MAKE MINE MUSIC (1946)
Directed by Jack Kinney, Clyde Geronomi, others
Featuring music from: Nelson Eddy, Dinah Shore, Benny Goodman, The Andrews Sisters, Jerry Colonna, Sergei Prokofiev, others
During World War II, many of the Disney animators and story people went off to fight, and those who stayed home were drafted by the government to make propaganda and instructional films. As such, the theatrical animation department was on shaky ground. There were a ton of ideas floating around, but they didn't have the time or the money to fully develop them. The solution was to do a series of "package films;" a collection of short subjects that could be produced on the cheap, cut together and sent out to theaters. Make Mine Music was the third of six such films.
Watching this film was a bit like listening to Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" for the first time. I'd heard all the songs before, but never in their full context. With Make Mine Music, I had seen many of these shorts - particularly "Peter and the Wolf" before - but never together with the others in the set.
The film consists of ten shorts:
"The Martins and the Coys" - Actually, due to "graphic gunplay not suitable for children," this short was cut from the home video release. As such, I didn't see it. I'll look it up on You Tube sometime.
"Blue Bayou" - Beautiful animation of herons flying through the bayou at dusk. No real story, but wonderful to look at. The song, sung by the Ken Darby Singers, is pretty good, too.
"All The Cats Join In" - A group of fun-lovin' teens get together for a sock hop at the malted shop. Inventive animation and a high energy song by Benny Goodman make this one a lot of fun. Plus, it's good to remember a time when teens were only hopped up on sugar.
"Without You" - Dark, moody piece about lost love, with a melancholy song by Andy Russell.
"Casey At The Bat" - Jerry Colonna narrates - with music, of course - the famous baseball poem. This one is more slapstick than the others and very funny.
"Two Silhouettes" - Two real-life ballet dancers move in silhouette with their animated backgrounds. A very arty piece, with Dinah Shore performing the song.
"Peter and the Wolf" - This is the one I remember from my childhood. Sergei Prokofiev's piece is narrated by Sterling Holloway. Still as good as I remember. And the wolf is just as scary as I remember, too.
"After You've Gone" - Another Benny Goodman tune features anthropomorphized musical instruments dancing. Very well done.
"Johnny Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet" - Probably the weakest piece in the film. Sung by the Andrews Sisters, it's a story about how two hats fall in love. The animation is nice, but it goes on way too long. The song and the concept are both pretty silly.
"The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met" - Another one I remember from my childhood. Nelson Eddy sings and narrates this story of a whale with an amazing talent. The animation is fine, and the whale's various costumes (Pagliacci, Tristan, Mephistopheles) are great. Has a rather downbeat ending, though.
This was a very interesting little time capsule to uncover. I just wish they had left it completely intact. I mean, was "The Martins and the Coys" really that offensive? I'll have to track it down and find out.
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