Animation Celebration Saturday - Melody Time

Disney, 1948
Voices of Dennis Day, Frances Langford, The Andrews Sisters, and Buddy Clark
Directed by Jack Kinney, Clyde Geromini, Hamilton Luske, and Wilfred Jackson
Music by various

Despite the failure of Fantasia, Disney and his animators continued making similar musical anthology films throughout the 1940's, with jazz and "popular" music rather than classical pieces. Melody Time was the fifth and second-to-last of these movies, made up of shorts ranging from nostalgic romantic romps to folk tales of the American west. How do they look nowadays? Let's start with singer Bobby Clark and the title song and find out...

The Story: There isn't one. This is made up of seven short segments scored to popular, jazz, or country music. Singer Bobby Clark is our host.

Once Upon a Wintertime - In this Currier and Ives-inspired romantic tale, a young Victorian couple goes skating, but runs into trouble when the ice cracks and she and a girl rabbit almost go over the falls.

Bumble Boogie - A poor little insect finds himself trapped in a surrealistic nightmare of musical notes and piano keys.

The Legend of Johnny Appleseed - The first of two adaptations of American folk lore. Here, we learn how young Johnny went west to plant apple trees and made friends with humans and animals alike.

Little Toot - Little Toot is a young tug boat who plays practical jokes on all the boats in the harbor. His attempts to help his father only ends up with both of them in disgrace, but he's able to redeem himself when he finds an ocean liner in distress during a storm.

Trees - Musical rendition of the 1913 poem by Joyce Kilmer.

Blame It On the Samba - Donald Duck, Jose Carioca, and the Arauan Bird of The Three Caballeros return for another surreal mix of animation and live-action, this time with organist Ethel Smith demonstrating the Latin dance routine of the title.

Pecos Bill - Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers narrate the final and longest segment, revolving around another American folk legend. Bill was raised by wolves and, after rescuing a colt he names Widowmaker, grows into the most famous and outrageous cowboy in Texas. He falls in love with equally wild and lovely cowgirl Slue Foot Sue...but Widowmaker doesn't like sharing his human one bit!

The Animation: As much of a mixed bag as the shorts. "Samba" and "Bumble Boogie" plays with surrealism, to comic and intense effect respectively. "Wintertime" is elegant and flowing. "Johnny Appleseed" has a gorgeous finale with apple blossoms melding into the sky, while "Little Toot" and "Pecos Bill" are more typically cartoon-y for the era. "Trees" experiments with frosting and laminating cells, giving it a softer look.

The Song and Dance: Some of the individual segments have merit. "Once Upon a Wintertime" is my favorite, partially because it turned up frequently on The Disney Channel in the 80's during the Christmas season. Dennis Day gets to show off his range in the charming "Johnny Appleseed," playing not only the young Johnny, but his Angel who sends him on his journey as well. "Blame It On the Samba" returns to Cabelleros territory with Donald and Jose chasing another Latin live-action beauty in a looney, was-this-made-on-drugs reverie.

Along with "Wintertime," my favorite segment is "Pecos Bill." It's a hilarious retelling of another American folk tale until the finale, which ends on a surprisingly mature and bittersweet note for an animated film.

Favorite Number: The movie kicks off well with the lovely, romantic "Wintertime" which remains a favorite at Christmas. Day performs all the songs and voices in "Johnny Appleseed," including jaunty "There's a Lot of Work to Do." The Andrews Sisters have fun with "Little Toot," especially when they narrate how he rescued that ocean liner from the storm! Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers introduce "Blue Shadows On the Trail" in the live-action wrap-around segment and have a blast narrating the outrageous and ultimately sad tale of "Pecos Bill."

What I Don't Like: The movie is really a bit of a muddle, and not much of a movie. Other than "Johnny Appleseed" and "Pecos Bill" being based after American folk tales, none of the shorts have any relation to one another. "Bill" and "Johnny Appleseed" feature brief Native American stereotypes that may upset some viewers far more than Bill smoking (which is retained on the print shown at Disney Plus). The longer segments were later released as separate shorts, and they're really better off that way, where they can be appreciated for their individual merits, than lost in a feature-length film.

The Big Finale: This one is really for major fans of Disney animated films, shorts, or the singers only. Everyone else would be better off looking up any of the shorts that interest them separately.

Home Media: Streaming is by far your best bet here. The North American Gold Collection DVD edits out Bill smoking. As mentioned, the original version is currently running at Disney Plus with a subscription and a warning about the outdated cultural depictions.

DVD
Disney Plus