User reviews

Buddy Clark's voice hosts and introduces 7 shorts set to popular and folk music sung by contemporary talent of the era ranging from the Andrew Sisters to Roy Rogers.

The anthology film produced by Walt Disney pictures and second to last "package film" which would conclude with the following year's The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, Melody Time like other projects of the mid to late 40s was intended to be cheaply produced by the studio, but unlike previous films made either out of necessity or under contract to the State Department, the goal of Melody Time as well as the following Year's Ichabod and Mr. Toad was to accumulate capital to return to single narrative features with 1950's Cinderella. Like many of the post Fantasia anthologies produced by Disney it lacks the grandiosity and artistry of Fantasia, but some of its shorts do come close to reaching the same level.

Most of the shorts of Melody Time are pretty well in line with the standards of a typical Silly Symphony cartoon with segments such as Once Upon a Wintertime, Little Toot, and Bumble Boogie being technically well made, but not all that memorable or substantive. Even Bumble Boogie which tries for a more surreal approach feels rather rote at this point because it looks so similar in style and execution to Pink Elephants for Dumbo or sequences to Three Caballeros there's a feeling of "been there, done that" that's hard to escape. Blame It on the Samba features a reteam of Donald Duck and Jose Carioca who are livened up by the Aracuan Bird introducing both of them to the Samba which leads to a live-action/animated mix where the three cartoon birds interact with organist Ethel Smith in what's admittedly a retread of the Baia segment from Three Caballeros, but the syncing of animation with live-action actors has gotten noticeably better with more in depth levels of interaction and some more ambitious camera work. The only weird part of this short is that Jose and Donald are completely mute and lacking in personality and I'm not entirely sure why. Both Jose and Donald are really expressive characters with distinguished personalities and without Jose's suave charm and energy or Donald Duck's anger, annoyance, and irritability it's kind of strange seeing them without the usual traits associated with them.

The other shorts are slightly above average with a retelling of the Legend of Pecos Bill being a well animated slapstick comedy with some creative imagery (even if it's kind of an odd note to end the movie on), a recitation of the Joyce Kilmer poem "Trees" brought to life with animation to show a single tree in all four seasons that's quite beautiful, but easily the best short is The Legend of Johnny Appleseed where we look at the life of John Chapman who goes from humble apple farmer to American legend with the help of his guardian angel. Johnny Appleseed despite it's short length shows grand ambitions and encompasses all the best parts of the ideals of America and humanity as we see Johnny befriend nature and spread apples and kindness across the land solely for its own sake and to help bring a sense of decency and community. The imagery in this short is nothing short of epic with a scene of Johnny's shadow stretching across the land, or apple blossoms transitioning to clouds being some truly memorable sights.

Melody Time like all the other package films Disney produced during the 40s has some okay segments and some segments that are awe inspiring. I don't think the movie's all that impressive as a whole and would say it's probably preferable to experience these shorts on their own, but there is some really strong work on display despite it being disjointed.

During the '40s many of the animated films released by the Disney studios were compilation-style movies. By that, I mean that instead of telling one story over the course of 80 or so minutes, the films were made up of a series of short animated stories linked together. The most successful example of this approach was "Fantasia" (which was linked together by pieces of classical music), but nowadays many people are not aware that the studio made several films of this kind. "The Three Caballeros", "Make Music Mine", "Saludos Amigos", "Fun and Fancy Free" and "Melody Time" are some of the other examples.

Melody Time is split into seven sections. "Once Upon A Wintertime" deals with a loving couple who go ice-skating on a frozen river; "Bumble Boogie" deals with a bee which is pursued by a variety of living musical instruments to the accompaniment of Rimsky Korsakov's Flight Of The Bumblebee; "Johnny Appleseed" retells an old American legend about a pioneer who struck out west and planted the first apple forests; "Little Toot" deals with a mischievous young tugboat which redeems itself by saving a liner in a storm; "Trees" is a short poetic sequence in which the title tells you all you need to know; "Blame It On The Samba" is a simple dance sequence starring Donald Duck; and "Pecos Bill", which begins with real-life actors (among them Bobby Driscoll) talking around a desert campfire, and proceeds to relate the animated story of the titular Wild West character who was raised by coyotes and got into various wacky adventures.

