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Melody Time
Nov. 19th, 2019 08:25 amBack on the Disney train! This time, we watched Melody Time, another anthology film. I was surprised to discover that I was familiar with some of the shorts in this one, including “The Legend of Johnny Appleseed,” which a weary social studies teacher once popped in to keep us all quiet for a while, and “Little Toot,” which I’m familiar with in book form. That scene where Little Toot’s father gets demoted to hauling garbage barges because of Little Toot’s antics… tragic stuff.
On the whole I thought this was a strong collection. In addition to the shorts mentioned above, I particularly enjoyed “Trees,” which is an artistic rendering of the poem “Trees” (which, I must say, I’ve never really cared for as a poem), because the animation is so stylish - almost Art Deco; you’ve got crisp clear lines and bright colors that all work together to make a harmonious whole. And there’s something particularly impressive about the way that one scene melds into the next: you’ll have a close-up of a leaf, for instance, and the camera seems to pull back and suddenly you’re looking at a sunset, or whatever.
And I enjoyed “Blame It on the Samba,” just because it was fun to see Jose Carioca and Donald Duck sambaing while the Aracuan bird gleefully plays tricks on them. (“If I were going to ship cartoon birds,” Julie commented, “I would ship Jose Carioca and Donald Duck.”)
There are jarring moments of racism in a couple of the shorts: “Johnny Appleseed” (and really the whole premise of the story is predicated on just kind of ignoring Native Americans) and “The Legend of Pecos Bill,” and it made me wonder about Song of the South, the movie that Disney has famously repressed for racism. If they’re willing to release this on DVD, just how bad must Song of the South be?
On the whole I thought this was a strong collection. In addition to the shorts mentioned above, I particularly enjoyed “Trees,” which is an artistic rendering of the poem “Trees” (which, I must say, I’ve never really cared for as a poem), because the animation is so stylish - almost Art Deco; you’ve got crisp clear lines and bright colors that all work together to make a harmonious whole. And there’s something particularly impressive about the way that one scene melds into the next: you’ll have a close-up of a leaf, for instance, and the camera seems to pull back and suddenly you’re looking at a sunset, or whatever.
And I enjoyed “Blame It on the Samba,” just because it was fun to see Jose Carioca and Donald Duck sambaing while the Aracuan bird gleefully plays tricks on them. (“If I were going to ship cartoon birds,” Julie commented, “I would ship Jose Carioca and Donald Duck.”)
There are jarring moments of racism in a couple of the shorts: “Johnny Appleseed” (and really the whole premise of the story is predicated on just kind of ignoring Native Americans) and “The Legend of Pecos Bill,” and it made me wonder about Song of the South, the movie that Disney has famously repressed for racism. If they’re willing to release this on DVD, just how bad must Song of the South be?
