Disney Movie Challenge: Melody Time (1948)

DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE

Melody Time

WHAT IS THE DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE: With Disney+ making available almost all of their films from the vault I thought it was a good time to watch all the theatrically released feature length Disney Studio Animated films. That’s a lot of qualifications so what does it all mean? It must be a film developed and released under the Walt Disney Animation Studios (so no PIXAR or Tim Burton stop motion films). Must have been released in theaters (no direct to video releases). And feature length (no shorts that played prior to the features). Currently there are 58 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Frozen II in 2020. 

The late 40's packaged film trend continues in this feature loaded with 7 shorts. Similar to Fantasia and Make Mine Music each short in Melody Time is based on music.  There are stories about Johnny Appleseed, a tug boat named Little Toot, and another short with Donald Duck and Jose Carioca.  The last and longest short (at 20 minutes) has Roy Rogers and Trigger telling the story of Pecos Bill.  Felt like that was supposed to the main event and all the other shorts were the under card.  

The movie is mostly uninspired shorts.  I had a real hard time keeping an interest in any of the shorts.  Even bringing back Jose Carioca who was one of the highlights of previous package films didn't do anything to save this one.  The Pecos Bill short wasn't bad, just felt like Disney trying to capitalize on the popularity of Roy Rogers. Bumble Boogie is a fun short that has a jazz version of  Flight of the Bumble Bee.  It features a Bee trying to escape crazy instruments and is one of the few highlights of the film .   

Overall: Pretty boring film.  While most of the previous package films had a few highlights this one really only had one. After "Make Mine Music" I was wondering why Disney hadn’t made more shorts with modern music.  Then Melody Time comes along and now I know.  

Random Facts  

10th Disney Animated Feature Film

5th of 6 packaged films released in the late 40's.  

Pecos Bill has a few scenes of the main character smoking edited out on the original DVD release but the Disney + version has the full unedited short.  

Disney Movie Challenge: Fun and Fancy Free (1947)

DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE

Fun and Fancy Free

WHAT IS THE DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE: With Disney+ making available almost all of their films from the vault I thought it was a good time to watch all the theatrically released feature length Disney Studio Animated films. That’s a lot of qualifications so what does it all mean? It must be a film developed and released under the Walt Disney Animation Studios (so no PIXAR or Tim Burton stop motion films). Must have been released in theaters (no direct to video releases). And feature length (no shorts that played prior to the features). Currently there are 58 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Frozen II in 2020. 

Continuing the trend of the late 40's Disney released it's 4th packaged film.  This time it consisted of 2 shorts that were originally going to be feature films but both were deemed not good enough to be released on their own.  The first short in the film is "Bongo" based on the story "Little Bear Bongo" by Sinclair Lewis.  The second is "Mickey and the Beanstalk" which is a Disney take on Jack and the Beanstalk story. Each short has their own introduction. "Bongo" is introduced by Jiminy Cricket and "Mickey and the Beanstalk" was introduced and narrated by Edgar Bergen (father of Candice Bergen) who was known at the time as a comedian and ventriloquist.  He appears in the film with two of his characters Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snead.  

"Little Bear Bongo" is about a circus bear named Bongo who dreams of escaping the circus and going to the wild.  When he finally makes it to the wild he has no idea how to survive but does find a female bear that he falls in love with.  But to make the relationship work he needs to figure out how things work in the wild.  For example getting slapped by a bear means they love you. The movie ends with them slapping each other and living happily ever after.  

"Mickey and the Beanstalk" has been repackaged a number of times and has had multiple edits including one in the 70's that has Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop narrating it.   The movie features Mickey, Donald, and Goofy as three farmers who end up planting a seed that takes them to a magic kingdom ruled by a giant.  They have to try to escape with a magic harp that will return their land back to a happy kingdom it once was.  

The two movies have nothing to do with each other and the live action stuff connecting them feels forced.  "Mickey and the Beanstalk" is the stand out here.  It's a fun story and probably could have been made into a descent feature film if more time and effort were able to be put into it.  May favorite part of the live action stuff was Edgar Bergen interacting with his dummy Charlie McCarthy who would always interrupt the story with sarcasm.  And more evidence that Jiminy Cricket is the worst.  After finding an invitation to a birthday party meant for someone else he just heads over uninvited.  He then proceeds to sit on a spoon, eats cake and drinks a cocktail (evidence below).  Who wants to eat from a spoon that a cricket was on? 

Overall: "Mickey and the Beanstalk" was a fun adventure short with three classic characters that had never been together on the big screen in a feature before. It must have been fun to see them together on the big screen.  "Bongo" was a mostly forgettable film and can't picture how that would have been a feature film.  

Random Facts:

One of the last times Walt Disney voiced Mickey Mouse. He would do the voice again for the original Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show. 

First introduction of Willie the Giant

Disney Movie Challenge: Make Mine Music (1946)

DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE

Make Mine Music

WHAT IS THE DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE: With Disney+ making available almost all of their films from the vault I thought it was a good time to watch all the theatrically released feature length Disney Studio Animated films. That’s a lot of qualifications so what does it all mean? It must be a film developed and released under the Walt Disney Animation Studios (so no PIXAR or Tim Burton stop motion films). Must have been released in theaters (no direct to video releases). And feature length (no shorts that played prior to the features). Currently there are 58 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Frozen II in 2020. 

Even though WWII was over by the time Make Mine Music was released Disney was still feeling the effects of the war. Make Mine Music continued the trend of packaging shorts to make a feature film. This film takes more inspiration from “Fantasia” than the previous two package films of “Saludos Amigos” and “The Three Caballaros”.