Generally-speaking, I find the longer sequences the best. The opening sequence, "Wintertime", is excellent, with just the right touch of comedy and excitement. "Little Toot" is excellent too - arguably the best episode in the film in fact. And "Pecos Bill" is thoroughly entertaining and has some laugh-out-loud moments. Of the longer episodes, only "Johnny Appleseed" feels laboured and frankly dull. The shorter episodes are actually rather disappointing. "Bumble Boogie" has terrific musical accompaniment, but is forgettable; "Trees" is pleasant but ordinary; and "Blame It On The Samba" looks like a rejected sequence from The Three Caballeros (1947), and is by far the most irritating sequence in this film, despite the presence of the perennially popular Donald Duck. On the whole, Melody Time might only really appeal to Disney completists; it has amusing and ingenious moments though you have to wade through some dull stretches to find them.

Seven animated musical shorts from Walt Disney (with some live-action interspersed) include themes of young love and the wonders of nature. Highlights are the raucous "Pecos Bill" segment and the story of "Johnny Appleseed". Obviously, "Melody Time" was a holding-pattern release for the studio while they completed their more high-profile pictures. Certainly it is filled with gorgeous color, animated grandeur, and old-fashioned songs, but it's considered to be one of Disney's lesser efforts, and for good reason. The lack of a strong theme, matched with Disney's penchant for cuteness, may cause some non-Disney buffs to start squirming after thirty minutes or so. Pretty much interchangeable with "Make Mine Music", which was released in 1946. **1/2 from ****

Overall, I enjoyed "Melody Time" very much. It isn't as good as "Fantasia", which I consider a perfect introduction to classical music, but there are some entertaining parts. Elevated by some lovely animation, good songs and cute characters it is very pleasant to watch, even if there are segments that are better than others.

"Once Upon a Wintertime"(9/10)- One of my personal favourite segments from the film. I admit I knew about this one long before seeing "Melody Time" from watching my old Christmas videos. The animation is absolutely gorgeous in this segment, with a nice romantic story and a truly beautiful title song, sublimely sung by Frances Langford.

"Bumble Boogie"(9/10)- When I first heard of this I thought "Rimsky Korsakov jazzed up? How will that turn out?" My verdict is surprisingly entertaining, despite its scant running time and being a tad too rushed, with a cute and endearing title character, nice animation and a clever arrangement of "Flight of the Bumble Bee". I will say I don't know what Rimsky Korsakov would make of it though, he was very particular about how he liked his orchestration.

"Johnny Appleseed"(10/10)- My personal favourite. Very colourful visually, with some lively songs and the perfect melodious voice of Dennis Day elevated it to a greater level. Could've easily been very dull in terms of story, but the above elements made it worth seeing.

"Little Toot"(8/10)- I have one word for this little segment- CUTE! Little Toot himself is adorable. I loved the animation and music here, the Andrews Sisters have wonderful voices that blend beautifully together. A little too slow in places.

"Trees"(8/10)- Plot-less it is, but it is a visual and musical feast, and the poetic narration was lovely. If only it wasn't so short!

"Blame it on the Samba"(7/10)- Sorry, this was my least favourite, despite the presence of the wonderful Donald Duck and his little green parrot buddy. Excellent music and decent animation, but the editing and pacing seemed somewhat rushed, and for some strange reason Ethel Smith left me cold.

"Pecos Bill"(8/10)- This is one rootin' tootin' cartoon. While starting off a little tedious and some of the characters were a bit deflated, there were however some very nice backgrounds, funny moments and a corker of a soundtrack. Not to mention the fabulous Roy Rogers, wow!

