Mélodie Cocktail

The WWII years were not good to 'ol Walt Disney. First, a crippling strike occurred just before the war (in which he lost about a third of his animators) and then the war took a whole bunch more. Plus, apart from making military training films and a few shorts here and there, the production of full-length films ground to a complete halt. Up until this time, Disney had produced some amazingly good cartoons such as "Snow White", "Pinocchio" and "Bambi" among others. Once the war was over, the studio was a mess and they were in no shape to try to replicate their past glorious films. So, the studio worked on a wide variety of short films--intended as experimental productions and opportunities for the new animators to hone their craft. To put it bluntly, it was almost like the minor leagues of Disney--or perhaps the pre-season! Regardless, by 1946-8, they had A LOT of shorts and decided to clump them together (sometimes clumsily) and release them as full-length films, such as "Make Mine Music", "Saludos Amigos" and this film. Unfortunately, these all were wildly uneven pictures--full of very good stuff, some poor stuff and some downright awful stuff. For kids, in particular, they were second or third-rate films--often full of dull songs and varying wildly in style, content and focus.

Of the collections marketed as full-length films, "Melody Time" might just be the most consistent of them. While it still is uneven and occasionally bad (Once Upon a Winter Time), it also had more good stuff--though nothing exactly great. The best of them were probably "Pecos Bill" and "Little Toot"....though I also liked "Bumble Boogie". The rest of the crop would fall somewhere between these extremes. Enjoyable but probably a film best for die-hard Disney fans or people who adore animation...REALLY adore animation. Otherwise, I anticipate some very disappointed people out there.

'Melody Time' showcases seven classic short stories utilizing the talents of The Andrews Sisters, Dennis Day, Roy Rogers, Sons of the Pioneers and Frances Langford. Highlights include "Pecos Bill" and "Johnny Appleseed", as well as "Little Toot", the tale of a mischievous tugboat. "Bumble Boogie" and "Blame it on the Samba" are other highlights.

A nice mixture of fun and fantasy with some great music on the soundtrack while the Disney animation dazzles with its highly stylized cartoon art. Although an uneven blend of sketches, it's got plenty of entertainment value. A winter wonderland romance sung by the Andrews Sisters gets it off to a good start. Kids of all ages should love it and adults won't be bored. Highly recommended.

Buddy Clark's voice hosts and introduces 7 shorts set to popular and folk music sung by contemporary talent of the era ranging from the Andrew Sisters to Roy Rogers.

The anthology film produced by Walt Disney pictures and second to last "package film" which would conclude with the following year's The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, Melody Time like other projects of the mid to late 40s was intended to be cheaply produced by the studio, but unlike previous films made either out of necessity or under contract to the State Department, the goal of Melody Time as well as the following Year's Ichabod and Mr. Toad was to accumulate capital to return to single narrative features with 1950's Cinderella. Like many of the post Fantasia anthologies produced by Disney it lacks the grandiosity and artistry of Fantasia, but some of its shorts do come close to reaching the same level.

Most of the shorts of Melody Time are pretty well in line with the standards of a typical Silly Symphony cartoon with segments such as Once Upon a Wintertime, Little Toot, and Bumble Boogie being technically well made, but not all that memorable or substantive. Even Bumble Boogie which tries for a more surreal approach feels rather rote at this point because it looks so similar in style and execution to Pink Elephants for Dumbo or sequences to Three Caballeros there's a feeling of "been there, done that" that's hard to escape. Blame It on the Samba features a reteam of Donald Duck and Jose Carioca who are livened up by the Aracuan Bird introducing both of them to the Samba which leads to a live-action/animated mix where the three cartoon birds interact with organist Ethel Smith in what's admittedly a retread of the Baia segment from Three Caballeros, but the syncing of animation with live-action actors has gotten noticeably better with more in depth levels of interaction and some more ambitious camera work. The only weird part of this short is that Jose and Donald are completely mute and lacking in personality and I'm not entirely sure why. Both Jose and Donald are really expressive characters with distinguished personalities and without Jose's suave charm and energy or Donald Duck's anger, annoyance, and irritability it's kind of strange seeing them without the usual traits associated with them.

The other shorts are slightly above average with a retelling of the Legend of Pecos Bill being a well animated slapstick comedy with some creative imagery (even if it's kind of an odd note to end the movie on), a recitation of the Joyce Kilmer poem "Trees" brought to life with animation to show a single tree in all four seasons that's quite beautiful, but easily the best short is The Legend of Johnny Appleseed where we look at the life of John Chapman who goes from humble apple farmer to American legend with the help of his guardian angel. Johnny Appleseed despite it's short length shows grand ambitions and encompasses all the best parts of the ideals of America and humanity as we see Johnny befriend nature and spread apples and kindness across the land solely for its own sake and to help bring a sense of decency and community. The imagery in this short is nothing short of epic with a scene of Johnny's shadow stretching across the land, or apple blossoms transitioning to clouds being some truly memorable sights.

Melody Time like all the other package films Disney produced during the 40s has some okay segments and some segments that are awe inspiring. I don't think the movie's all that impressive as a whole and would say it's probably preferable to experience these shorts on their own, but there is some really strong work on display despite it being disjointed.

Overall, I enjoyed "Melody Time" very much. It isn't as good as "Fantasia", which I consider a perfect introduction to classical music, but there are some entertaining parts. Elevated by some lovely animation, good songs and cute characters it is very pleasant to watch, even if there are segments that are better than others.

"Once Upon a Wintertime"(9/10)- One of my personal favourite segments from the film. I admit I knew about this one long before seeing "Melody Time" from watching my old Christmas videos. The animation is absolutely gorgeous in this segment, with a nice romantic story and a truly beautiful title song, sublimely sung by Frances Langford.

"Bumble Boogie"(9/10)- When I first heard of this I thought "Rimsky Korsakov jazzed up? How will that turn out?" My verdict is surprisingly entertaining, despite its scant running time and being a tad too rushed, with a cute and endearing title character, nice animation and a clever arrangement of "Flight of the Bumble Bee". I will say I don't know what Rimsky Korsakov would make of it though, he was very particular about how he liked his orchestration.

"Johnny Appleseed"(10/10)- My personal favourite. Very colourful visually, with some lively songs and the perfect melodious voice of Dennis Day elevated it to a greater level. Could've easily been very dull in terms of story, but the above elements made it worth seeing.

"Little Toot"(8/10)- I have one word for this little segment- CUTE! Little Toot himself is adorable. I loved the animation and music here, the Andrews Sisters have wonderful voices that blend beautifully together. A little too slow in places.

"Trees"(8/10)- Plot-less it is, but it is a visual and musical feast, and the poetic narration was lovely. If only it wasn't so short!

"Blame it on the Samba"(7/10)- Sorry, this was my least favourite, despite the presence of the wonderful Donald Duck and his little green parrot buddy. Excellent music and decent animation, but the editing and pacing seemed somewhat rushed, and for some strange reason Ethel Smith left me cold.

"Pecos Bill"(8/10)- This is one rootin' tootin' cartoon. While starting off a little tedious and some of the characters were a bit deflated, there were however some very nice backgrounds, funny moments and a corker of a soundtrack. Not to mention the fabulous Roy Rogers, wow!

Overall, uneven mix but pleasant enough. 7/10 Bethany Cox

If you like Fantasia, Fantasia 2000 this nearly lost film is worth checking out. It is an anthology of shorts set to popular music from the 40's. It is a lot more accessible to the average viewer than the classic music of fantasia. The shorts-like always-are a mixed bag but each has its charm that make each worth watching once. I particularly liked "Little Toot" and "Bumble Boogie."