Humorist Robert Benchley learns about the animation process at Walt Disney Studios while trying to find the great man himself to pitch him the idea of making a cartoon about a shy dragon.Humorist Robert Benchley learns about the animation process at Walt Disney Studios while trying to find the great man himself to pitch him the idea of making a cartoon about a shy dragon.Humorist Robert Benchley learns about the animation process at Walt Disney Studios while trying to find the great man himself to pitch him the idea of making a cartoon about a shy dragon.
Norman Ferguson
- Norm Ferguson
- (as Norm Ferguson)
Jim Luske
- Jimmy - Baby Weems Model
- (as Jimmy Luske)
Hamilton MacFadden
- Hamilton MacFadden
- (as Hamilton Mac Fadden)
Ernie Alexander
- Baby Weems' Father
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe Mickey Avenue/Dopey Drive signpost was built specifically for the movie, and was supposed to be removed afterward. It wasn't, and it still stands at the Disney studio.
- Crazy creditsThe animation credits include caricatures and signatures of the crew.
- Alternate versionsTypically releases of this film have the sequences How to Ride A Horse and the title featurette as separate films with the live action footage excised.
- ConnectionsFeatured in L'ami public numéro un: L'usine à rêves (1962)
Featured review
"The Reluctant Dragon" got a somewhat hostile response from critics when it first came out. To some degree, I can understand the negative reaction. For one thing, it often comes more like an advertisement for the Disney company instead of an original story. Also, while the movie promises to answer some questions to its audience about how cartoons are made, it doesn't go into that much depth about the subject. And some of what it presents is wrong, from hiring actors to play cartoon staff to suggesting that the audio for a cartoon is made after the animation is done. It also doesn't help that while Robert Benchley was a funny guy elsewhere, the material given to him as the movie's pseudo-host just isn't that funny.
But if you are an animation buff and/or a Disney buff, the movie does have its rewards. There are occasional legitimate peeks into the Disney company at the time, and those peeks do have some interest. And while the live action footage is mostly disappointing, the animated sequences do deliver - not just the title cartoon, but also "Baby Weems" and the Goofy cartoon. I don't know if kids would sit still for the entire movie, but those certain adults I mentioned at the start of this paragraph should find the movie has its rewards.
But if you are an animation buff and/or a Disney buff, the movie does have its rewards. There are occasional legitimate peeks into the Disney company at the time, and those peeks do have some interest. And while the live action footage is mostly disappointing, the animated sequences do deliver - not just the title cartoon, but also "Baby Weems" and the Goofy cartoon. I don't know if kids would sit still for the entire movie, but those certain adults I mentioned at the start of this paragraph should find the movie has its rewards.
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- A Day at Disneys
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $872,000
- Runtime1 hour 14 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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