Overall, uneven mix but pleasant enough. 7/10 Bethany Cox

If you like Fantasia, Fantasia 2000 this nearly lost film is worth checking out. It is an anthology of shorts set to popular music from the 40's. It is a lot more accessible to the average viewer than the classic music of fantasia. The shorts-like always-are a mixed bag but each has its charm that make each worth watching once. I particularly liked "Little Toot" and "Bumble Boogie."

Following on the heels of 'Fantasia' (which used classical music to accompany animated shorts) and 'Make Mine Music' (which used popular songs and recital instead), comes another musical anthology, 'Melody Time', the weakest of the three.

The Andrews Sisters perform 'Little Toot' to give life to a charming tale about a mischievous tug-boat who eventually redeems himself; while Roy Rogers performs the dullest piece of the film, 'Pecos Bill'. In-between we have a mixed bag - a choral version of the croaky old poem 'Trees'; a hot samba with Ethel Smith and Donald Duck; 'Bumble-Boogie' (which has a bee trying to escape from the musical cacophony which is Freddy Martin's orchestra and The Flight of the Bumble Bee); and the tale of Johnny Appleseed.

OK to pass the time but does not have anything on the scale of 'The Whale Who Wanted To Sing At The Met' or 'The Nutcracker Suite' from the previous films.

'Melody Time' showcases seven classic short stories utilizing the talents of The Andrews Sisters, Dennis Day, Roy Rogers, Sons of the Pioneers and Frances Langford. Highlights include "Pecos Bill" and "Johnny Appleseed", as well as "Little Toot", the tale of a mischievous tugboat. "Bumble Boogie" and "Blame it on the Samba" are other highlights.

A nice mixture of fun and fantasy with some great music on the soundtrack while the Disney animation dazzles with its highly stylized cartoon art. Although an uneven blend of sketches, it's got plenty of entertainment value. A winter wonderland romance sung by the Andrews Sisters gets it off to a good start. Kids of all ages should love it and adults won't be bored. Highly recommended.

The WWII years were not good to 'ol Walt Disney. First, a crippling strike occurred just before the war (in which he lost about a third of his animators) and then the war took a whole bunch more. Plus, apart from making military training films and a few shorts here and there, the production of full-length films ground to a complete halt. Up until this time, Disney had produced some amazingly good cartoons such as "Snow White", "Pinocchio" and "Bambi" among others. Once the war was over, the studio was a mess and they were in no shape to try to replicate their past glorious films. So, the studio worked on a wide variety of short films--intended as experimental productions and opportunities for the new animators to hone their craft. To put it bluntly, it was almost like the minor leagues of Disney--or perhaps the pre-season! Regardless, by 1946-8, they had A LOT of shorts and decided to clump them together (sometimes clumsily) and release them as full-length films, such as "Make Mine Music", "Saludos Amigos" and this film. Unfortunately, these all were wildly uneven pictures--full of very good stuff, some poor stuff and some downright awful stuff. For kids, in particular, they were second or third-rate films--often full of dull songs and varying wildly in style, content and focus.

Of the collections marketed as full-length films, "Melody Time" might just be the most consistent of them. While it still is uneven and occasionally bad (Once Upon a Winter Time), it also had more good stuff--though nothing exactly great. The best of them were probably "Pecos Bill" and "Little Toot"....though I also liked "Bumble Boogie". The rest of the crop would fall somewhere between these extremes. Enjoyable but probably a film best for die-hard Disney fans or people who adore animation...REALLY adore animation. Otherwise, I anticipate some very disappointed people out there.

Disney's package movies in particular are often quite hokey and this mediocre example even lacks the usual highlights, with most parts missing dramatic punch and excitement, while the quality of the animation varies strongly.

On the other hand, the shorts are all quite watchable, with the rhythmic episodes outshining the narrative ones; but nothing's really memorable and the kitsch factor becomes slightly grating after a while. Not to mention the sugar-coating of frontier life.

