By Doug Boilesen, 2026

This page celebrates the last "Silly Symphony" made by Walt Disney, "Bugs in Love" with its Phonograph scene.

"Bugs in Love"

The following is an original "Bugs in Love" layout drawing by Walt Disney, 1932 which was sold by Heritage Auctions on December 19, 2019.

Here's a description excerpt by Heritage Auctions.

Bugs in Love Layout Drawing (Walt Disney, 1932). The insect inhabitants of Junkville have taken to heart the phrase "trash into treasure." They have repurposed what looks to be a garbage dump into a functioning amusement park, complete with swing set, a Ferris wheel, and a slide - just to name a few of the many rides. The story concerns an amorous young bug couple who are courting - and the attempt by a well-dressed crow to eat them both. Though a sound film in the proper sense of the word, the story is told mostly through pantomime. This film is notable in that it was the last Silly Symphony to be shot in black and white...

This drawing would have been used for "layout" - meaning, it served double (or even triple) duty as a sort of meeting point in-between storyboarding, background painting, and final animation planning. Essentially, layout drawings helped the different departments throughout the studio visualize and coordinate efforts to bring an image or an idea to the screen. In one respect, it was similar to a very elaborate storyboard, showing in great detail the planned movement/trajectory of the characters across the stage, or background. Camera moves and the duration of the shot were also denoted through charts along the margins. The layout also served as a guide both to the background artists (who would then copy and provide color to final drawing, usually in gouache and watercolor), as well as to the animators, who could see definitively how to move their characters about in "physical space." The scene depicted by this layout drawing can be seen at the 00:52 point in the film. It depicts an old-fashioned, hand-cranked phonograph; the bugs are riding around on the spinning turntable as if it were a merry-go-round! This short was directed by Burt Gillet and was released to theaters on October 10, 1932.

Phonograph scene in the short "Bugs in Love."

 

Watch "Bugs in Love"