Disney Classics In Order - No. 10 Melody Time

It’s at this point, ten films in and slogging my way through a patch that cannot be described as overly enjoyable, that I am beginning to question the wisdom of watching all of the Disney Classics in order. I am, however, nothing if not a stubborn and mildly obsessive man so let’s crack on. There's a light at the end of tunnel. We’re nearly through...

Melody Time (1948)
Directors:- Jack Kinney; Clyde Geronimi; Hamilton Luske; Wilfred Jackson
Based Upon:-  All manner of stuff

The One Where
We’re in a deja vu situation as we’ve hit a similar format to Make Mine Music but with arguably a lower level of enjoyment. A selection of different pieces of animation of varying lengths with music as the theme (pretty broad, yeah, I know).

General Viewing Notes
- This one has not aged at all well and is very US-centric in its content. The two longest segments, Johnny Appleseed and Pecos Bill, feature characters and celebrities that mean very little to a non-US audience, especially one 70 years down the line. They’re also just not that interesting for the length of time that’s devoted to them.
- There’s more mixing of live action and animation in this one - for no readily apparent reason in Blame It On The Samba and presumably for contractual reasons in pecos Bill so that Roy Rogers and his horse Trigger can feature onscreen.

Disney Tropes
- Terror Forest - a brief bit of frightening foliage in Johnny Appleseed
- Fake Death - Little Toot pulls out the old “main character’s dead; ah, no, not really!” gag again

Things You Notice As An Adult
-  Not necessarily as an adult, more 70- years down the line, but the mythologising of Johnny Appleseed with his mass ecological destruction by planting apple trees absolutely bloody everywhere does not really sit well as a positive message today, alongside the ludicrous images of the settlers and Native Americans laughing and joking around together.

Classic Songs - Are They?
Nope, nothing in this one - a lot of songs but not one classic in there.

Any Good Then?
Another 75 minutes that positively drags by. A few fun flashes here and there but it’s too little to sustain any sort of interest throughout. The good news? This is the last full-on anthology film. We’ve just got one two-hander (much like Fun And Fancy Free) to go

Next One Of These
The beginning of the upswing out of the doldrums of the package films