Loved the confused bee, though.

5 out of 10 howlin' coyotes

One of the last animated package films that Disney released in the 40s to keep afloat and the last one to be an anthology of short films (the next one will be just two stories combined). As was the case with "Make Mine Music" before, the film tries to be a kind of "Fantasia" for popular music, but the result in both is much worse (even worse here). Of the seven segments, the first one with a recognisable visual design by the great Mary Blair and "The Legend of Johnny Appleseed" are probably the best ones (even when "Little Toot" and "Pecos Bill" were very popular at the time).

Like Fantasia, Melody Time is an anthology of animated sequences, but is not as long like the former and not as brilliant or vibrant in my opinion. It contains seven animated shorts, some with just music and some with dialog and music.

You won't find much plot in this film - just a bunch of cartoon shorts set to the music of contemporary oldies and songs sung by singers from the Golden Era. The animation looks pretty washed up and the overall movie misses the rich music, dynamic and scenic animation sequences and the excitement and majesty Fantasia was able to present.

While each segment wasn't very appealing, the Johnny Appleseed sequence was a little touching and the Trees segment was quite beautiful. The story of Little Toot was too "cute" but has some heroic elements, and the Blame it on the Samba sequence was quite catchy with its Latin music (and it's nice to see a familiar face, Donald Duck, star in that sequence). However, the Once Upon A Wintertime short was boring, Bumble Boogie was a little too mindless and the Pecos Bill story, while set to some good ol' American flavor, dragged the film.

Overall, the film doesn't have much that would grab your attention and has that all-around lazy feel to it. It might be something that is OK for adults to watch once to pass the time, but children might not be able to sit through it.

Grade D+

All possibly to reflect Walt Disney's dreams and possibly some of his new ideas, while the world was recovering from the terrifying Second World War, Disney released "Melody Time", a collection of beautiful, heartwarming, musical and entertaining shorts. At the beginning, a speaking mask (who at times is the narrator), explains that there is something for everyone and there indeed just about is! A lot of different kind of shorts await you and you are bound to like at least one a little bit.

In order of when the shorts are shown:

"Once Upon A Wintertime": A different kind of Disney animation, including pristine backgrounds, Disney shows a rather messy winter love story. Not the best short in the bunch, but definitely not the least best, with a good woman singer.

"Bumble Boogie": Good for the eye, this short shows a very angry and upset bee trapped and flustered in a world of musical caterpillars and images. A good short mainly for the older, for the young it may be a bit upsetting, especially as the bee is quite a likable character.

"Johnny Appleseed": One of the few shorts with a proper plot, with some of the best animation in the set, Johnny Appleseed is a heartwarming story, you may even be inclined to believe this beautiful American story is true! Good for all ages.

"Little Toot": Unfortunately, this short is rather tedious babyish and a slight bit depressing, probably the least good of the lot. However, it is likely to entertain the wee ones and maybe some grown-ups would not mind watching it.

"Tree": Is basically a poem, a moving painting and a picture of a tree. Like "Bumble Boogie", it is plot less and another feast for the eyes, hopefully it will become your favourite of the set. Very beautiful for any animation and stunning.

"Blame It On The Samba": Featuring Donald Duck, a parrot friend of his and a rascal of a waiter bird! Showing a naughty bird bullying and entertaining Donald Duck and his friend with the amazement and annoyance of the samba.

"Pecos Bill": The last of the set, Pecos Bill is pretty entertaining - even with a rather tedious beginning and animation that could do with some work. The songs and characters are certainly entertaining. It shows a young boy being bought up by coyotes and becoming a "rooting, tootin' cowboy".

So, enjoy "Melody Time"!

When you think of classic Disney films, this is perhaps one that does not come to mind. Melody Time is essentially a series of shorts put together to make up a narrative feature. As you might expect, it is a hit and miss show. It's not that it's bad per-se, it's just that when the company that made this, also made Fantasia, Beauty and the Beast and Pinocchio, you can see why it doesn't hold up.

