The Truth About Mother Goose

The Truth About Mother Goose is an animated film released on June 19, 1957 by Walt Disney Productions.[1] The short was directed by Wolfgang Reitherman in his directorial debut, and Bill Justice. In it, a trio of jazz-singing jesters sing three Mother Goose nursery rhymes, while an off screen narrator explains their origins in three animated vignettes. The rhymes include:

• "Little Jack Horner": Thomas Horner (steward to Richard Whiting, the last abbot of Glastonbury), allegedly stealing a title deed in transit to Henry VIII of England.
• "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary": The life of Mary Stuart. The segment claims that the "silver bells" are said to "refer to the elaborate decoration on her dresses", the "cockle shells" to her love of exotic food such as cockles, with the "pretty maids all in a row" referring to her ladies-in-waiting.
• "London Bridge Is Falling Down": The gradual deterioration and dilapidation of the medieval Old London Bridge.

It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1957.