Eighty years ago, this month, on November 5, 1937, The Old Mill was released to theaters. This is one of [Dave Bossert's] favorite Silly Symphony shorts because it had no dialogue and relied solely on the visuals and music to tell the story. It was also groundbreaking for new innovations and technology that were full of exploring, testing and experimentation. The film was directed by Disney Legend Wilfred Jackson, who went on to be a sequence director on all the Disney animated features up to Lady and the Tramp. However, there is a "credits page" from the films story sketch binder that lists Graham Heid as director as well, but based on The Old Mill story notes from 1936, he was an assistant director according to Didier Ghez. Heid did direct the Silly Symphony short Wyken, Blyken & Nod and later became a sequence director on Bambi. The Academy Awards Program for cartoon short does list Jackson as the director in that 1937 document.
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