Johnny Appleseed

"Johnny Appleseed" is one of the early animated shorts that Walt Disney made. Over the years, the Disney studios made short films about American legends. Some were pure fiction based on myths, such as Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, Babe. Some were based on real people, but were mostly fictionalized stories, such as that of John Henry. And others were about real people with real accounts of what they did - often with much fiction as well. The latter describes Johnny Appleseed.

This 19-minute cartoon short shows Johnny leaving his home to travel across the country, clear forest and plant apple groves. The real person was John Chapman who was an early pioneer and nurseryman in America. He was born in Massachusetts, but his fame and name began in Ohio when he worked in apple orchards. From there he moved around the north-central states and Canada, planting apple orchards as he went. Chapman was born in 1774 and died at age 70 in 1845. But he became a legend during his lifetime. Urbana, Ohio, has a Johnny Appleseed museum, and he is buried in Johnny Appleseed Park in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

This is a nice cartoon depiction of the legacy of one of America's early conservationists.