Similar to “Fantasia” the film uses music as inspiration for each short. Instead of using classical music it used contemporary music of the time. Some of the artists that contributed music to the film are The Benny Goodman Band, Dinah Shore, and The Andrews Sisters. It didn’t have a narrator like “Fantasia” but each short had a title card that introduced the style. For example before “Blue Bayou” there was a title card that said Tone Poem, and before “All the Cats Join in” we are told this is a Jazz Interlude.

I felt like I have actually seen some of these shorts before so some of them must have played on Disney Channel at one point. A few of the more notable ones are “Casey at Bat” and “Peter and the Wolf”. For the most part the shorts in this package film are decent. Only a few I didn’t enjoy at all. The last short "The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met" is a bit of a downer to end on.  The titular whale is harpooned and killed but does go on to sing in heaven so guess not a total bummer.  

The biggest controversy for this film was the first short in the original release called "The Martins and the Coys".  It's a take on the Hatfield and McCoys which include plenty of gun violence.  The short was removed on from the only DVD release because "graphic gun play not suitable for children". There was also a minor edit in "All the Cats Join In" where a girls bare butt is edited out. Both are now considered no-go for modern Disney films, and it is most likely the reason why the movie is not currently available on Disney+.   I was lucky enough to be able to get the edited DVD from my local library.  If you are so inclined you can watch "The Martins and the Coys" on YouTube. As far as the bare butt goes you can probably find that if you look hard enough but I did not try.  

Overall: As I have mentioned before each package film is going to have its hit and misses.  This one worked for me. I enjoyed "All the Cats Join In", "Casey At Bat", "Peter and the Wolf", and "The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met".  I actually like the more modern take on "Fantasia" and wonder why Disney hasn't done something like this recently.  


Random Facts
Entered into the 1946 Cannes Film Festival

There is an uncut Japanese laserdisc version from 1985 and a Scandinavian uncut version was released in 2006 but they are very rare. In 2013 a U.K. uncut DVD version was finally released. No Blu-Ray was ever released. The uncut version is one of the hardest Disney Films to find and not even the edited version is available on Disney+. 

The U.S.' only DVD release was in 2000 and had the two edits previously mentioned. 

Disney Movie Challenge: The Three Caballeros (1944)

DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE

The Three Caballeros

WHAT IS THE DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE: With Disney+ making available almost all of their films from the vault I thought it was a good time to watch all the theatrically released feature length Disney Studio Animated films. That’s a lot of qualifications so what does it all mean? It must be a film developed and released under the Walt Disney Animation Studios (so no PIXAR or Tim Burton stop motion films). Must have been released in theaters (no direct to video releases). And feature length (no shorts that played prior to the features). Currently there are 58 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Frozen II in 2020.  I will be watching each film in chronological order. 

With WWII still going on and manpower and money still in short supply Disney released “The Three Caballeros'' in 1944.  Coming two years after  “Saludos Amigos” this is another package film that aims to showcase South America.  

The film it’s based around Donald Duck’s birthday (which is Friday the 13th). He receives a big package and each present in that package takes him on a new journey.  The first present is a home movie set up and contains a few stand alone shorts. One is about a penguin that doesn’t like the cold and one about a flying donkey.  Then Donald opens a gift from Brazil and he reunites with his old friend Jose Carioca from “Saludos Amigos”.  Jose once again takes Donald on a journey through Brazil.  Finally Donald opens up a third present which is a pinata and he is introduced to a Mexican Rooster Panchito Pistoles. Panchito takes him on a tour of Mexico and teaches him some Mexican traditions and also introduces him to some female Mexican dancers.  

Similar to “Saludos Amigos” this film was made with the help of the U.S. Government which was paying studios to make propaganda films.  Once again this was made to help relations with South America.  While this film is better than “Saludos Amigos” it’s hard not to see it as just a continuation.  The short about the flying donkey was even originally conceived for “Saludos Amigos”. 

Like “Saludos Amigos” the best part of the film is the one that takes place in Brazil. The song “Baia” is a fun song and was written by Ary Barroso who also did the song "Aquarela do Brasil" from “Saludos Amigos”. The short about the flying donkey was funny and I did enjoy that.  I will be honest I had trouble paying attention to the film as the rest of the time the shorts didn’t have much of a story to them and I didn’t find it really interesting.  The one thing I did notice is that Donald Duck is a real horny bird in this film.  Everytime they are around dancing girls he gets all googly eyed and turns into a horn dog (guess him and Daisy were on a break).  There is a part of the film called “Donald's Surreal Reverie'' and it’s definitely surreal.  I went to the kitchen to get a drink and came back and there was some trippy stuff going on. I think I might have missed the part where Donald does some Peyote.  

Overall: I think this will be a common theme for the next few movies but each package film is going to have hits and misses.  This one is more enjoyable than “Saludos Amigos” but it just didn’t keep my interest.  It was nice to have characters like Panchito Pistoles and Jose Carioca to give Donald some fun interactions but wish there would have been more story about the three of them.   After watching this film Disney+ recommended the Three Caballeros TV series.  I didn’t even know that existed.  If anyone has watched it let me know what you think. These three characters could be a lot of fun in a series together. 

Random Facts:

Second of 6 package films to be released in the 40’s.

Last Disney animated film to be released during WWII

First feature film to mix animation with live actors.  While it might not be up to today’s standards it still looks pretty good.