One that got away...

jimjo1216

All through my childhood of watching Disney movies on video, I'd somehow never seen MELODY TIME (although some footage had been used in sing-along montages).

MELODY TIME (1948) is similar to Disney's FANTASIA (1940), setting short animated stories to music, only this time Disney uses popular contemporary vocalists and musical acts instead of classical masterpieces. The Andrews Sisters sing a tale about a little tugboat and Dennis Day croons the saga of Johnny Appleseed. There's some live-action footage of organist extraordinaire Ethel Smith (integrated with Donald Duck and his feathered pal Jose) and Roy Rogers's singing posse (relating the legend of Pecos Bill). "Once Upon a Wintertime" (sung by Frances Langford) is the sleigh ride romance that is edited into Disney's Christmas sing-alongs.

This is definitely a second-tier Disney production, but it has its charms and is nicely animated. Kids should enjoy it, and it's an interesting sample of the musical 1940s.

score /10

jimjo1216 31 August 2013

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2860811/