Paul Bunyan

"Paul Bunyan" is one of a string of animated shorts that Walt Disney made in the 1950s. These comic book style films were about legendary characters in America's past. This is a good rendition of the tale of a man who cleared the forests of a growing continent in its early years. Paul and his Canadian blue ox, Babe, were the logging champions of all time.

Kids young and old should enjoy this fairy tale, in Disney style, even in the 21st century. Of course, today the public concern has changed from one of taming the land to one of preserving and conserving the world's forests.

Not a great adaption for Disney, but certainly characteristic of the shorts released in the 50's. It's interesting to consider that this tale was part of American folklore long before it was put into print. Like most folklore,it's full of exaggerated fictional accounts of events. One can image loggers sitting around a campfire, or in a cabin, each trying to embellish and exaggerate the story to make it more interesting then the last time it was told. Certainly a colorful Tall Tale. All part of our collective heritage, and what fun!

I remember this from my childhood. Coming from Minnesota, we, like so many other areas, take credit for the legend. One day, Paul shows up in a gigantic cradle as a baby and is story begins. No need to go into details. Most of North America is created by him, the lakes, the rivers, the mountains. He has a strong personality but the West is only so defined. This is an adequate cartoon version of American folklore but not great shakes. I did enjoy the song, however.

This Disney short was created during the studio's creative free-fall in the 1950s. While the 1930s and 40s found the studio on top, by the mid-1950s, their shorts were dull, poorly animated and often overtly educational (yuck!). I am sure kids and adults alike longed for the old Mickey and Donald cartoons! Typical of the 50s, the animation style is VERY minimalistic--with exceptionally simple backgrounds and far fewer detail to the characters. This style was popularized by UPA Studio and Disney realized that making these cheap cartoons was profitable--though lacking artistry and sophistication--a trend that was to continue for the next several decades.

Despite crappy animation, the story itself isn't bad. It lacks a sense of humor (that's bad) but the song is very catchy and the story quite clever. It's certainly not among the best stuff Disney ever produced, though it's a good bit better than a typical film of the era.

By the way, listen for the voices of Thurl Ravenscroft (Tony the Tiger and many other cartoon characters) and Parley Baer (a TV regular and voice of Ernie from the Keebler commercials).

This longish short was nominated for an Oscar. Decent enough and a fairly good adaptation of the tall tale, but fairly routine Disney and with nothing especially memorable or exceptional about it in any area. Worth watching, this runs infrequently as filler on the Disney Channel during "Vault Disney in the wee hours of the morning.