Melody Time -Fully Restored 50th Anniversary Special Edition-

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Disney's nearly forgotten classic, MELODY TIME
MELODY TIME (1948) is one of the finest cartoons you'll ever see-- truly a timeless work of the highest art. Hosted by Buddy Clark, the feature is divided into seven distinct segments. They are: UPON UPON A WINTERTIME - An idyllic ice skating expedition almost ends in tragedy. Title song by Frances Langford. BUMBLE BOOGIE - Freddy Martin's orchestra with Jack Fina on keys play a solid rendition of "Flight of the Bumblebee" against a most surrealistic animation. This same arrangement was later a 1961 pop hit for B. Bumble & the Stingers. THE LEGEND OF JOHNNY APPLESEED - A small masterpiece for Dennis Day, who is Johnny, the narrator and all other voices. At one point, Day sings a duet with himself, as an old and young man. Many have forgotten how talented this Irish tenor really was. LITTLE TOOT - A very cute animation of Hardie Gramatky's tugboat fable is livened up by the vocals of the Andrews Sisters. TREES - Beautifully pastoral. Fred Waring & his Pennsylvanians provide peaceful music and voice for the famous Joyce Kilmer work ("I think that I shall never see, a poem lovely as a tree"). This gentle lull leads us to the final two segments, which are Melody Time's best. BLAME IT ON THE SAMBA - Donald Duck and his parrot friend José Carioca (from "The Three Caballeros") meet the Aracuan Bird. He looks much like Woody Woodpecker's predecessor, and acts far more mischievously. Virtuoso organist Ethel Smith is an island of live action surrounded by cartoon mayhem. All dolled up in her Latina best, Ethel's lightning fast fingers and nimble feet play the title song as Aracuan Bird creates havoc. He eventually explodes the organ with a stick of TNT. Ethel continues to play an animated keyboard until the shreds of her instrument reassemble. A very impressive animation. ROY ROGERS and THE SONS OF THE PIONEERS AND PECOS BILL - A lovely star-filled animated night on the desert contains a far-away group of live humans. A slow zoom reveals Roy, his singing companions and kids Bobby Driscoll and Luana Patten sitting around a campfire, where we hear (and see) the story of Bill, his horse Widowmaker and Slue-Foot Sue. It's a superb ending to one of Disney's greatest and least appreciated animated features. ALSO RECOMMENDED: MELODY TIME was the third of a trilogy of animation/music features issued by Walt Disney after the end of WWII. The others are MAKE MINE MUSIC (1946) (VHS edition (DVD edition) and FUN AND FANCY FREE (1947) (VHS edition) (DVD edition)

Melody Time
It is a great video for going down memory lane,and also a great educational video of great music and artistry of great cartoons. Real creativity, education, and entertainment all wrapped up in one package.

Why, Disney, WHY???
I was SO looking forward to this. I was born in the late 50's and grew up watching Johnny Appleseed and Pecos Bill on The Wonderful World of Disney. The opportunity to introduce my son to a cowboy who rode the cyclone was just too good to be true. Turns out, it really WAS too good to be true. Why has Disney decided to hack up all their old stuff? Why can't they leave the old films as they were created? Everyone KNOWS the times were different. What's next? Will the ever-present pipe be digitally removed from all the Popeye the Sailor cartoons? Will Tom and Jerry be edited to hit each other with foam bats instead of pots, pans, irons and the occasional safe? I know those aren't Disney products, but what if the whole industry starts following their lead? Come on, Disney!! Your body of work is incredible! I would even consider it the common man's art. Whether it's cartoons or live action movies like Mary Poppins or Song of the South, don't go CHANGING them. You don't see people putting more clothes on the Venus de Milo or Da Vinci's David because children might see them. They are what they are. Put a disclaimer on your films if you must, or put a revised version alongside the original, but LEAVE THE ORIGINAL ALONE! And speaking of Song of the South (where you can't find an original copy of the movie OR the book anymore) will you also be getting rid of Peter Pan due to the way it depicts pirates and Native Americans? Will we lose the whole "What Makes a Red Man Red" song? And what about the scenes in Dumbo clearly depicting all the clowns getting drunk? We don't want revisionist versions of the movies. We want to share with our kids the movies we grew up with. It's terribly disappointing to buy a product only to discover it's not as advertised. If you tell me it's Pecos Bill, I expect it to be the Pecos Bill I saw as a child. Want to remake it entirely? Fine! But don't change the old one. Truth in advertising, people!

Pecos Bill
It was great fun seeing and hearing Pecos Bill again. About 55 years ago I had a "book" with pictures to follow the story of Pecos Bill while listening to 45 records. I had never seen the short movie. I don't remember his cigarette until reading other reviews. The other shorts were fun too.

LOVE THIS ONE, BOUGHT IT, BUT...PLEASE, ENOUGH
political correctness which is so lame today anyway (removing Pecos Bill's cigarette), if anyone knows about or has seen some of the video games out now that show hearts being ripped out, massacres everywhere, this is a kitten's picnic by comparison, even with the cigarette. As I sat writhing in agony watching the Whoopie Goldberg apologia before the start of every single Looney Tunes cartoon on one DVD set I own, I just had to wonder; WHY???? YES< we KNOW about the older times and the way things were then, we KNOW. PLEASE don't keep telling us what we already know. Now having said that, I do love this collection and it is worth buying as is until they become more reasonable and independent in their thinking and treatment of us, the audience/consumer/customer. One can only hope and pray we get these great classics as is, uncut and as they were meant to be seen in their entirety; this misguided PC and censorship has to stop somewhere, sometime, but until it does, we have to suck it up and get the cartoons we love so much. P.S. WHERE is Song of the South????