As usual, the animation is superb. Animation wise, there is nothing to fault. At times, it feels like visual poetry. But sometimes, the content falls short of what could be an interesting film. The good includes 'The Legend of Johnny Appleseed', a gorgeous look at one of America's first pioneers, and 'Pecos Bill', a country and western jamboree about an impossibly adventurous cowboy. Both of these segments remind us that Disney is at their shorts best, when they are focused on folkloric tales. See Icabod and Mr Toad for further proof.

However, it's not all fun and games. One segment, 'Little Toot' was so abysmal that it made me yearning for the blandness of the kids TV show, 'Tugs'. And 'Blame it on the Samba', featuring the most irritating Disney character ever committed to celluloid, The Aracuan Bird. There also seems to be this constant idea in the segment which says that the Samba music is impossible not to dance to. I know a lot has changed since 1948, but did I miss a meeting where it was agreed that this music was supposed to be intoxicating? The other segments full under the radar. 'Trees' in particular felt only about 1 minute long, which is a shame because the animation in the that is the best of the film.

The original title of Melody Time was 'All is Fun'. After seeing the film, you can see why they changed the title. But it doesn't mean there is no fun to be had along the way.

...but no one in the 21st century is going to recognize any of the people who did the music for "Melody Time". Dennis Day? Fred Waring? Frances Langford? And besides, the movie has some of the hokiest sketches. As for Roy Rogers, maybe he and John Wayne were seen as role models in the '40s and '50s, but can we in the 2010s truly see them as such?*

So, it's not just that I'm the sort of person who prefers to watch all sorts of different movies from around the world. I prefer it if family movies have a more complex purpose than being happy-go-lucky. For example, I wouldn't call "Frozen" a masterpiece but I thought that it made a good point about accepting oneself as one is and others as they are. But more than anything I always preferred the Looney Tunes cartoons; their irreverence and grittiness starkly contrasted with Disney's cuteness.

The point is that I don't recommend "Melody Time".

*Read John Wayne's comment about relations between white settlers and American Indians if you want to know what I mean.

Disney made a whole lot of these short film collections after the war years as a way to bide time until they got an actual feature film together. They're a mixed pack, but this one is arguably the best, if only because it contains the smallest amount of bad or boring segments.

Though there certainly are a few of those here as well. Once again the segments are a gamut of musical segments mixed with actual stories. And once again the musical segments are usually the weaker ones. Like Bumble Boogie and Trees, which are mainly mood pieces. The music and poetry is nice in both, but they're as good as Fantasia's similar pieces and are there mainly for padding.

Not that the story segments are all great either. Little Toot, the story about a tugboat child, is just as predictable and pandering as the story about an airplane child in Saludos Amigos. And speaking of Saludos Amigos, we get reacquainted with José in Blame It on the Samba, which is all of the worst parts of Saludos Amigos done with slightly different songs and images.

But luckily we have Once Upon a Wintertime, the opening segment, a nice, soothing winter pastoral with nice animation style, cute characters and good use of music.

And of course we have both The Legend of Johnny Appleseed and Pecos Bill, two of the most famous short films Disney has ever made. And they've both earned their legend. They're animated perfectly, the characters are amazing, the humour topnotch and as a whole they're just immensely entertaining.

And that's Melody Time. Most segments are at the very least average, with some of them earning the moniker of classic. If you want to check out Disney's early package films, see at least this one.

