Melody Time

In 1948, animated films were new. Disney was front and center in that regard. “Melody Time” was Walt Disney’s 10^th film in the realm of combining shorts with animation.

Wesley Lovell said in his review, ““Melody Time” is comprised of seven featurettes set impressively to music with some very eclectic animation added. It is only appropriate that we take a look at the best and worst of the film’s segments looking at each individually.”

“Once Upon a Wintertime” is a fascinating short to love. Lovell credited, “It’s rather antiquated by today’s look at love, but is still quite interesting. “Wintertime” captures the mood of the film and is delicately animated with trees that don’t look like trees, but like extensions of the ground, they are round and connected.” It’s this look that sets the tone for a surprisingly original group of animated shorts.

Lovell noted, ““Bumble Boogie” takes Rimsky-Korsakov’s masterpiece “Flight of the Bumblebee” and updates it with a Boogie- beat.” Not only is the music enjoyable to listen to, but the animation is also classic. It flows in the same area as Disney’s earlier film “Fantasia.” If it were separated from the movie as a whole, it would be one impressive short, but other parts bring the film's rating down.

Lovell admitted, ““The Legend of Johnny Appleseed” is rather boring and antiquated, at times it’s interesting, but the music is just tired and lifeless. The tale is so preposterous that the end barely redeems the segment, but not enough to save it.”

“Little Toot” speeds up the film a little, but the first few minutes are boring. Not until he’s towed out to sea does the short pick up the pace. The Lennon Sisters do excellent vocal work and the “Bad Buoy” song is impressive, but the end doesn’t justify the means. I think I might have seen this a long time ago, but I don’t remember.

“Trees” is not as impressive as “Bumble Boogie,” but it is inspiring. The music is intense and the animation is moving.

Lovell said, ““Blame It on the Samba” makes it into the cradle position of not the best and not the worst, but dead center.” Donald Duck and another friend from “The Three Caballeros” are two of the protagonists in the short. Another is an Aracuan bird that is very interesting to watch. One of the main characters, as in “The Three Caballeros” is a live-action woman. She is sitting at an organ playing along with the music. The animators keep her and the animation in sync with the music, but they occasionally go into unnecessary melodramatics.

Now we come to the final short of the film. Narrated by Roy Rogers as a story of why the coyotes howl at the moon, “Pecos Bill” is very slow. The opening narration montage, having live-action actors, is bad to watch. This isn’t the least bit interesting and the rest of the short isn’t so great. What makes it good is a good amount of animation and some acceptable music. Lovell mentioned, “It isn’t a masterwork of a generation, but it is a suitable segment.”

“Melody Time” overall is a really impressive film, but some of the shorts aren’t at the same level as the usual Disney.

Despite what I have mentioned about the shorts in this film, I still say this is another collection that you should see. Check it out and see it for yourself. Your opinion may not match what is said on this blog, but you can judge for yourself. See it on Disney+ and see what your opinion will be.

Tomorrow I will be looking at another film with two stories and see what I think about it in “Disney Month 2023.”