
Warning: Spoilers
"Susie the Little Blue Coupe" is an 8-minute cartoon from Disney that was released back in 1952, so it has its 65th anniversary this year already. If you see the names of all the directors, writers, voice actors, animators etc., then you will find people who were truly successful and prolific back in the day, people who worked on some classics too. And they kinda delivered in terms of this little film we got here. You could maybe call it a really old short version of cars, even if the racing component in here is not that huge. But Susie sure is interesting enough to carry this one from start to finish and it is almost unreal how much happens to her in here, already in the first 4 minutes in fact. This was basically enough for a full feature film I'm tempted to say. The film delivers in terms of comedy, drama and emotion, not hugely in any of these fields, but solid in each. And the animation is indeed as good as you would expect it from a Disney film from the early 1950s. It sure was a great time for cartoons back then and those who love this time and enjoy old animation, canm certainly give this one a go. I myself give it a thumbs-up for sure and I'm gonna accelerate now to end my review, so you can watch this one. Recommended, although I am slightly surprised the Oscars ignored it. I would have thought it to be exactly up their alley. But maybe they struggled with the idea of combining a mechanic character, a machine, with emotion really although I think the filmmakers did a good job there. There may be a reason why Cars is not as well-received as most other Pixar stuff, especially the sequels. Now I am drifting away from this one here, so I'll end the review on this note.
Available for viewing!!
timothyhodge19 August 2005
If you would like to see this gem of a film, it appears as a bonus on the DVD of Disney's "Ichabod and Mr. Toad", but you have to work for it. On the menu, go to "games" and take the trivia test. If you answer all the questions correct, you will be treated with a viewing of "Suzie, the Little Blue Coupe"! If you are a fan of the children's books by Bill Peet, you will love this story. Before Peet was a published author, he was one of the top story men at Disney. Not only did he work on classic features like "Dumbo", "Sleeping Beauty", "Peter Pan" and "Lady and the Tramp", he also wrote a number of short films like "Suzie". These include: "Goliath II" (the story of a 6 inch tall elephant) and "Lambert the Sheepish Lion". His storytelling sensibilities are unmistakable in these films and bear his mark like a signature. Peet left Disney around 1965 to write children's books. He died in 2002.
Auto Soap Opera
Ron Oliver28 May 2003
A Walt Disney Cartoon.
Sweet & stylish, SUSIE THE LITTLE BLUE COUPE lives a happy life with her owner until wear & tear makes him trade her in for a younger model.
This is a very agreeable little film, with plenty of good humor & fine animation and once again illustrates Disney's adeptness at giving sympathetic life to an inanimate object. Susie's story was written by Disney animator Bill Peet and is very similar to those he would later author as a celebrated children's author. As always, Sterling Holloway makes the perfect narrator.
Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by pictures & drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew comic figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a blizzard of doomsayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that childlike simplicity of message and lots of hard work will always pay off.
Sweet & stylish, SUSIE THE LITTLE BLUE COUPE lives a happy life with her owner until wear & tear makes him trade her in for a younger model.
This is a very agreeable little film, with plenty of good humor & fine animation and once again illustrates Disney's adeptness at giving sympathetic life to an inanimate object. Susie's story was written by Disney animator Bill Peet and is very similar to those he would later author as a celebrated children's author. As always, Sterling Holloway makes the perfect narrator.
Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by pictures & drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew comic figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a blizzard of doomsayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that childlike simplicity of message and lots of hard work will always pay off.
A special cartoon
Terryfan2 March 2022
Warning: Spoilers
It had been many years since I had watch this cartoon.
It was a cartoon that somehow didn't resurface until recently thanks to the wonders of childhood memories.
Susie the Little Blue Coupe follows the story of Susie as she goes through a incredible journey to which you believe she is a real character. Making you feel for Susie as she goes through what all cars go through.
Sterling Holloway Provide the narrative for the cartoon and he gave a top notch performance to help guide the story of the cartoon.
The animation is very good with attention to details and the fact the other cars actually act like people during the cartoon
Susie the Little Blue Coupe is a one of a kind cartoon that should not be missed
I give Susie the Little Blue Coupe an 10 out of 10.
It was a cartoon that somehow didn't resurface until recently thanks to the wonders of childhood memories.
Susie the Little Blue Coupe follows the story of Susie as she goes through a incredible journey to which you believe she is a real character. Making you feel for Susie as she goes through what all cars go through.
Sterling Holloway Provide the narrative for the cartoon and he gave a top notch performance to help guide the story of the cartoon.
The animation is very good with attention to details and the fact the other cars actually act like people during the cartoon
Susie the Little Blue Coupe is a one of a kind cartoon that should not be missed
I give Susie the Little Blue Coupe an 10 out of 10.
Inflation must have run rampant since . . .
pixrox127 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
. . . the release of SUSIE THE LITTLE BLUE COUPE. A young dude buys Susie for $12.50. There's a place in the American state of Michigan called "Detroit," aka "The Motor City," aka "Motown." I know someone who treks there regularly every summer. To defray his gas expenses, he collects cans and bottles from the 200 trash barrels closest to the intersection of Woodward Ave. And Elizabeth St. Because Michigan has a ten-cent deposit charged on every container of pop and carbonated water or fruit juice sold, as well as all of the beer vessels and some of the wine and liquor dispensers, my Detroit frequenter redeems an average of 125 said containers upon each of his returns to the suburbs. This is NOT enough dough to buy a tank of gasoline nowadays, let alone any kind of vehicle other than a toy Hot Wheel. Plus it racks up expenses for bags, hand sanitizer and trips to Kroger, M-e-i-j-e-r, W-a-l-Mart, CVS, Target, S-a-V-a-Lot, Trader Joe's, Dollar Tree, Rite Aide, Family Dollar, Whole Foods, Dollar General,, VG's, R-i-c's, A-l-d-i's, Hatchery Market, Martin's, 7-11, Speedway, etc.
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