Melody Time (1948)
One of the most inspiring elements of Disney's earlier works is the studio's continued celebration of music. Undeniably influenced by the limitations the studio faced during war, the studio would turn to shorter collections of vignettes that allowed for a natural backbone of music to be found where narrative and story was forced to be lacking. While there are plenty of examples of this within the Disney vault, the most famous easily being 1940's Fantasia, it is perhaps done nowhere better than in 1948's Melody Time.
Split between 7 shorts, Melody Time's 75-minute runtime flies by with some of the best creativity and consistency seen within any of Disney's package films. While Disney projects as a whole suffered from a lack of resources when it came to animation, Melody Time is one of the best examples of the possibility of working around this problem by injecting wild amounts of style and creativity. From the heartfelt coldness of Once Upon a Wintertime to the electric energy and use of color in Bumble Boogie, Melody Time has a continued flow of energy and unique iconography that helps the film feel fresh and engaging. Specifically, the influence of Disney's Silly Symphony series from the decade prior really is felt in some of these shorts with their visuals and presentation which plays wonderfully within a format such as this.
When it comes to the individual narratives of the shorts, Melody Time is also one of the stronger examples of how to keep the audience's attention. The inclusion of The Legend of Johnny Appleseed feels like a smart choice as an established iconography and story helps the audience immediately feel a connection to what is being shared. In a more original piece, Little Toot is also a charming addition to the feature. In more abstract pieces, purpose and reward is also found. Trees is an incredible segment looking at the amount of meaning and ecological diversity that can be found within a single tree which feels like a wonderfully poignant view on the beauty of nature. This is a concept that feels similar to the goals of 1942's Bambi, but accomplishes the task much quicker and ultimately more successfully. The only one of the stories to truly drag is the final one, Pecos Bill. Both in its live action and animated portions, this short feels bloated and far less effective than everything else presented within the feature.
When it comes to music, one has to appreciate the sheer diversity found throughout the film. Capturing music from across the world, the film transitions from jazz to poetry to samba with every short truly feeling defined by the genre being captured. For a celebration of music, this is a crucial element to the film's success and it helps keep the film interesting for its entire runtime, So many other Disney package films suffer from either lackluster visual presentations or stale choices in music, yet Melody Time holds itself together perfectly and provides a truly wonderful watch.
While Melody Time still suffers from some of the natural limitations of its formula, the film has to be seen as one of the best Disney films of its era. Packed with creativity, energy, and meaning, the film is engaging and rewarding. While Pecos Bill is dud, the rest of the shorts each hold their own unique identity and end up feeling like a collection of really strong works. It is only a shame the film has fallen so far into obscurity with multiple of the film's segments growing bigger individual acclaim than the feature overall.
Split between 7 shorts, Melody Time's 75-minute runtime flies by with some of the best creativity and consistency seen within any of Disney's package films. While Disney projects as a whole suffered from a lack of resources when it came to animation, Melody Time is one of the best examples of the possibility of working around this problem by injecting wild amounts of style and creativity. From the heartfelt coldness of Once Upon a Wintertime to the electric energy and use of color in Bumble Boogie, Melody Time has a continued flow of energy and unique iconography that helps the film feel fresh and engaging. Specifically, the influence of Disney's Silly Symphony series from the decade prior really is felt in some of these shorts with their visuals and presentation which plays wonderfully within a format such as this.
When it comes to the individual narratives of the shorts, Melody Time is also one of the stronger examples of how to keep the audience's attention. The inclusion of The Legend of Johnny Appleseed feels like a smart choice as an established iconography and story helps the audience immediately feel a connection to what is being shared. In a more original piece, Little Toot is also a charming addition to the feature. In more abstract pieces, purpose and reward is also found. Trees is an incredible segment looking at the amount of meaning and ecological diversity that can be found within a single tree which feels like a wonderfully poignant view on the beauty of nature. This is a concept that feels similar to the goals of 1942's Bambi, but accomplishes the task much quicker and ultimately more successfully. The only one of the stories to truly drag is the final one, Pecos Bill. Both in its live action and animated portions, this short feels bloated and far less effective than everything else presented within the feature.
When it comes to music, one has to appreciate the sheer diversity found throughout the film. Capturing music from across the world, the film transitions from jazz to poetry to samba with every short truly feeling defined by the genre being captured. For a celebration of music, this is a crucial element to the film's success and it helps keep the film interesting for its entire runtime, So many other Disney package films suffer from either lackluster visual presentations or stale choices in music, yet Melody Time holds itself together perfectly and provides a truly wonderful watch.
While Melody Time still suffers from some of the natural limitations of its formula, the film has to be seen as one of the best Disney films of its era. Packed with creativity, energy, and meaning, the film is engaging and rewarding. While Pecos Bill is dud, the rest of the shorts each hold their own unique identity and end up feeling like a collection of really strong works. It is only a shame the film has fallen so far into obscurity with multiple of the film's segments growing bigger individual acclaim than the feature overall.