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Melody Time

Rating

Director

Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, Hamilton Luske

Screenplay

Winston Hibler, Erdman Penner, Harry Reeves, Homer Brightman, Ken Anderson, Ted Sears, Joe Rinaldi, Bill Cottrell, Art Scott, Jesse Marsh, Bob Moore, John Walbridge

Length

1h 15m

Starring

Roy Rogers, Trigger, Dennis Day, The Andrews Sisters, Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians, Freddy Martin, Ethel Smith, Frances Langford, Buddy Clark, Bob Nolan, Sons of the Pioneers, The Dinning Sisters, Bobby Driscoll, Luana Patten

MPAA Rating

Approved

Basic Plot

Seven animated featurettes are mixed with the musical medium to create Disney’s 10th full-length animated motion picture.

Review

Prepare to experience some of the most stunning animated features ever made.

In 1948, animated features were new. Disney, was of course on the forefront of that medium. “Melody Time” was Walt Disney’s 10th foray into the world of the sight and sound combination known as animation.

“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 approach to love. 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 set of animated features. This section receives an A- and is the third best of the seven.

“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, the animation is classic. It flows in the veins of Disney’s earlier masterwork “Fantasia.” If it were separated from the movie as a whole, it would be one impressive sight, but other pieces drag the films rating lower. I give it an A+. It’s the best work in the entire film.

“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. “Appleseed” is by far the worst of the seven and receives only a B-.

“Little Toot” brings up the pace a bit, but the first few minutes are rather boring. Not until he’s towed out to sea does the segment pick up the pace. The Lennon Sisters do an excellent vocal accompaniment and the “Bad Buoy” song is extremely impressive, but the end doesn’t justify the means and “Toot” is merely a B+. It is the fifth best of the seven segments.

“Trees” is the second best of the segments. While not as impressive as “Boogie,” “Trees” is inspiring. The music is intense and the animation moving. “Trees” is an A- with a few flaws, but not a lot.

“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 key fowl in the short. Another is an Aracuan bird that is quite interesting to watch. One of the key characters, as in “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 synch with the music, but they occasionally drift into unnecessary melodramatics. “Samba” is a B+.

That leaves the final short of the film. Narrated by Roy Rogers as a tale of why the coyotes howl at the moon, “Pecos Bill” is a rather slow and painful experience. The opening narration montage, featuring live-action actors, is horrible to watch. It’s not in the least bit interesting and the rest of the feature isn’t so great. What makes it good is a good bit of animation and some acceptable music. It isn’t a masterwork of a generation, but it is a suitable segment. It’s a B. Just above “Appleseed.”

“Melody Time” on the whole is rather impressive feature, but some of its segments aren’t up to the usual Disney par.

Review Written

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