My first exposure to 'Two Silhouettes' was through 'Make Mine Music', one of Disney's mid/late-40s musical anthology films, of which it was one of the segments. That film to me struck me on first watch as one of the better films of Disney's from this period, and still think that, while not considering this one of the best segments (it's no 'Peter and the Wolf' and 'The Whale that Wanted to Sing at the Met') this reviewer still really liked it at the time.
Still really like 'Two Silhouettes' now, there are cartoons and short films where initial opinions have changed by quite a bit but that is not the case here. Am not going to say that it is great, because it isn't and is not for all. For some, it is easy to criticise especially if plotlessness and sentimentality is not your thing and fair enough if the case. Yet part of me is very fond of 'Two Silhouettes' and consider it truly beautiful visually and musically.
It's best forgetting the plot as 'Two Silhouettes' doesn't have one, it's more like five minutes of beautifully animated shadows dancing elegantly to a song that makes one pine for the music of the 40s. Not that that is a bad thing, just saying what to expect.
Do think too that some of the lyric writing is a little too on the saccharine side, they're lovely mostly though (i.e. The first line).
'Two Silhouettes' is beautifully animated. The titular silhouettes are animated with such grace and the balletic movements are very dream-like. The backgrounds are pretty ravishing in colour and the attention to detail while not elaborate adds to the dream-like atmosphere. Especially shining in the non-singing portion. Cannot praise the dancing enough, if one has fond memories of going to the ballet and being transfixed by all the great big Pas De Deux's (i.e. 'Swan Lake', 'The Nutcracker') they will be in heaven. As the choreography of the dancing is on that technical level and is so elegantly danced.
Whether you like the music is dependent on how you feel about this kind of music that was popular at the time and Dinah Shore's voice. Personally have a lot of nostalgia for 40s ballads, and the title song here is a hauntingly beautiful one that gels beautifully with the silhouette images. It is at its best in the ravishing orchestration in the non-vocal section, which did remind me fondly of my trips to the ballet and my feelings watching that section was pretty much exactly what was felt when so caught up emotionally in the big showpieces.
As for Shore, she sings the title song with a lot of sensitivity and beautiful tone in a song that really suits her, like it was written with her in mind to sing it. Have always loved the mellow, low mezzo soprano sort of voices in this sort of music, and Shore immediately springs to mind when thinking about it (like Judy Garland, Frances Langsford and Ilene Woods). The two silhouette characters are very elegant and much of me felt very touched by the end.
In conclusion, very well done and at its best pretty exquisite. 8/10.
