Brave mécanicien

Fun cartoon from Disney that's loosely based on real-life train engineer Casey Jones. The story finds Casey determined to get his cargo to its destination on time, despite all the obstacles that stand in his way. It's very cute and fun with wonderful voice work from Jerry Colonna. I'm a sucker for train stories so it has that added value for me. I read that this cartoon has been censored now by Disney, specifically the scene with the robbers being edited out because they have guns. A textbook example of the stupidity of political correctness and 21st century Disney's cowardice. Thankfully I did not watch that version.

I haven't seen this since I was at most eleven, on a VHS compilation of Disney shorts, at the babysitter's house. I always had a memory of the collision course bit, so this morning I decided to try to find this film. I distinctly remembered the contrast between the frenzied musical theme over Casey's train screaming down the hill, & the weary but menacing theme over the uphill freight.

The film is rated rather poorly here on IMDb, but I don't see why. It is a tragic/comedic animated short produced by Disney in 01950 - what more do you want? It could have been made a little longer, mind you - but its runtime is long enough for a child's attention span.

This is the story of the engineer Casey Jones and his insane efforts to make sure he delivers the mail on time. The train sequences are very goofy--a major plus.

This cartoon short from Disney is well worth seeing but I must warn you about two major distractions--the singing and, more importantly, the narration by Jerry Colonna. As for the singing, my feeling is many will like it and just as many won't. But the narration--that is something many, many will struggle with, as Colonna's shtick was to deliver his lines in an ear-piercing manner. It's a shame, as other than that it's a cute little cartoon...with VERY annoying narration.

By the way, look carefully at the scene where the conductor jumps off the train. Despite this, in the next scene you can STILL see him standing on top of the train!!

Some of the pacing did feel a tad rushed in places, however The Brave Engineer is still really fun. The animation is lusciously coloured and beautifully drawn, and the music is catchy, especially the song, helped by the lively singing. The Brave Engineer has some hilarious commentary, some terrifically paced and never dull action, while the story is always engaging. The characters are zany and likable, and I personally thought Jerry Colonna's voice work was one of The Brave Engineer's best assets(though I can understand as his delivery and his style of humour can be seen as an acquired taste). True, it is not always subtle, but you can tell that a lot of enthusiasm went into it and it is immensely enjoyable as a result.

Overall, a really fun short with everything I love about Disney evident. 9/10 Bethany Cox

The Brave Engineer: My wife and I rented this video as part of a compilation of Disney "Americana" cartoons, including "Johnny Appleseed" and others. We were pleasantly surprised to find my Dad receive animator credits at the end. So many of the old Disney cartoons they show on T.V. now just list "brought to you my the talents of many...etc" or something like that. My Dad is 92 now (12/31/03), but still very much alive and kickin'. He worked at Disney Studios in Burbank from the animating of "Snow White" to about the finish of the animated "Jungle book, about 1971 I think. He went into production in some kind of middle-management position and didn't do enough footage to get animator credits sometime after this cartoon.