I'm batty for trees. I'm a science-loving urban resident who turns woo-woo hippie when it comes to trees. Like, come on guys, trees are people too.

(Case in point: Trees in the forest are social beings.)

Which is why this Silly Symphonies cartoon produced by Walt Disney had me cooing like a dove when I first saw it. Directed by Burt Gillett and released by United Artists in July of 1932, it was the first commercial film to be produced in the full-color three-strip Technicolor process. The film was already in production in black and white when Disney decided it should be remade using the new color process – the color version was a success, both critically and commercially ... and picked up the first Academy Award for Animated Short Subject along the way.

But aside from the historical place the short holds, it's just a delightfully sweet story that shows a love for nature that still resonates like crazy some 75 years later. And while scientists are quick to question the anthropomorphizing of nature, is it really so wrong to re-imagine the living things we share our planet with in more human and thus humane terms? I say "no" ... bring on the tree people!