Fun Disney anthology movie that features seven musical cartoons. Most are very good and all are watchable. My least favorite is probably "Bumble Boogie." Not because it's bad, it's just nothing that memorable. The ones I like the most are "The Legend of Johnny Appleseed," with Dennis Day, "Once Upon a Wintertime" with Frances Langford, the adorable "Little Toot," and "Pecos Bill," a retelling of the folk hero's story introduced by a live action segment that includes Roy Rogers and Bobby Driscoll. This last segment is the one most likely to offend the PC police, both for its depictions of Indians as well as Pecos Bill smoking a cigarette. Stupid, I know, but some think we live in a time where we need others to do our thinking and decide what's best for us. The other two cartoons in this movie are "Trees" (the poem put to music) and a Donald Duck cartoon called "Blame It on the Samba." Both are good. All of these cartoons were released later on their own as theatrical shorts. This is a very enjoyable way to pass the time. It'll put a smile on the face of any fan of old-school Disney movies.

In the years following Fantasia, Disney came up with some animated films which are a collection of shorts. Melody Time is one them. It contains seven unrelated musical vignettes.

1. Once Upon a Winter Time: A lovey-dovey young couple go ice-skating and there they have a cutesy misunderstanding but make up cutesy-ly in the end. As though this doesn't ooze enough icky cuteness, there is a rabbit couple imitating the human couple. A poor beginning.

2. Bumble Boogie: The movie starts getting good. This is Disney's take on Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee" and a very interesting one too. If anything it ends too soon.

3. Johnny Appleseed: A romanticized story of Johnny Appleseed, a real- life, pioneer apple-cultivator, this short has some of the best animation in any Disney movie.

4. Little Toot: The good run continues with the story of a naughty little tugboat who eventually learns to be responsible.

5. Trees: A short, totally forgettable song on how trees shelter animals and birds.

6. Blame it on the Samba: Donald Duck and Jose Carioca dance to some Samba music played on piano by Ethel. It has some interesting animation but nothing special.

7. Pecos Bill: This is the longest feature and has a live-action sequence. It tells the tale of the folklore hero, Pecos Bill and it is really enjoyable.

Watch the better shorts separately rather than the entire movie.

This is essentially filler in the Disney Animated Canon. It's not bad at all, but there did not need to be a compilation and none of the pieces complement each other. I don't have a favourite sequence. I don't think any of them really impressed me.

This film is quite entertaining, the animation looks good and the live action scenes aren't too bad, however, the only thing I can remember about this movie is the Donald duck is in it. Out of all the wartime era Disney classics, it's the most forgettable.

The most adorable was John Chapman (Apple Seed) Disney always bringing fun and information with these tributes to legends, since always, adorable... Quotes to legendary John Henry and Davy Crockett to folkloric Paul Bunyan... And Pecos Bill considered one of the first examples of fakelore (a folklore taken for real, like our fake news). The dubbing is lighter and more cute than the subtitles, the literalness is probably heavy for the kids... I liked the fantasy touch...

These 7 "Melody Time" musical-cartoons were produced way back in 1948 at Disney Studios.

This era was considered to be the "Golden Age" of animation (which was long before CGI ever came onto the scene and changed cartoon production forever).

Most of these carefully hand-drawn cartoon-shorts are actually quite entertaining to watch. And, if you are someone who is really observant you will certainly be able to fully appreciate all of the obvious work that had gone into the artistic production of these brief, but completely enjoyable pictures from yesteryear.

All through my childhood of watching Disney movies on video, I'd somehow never seen MELODY TIME (although some footage had been used in sing-along montages).

MELODY TIME (1948) is similar to Disney's FANTASIA (1940), setting short animated stories to music, only this time Disney uses popular contemporary vocalists and musical acts instead of classical masterpieces. The Andrews Sisters sing a tale about a little tugboat and Dennis Day croons the saga of Johnny Appleseed. There's some live-action footage of organist extraordinaire Ethel Smith (integrated with Donald Duck and his feathered pal Jose) and Roy Rogers's singing posse (relating the legend of Pecos Bill). "Once Upon a Wintertime" (sung by Frances Langford) is the sleigh ride romance that is edited into Disney's Christmas sing-alongs.

This is definitely a second-tier Disney production, but it has its charms and is nicely animated. Kids should enjoy it, and it's an interesting sample of the musical 1940s.