Blame It on the Samba

This cartoon was originally part of Melody Time. It's a lively, fun Donald Duck cartoon. Donald and his friend Jose Carioca are depressed so a weird bird that resembles Woody Woodpecker decides to cheer them up by introducing them to the samba. Some good animation with a little bit of live-action. The Dinning Sisters provide lovely vocals. It's pretty groovy stuff but not much more than an excuse to play samba music. My favorite part was Ethel Smith rocking out on the organ. She was having a blast! This isn't the best short from Melody Time or even particularly special but it's definitely upbeat. A fun way to pass six minutes.

This is a short that was used to make up the full-length film from Disney, "Melody Time". Following WWII, Disney Studio was a mess--a terrible strike and the war (where many of the workers were drafted and many more were assigned to wartime animation work) decimated the studio and many of the old animators were gone. As a result, Disney did not get back to making traditional animated feature films for several years. In the meantime, their 'full-length' films were really odd compilations of shorts--and of a rather lackluster quality compared to earlier and later work.

Unlike the other shorts from "Melody Time", this one actually was created as a response to Walt Disney's good will tour of South America in 1941 (while the strike was raging at the studio). Several of these shorts that resulted from this visit were crammed together in the rather bland "Saludos Amigos" but for some odd reason, this tribute to Brazil and the Samba was stuck in "Melody Time". Why, I don't know.

It consists of an insane-looking bird who sees two depressed birds (José Carioca and Donald Duck) come to his café. To cheer them up, he introduces him to the Samba--and it IS impossible to be depressed and not want to tap your feet. During this time, you see Smith singing and playing the organ. It's very colorful and lively...but also not all that great. Kids, in particular, would probably hate it, but it is interesting from a historical perspective. Plus, for more information on it, see the documentary "Walt & El Groupo", as it explains this good will trip and talks about some of the things that led to this short being made.

Ethel Smith and the Dinning Sisters.

Out of the seven segments featured on "Melody Time" this was my least favourite. I didn't hate it, but it wasn't as good as it could've been. The animation was decent if a little basic, even better though was the lively samba music, it really does make you want to dance. Donald is good here, he doesn't speak but he dances quite well, same with his green parrot buddy. What didn't impress me as well was that the pacing was a little too fast in places, and some of the editing in the latter half looked rather static, and Ethel Smith didn't impress me for reasons I cannot explain.

Overall, entertaining but rather hit and miss. 7/10 Bethany Cox