Part III of both Fantasia, and The Three Caballeros
Arguably, the most obscure of Disney's feature-length films to be released on VHS and DVD, Melody Time is pretty much a 3rd installment in the Fantasia series, but if not, than you can definitely count it as a twin of-or part II to Make Mine Music (1946). It's virtually the same. But with one exception. Now, almost all 7 segments are longer than those from Make Mine Music. And this time, the selection of shorts are much more eclectic in variety. We have 2 American folk tales, a visual poem with words, a visual story without words, and much more.Technically, Melody Time is superior to Make Mine Music. But- not where you might expect it to be. For instance, the longer segments are, obviously, "Johnny Appleseed" and "Pecos Bill." Of these two, "Pecos" is definitely better. But, even for Disney, and in the 1940's - this is just too silly to be that entertaining most of the time. You would have to be the least intelligent, most childlike person out there to find this mostly "humorous" segment to be that amusing. But, it has the right look and feel for Western-themed Disney animation. Then, "Johnny" is more serious but... there's something odd about this one, to say the least. I guess it's Disney's complete rejection of actual historical events during a sequence where the pioneers and The Indians (yep, complete with Red-faces and all) dance and eat apple bakings together. It may be "pleasant" if you don't want to see violent history, but it's still stupid. Then, this may not bother anyone else either, but there are a few too many references to God's work, which is too much to think about in a family-oriented cartoon. "Prayin's for church," as they say.
Next, is "Little Toot," which for some reason doesn't strike me as that great a story. I believe it's become a favorite showing on the Disney channel between shows / movies (or, at least that's how it used to be before their new millennium Tw'een programming took over). I don't know why. It may be based entirely on the song. It's a pleasant song, but strictly for fans of old radio / big band / 1940's music.
All the other segments, though, are practically perfect for what they are. The first, "Once Upon a Wintertime," has some of the most magnificent colors I've ever seen in a Disney movie in a long time. For 1948, this is just pure visual delight - the blues and reds are just beyond vibrant. The tale is perhaps a little generic, but then so is most of what Disney puts to film. But that magic is there in full force on this segment. The second, is "Bumble Boogie." It's short and for what it is, it's good. Not very memorable, at all. But, if you don't mind alternate versions (what we today call the "Remix") of popular / famous pieces of music, you might enjoy it (I certainly did).
The fifth segment is "Trees," and this is one of the most beautiful scenes I've ever witnessed in any Disney movie. It is basically the fill-in for the Interpretive segments from Make Mine Music, only the colors are so beautiful - especially the greens, yellows, and oranges. Parts of the poem itself are a little hard to hear, but the singing mixed with these visuals is just a sight to behold. Then, the sixth, "Blame It on the Samba," mostly goes for the cuteness of that trouble making bird from The Three Caballeros, the Araquan. The pitch of his voice / giggle have changed and it's now much squeakier and mousier. The animation is good, but the song is great and it's great to see Donald and his green parrot buddy return. Also returning is a live-action person added to the mix who may be a sister to the Cookie Woman from Caballeros. There's some funny chaos later on in this one.
This is the first of these musical package features from Disney (post Fantasia) to have few weak parts, for which each of those have their positive attributes too. "Johnny Appleseed" may not be told very well, but the colors again are unbelievable in several scenes, that it makes moments of the segment uplifting. And then, "Pecos Bill" has so many songs for one of these segments, that one of them is likely to end up getting a little stuck in your head. My favorite is "Blue Shadows on the Trail."
score /10
Incredible_Brightness 16 December 2006
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1546055/35721
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