After You've Gone

Originally part of the movie Make Mine Music, this cartoon was released later on its own as a theatrical short. This is one of my least favorite parts from Make Mine Music. There really isn't much to it. Basically some musical instruments dance around to Benny Goodman jazz music. There was another cartoon in the same film that also featured Goodman music. It was called All the Cats Join In and was much better. Still, this is watchable. There are worse ways to pass four minutes of your life. How much you will enjoy it probably depends on how big a fan you are of classic Disney and Benny Goodman. It works better as part of a compilation movie than on its own, I think.

A Walt Disney Cartoon.

The Benny Goodman Quartet and the Disney animators give a wildly syncopated swing to the popular tune AFTER YOU'VE GONE.

Originally, along with ALL THE CATS JOIN IN, part of TWO FOR THE RECORD, which was Goodman's contribution to Disney's MAKE MINE MUSIC (1946), this exuberantly improvisational three-minute film is a feast for the ears & eyes. The Quartet's clarinet, bass, piano & drums come to life and embark on a jaunt through their own animated universe, with constant variations in color & shape which perfectly matches the music.

Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by pictures & drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew comic figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a storm of naysayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that childlike simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.

After You've Gone isn't as good or as cool as All the Cats Join In, which is irresistible, and definitely one of the better cartoons featured in "Make Mine Music". This cartoon is scant in its running time though, and the pacing is rather rushed. Still it is well animated, with a great soundtrack, courtesy once again of Benny Goodman and his orchestra.

It has its flaws but it is very nice to watch, with great music and beautifully crafted artwork. Like All the Cats Join in, this is an example of a combination cartoon and does well at it. Overall, nice to watch and worth the look, it is not the strongest cartoon in "Make Mine Music" but it's not the worst either. 8/10 Bethany Cox