#10 Melody Time

Title: Melody Time

Release Date: May 27th, 1948

Voice Cast: Roy Rogers, Dennis Day, Frances Langford, The Andrews Sisters
Plot: The fifth of six package films Disney released in the 1940s, Melody Time contains several animated segments set to popular music and folk music alike.

Review: Oy vey. Let's get the good part out of the way first. ...well, the first segment itself actually wasn't too great at all. Interestingly enough, though the first had a story, I was a thousand times more am

used by the second segment, a short frenzy of animation set to a ragtime variation of Flight of the Bumblebee. Then follows an adaptation of Johnny Appleseed, which could have easily been expanded into a full movie (and just as easily won me over). It's riddled with Christian propaganda, though, so if that's not your thing, stay away.

If the Christian propaganda isn't enough to force you away, continue reading. Melody Time then falls to the level of Saludos Amigos. (If you haven't read that review yet, do so; you'll know what I'm talking about.) In fact, there's an encore to Saludos in a segment. It actually put me to sleep. I woke up a few minutes later, very confused, as I thought somebody had put on Saludos while I was dozing.

What comes next is a boring song, followed by live action nonsense, followed by an only average story about the legendary cowboy Pecos bill. It teaches you how fun guns are, especially when you shoot them at Native Americans!

So who is this film for? Not for me. Could it be for you? Well, that would brighten my day, because for now, I have absolutely no idea why Disney dropped the ball on this one when it was doing so well with Make Mine Music and Fun and Fancy Free. Oh, well. There's only one package film left: The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. Check back either tomorrow or Friday for that.

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