Day 12: Melody Time (1948)
Melody Time may be the least interesting of all the package films - We both really struggled to remember any sequences in particular once it was over.
However, I did really like the very stylised animation in one of the sequences (I think it’s the first one), which is about a couple skating in winter. Apparently, Mary Blair worked on this sequence, which you can see from the color palette and style of the figures. One of my favourite aspects was the fact that the climax of the ‘story’ happened at an inevitable waterfall - how did the water freeze enough to skate on if it was that close to a waterfall? And why do these things always end up at waterfalls?
The second story about Johnny Appleseed contains allusions to heaven and god, and religious symbology, which I don’t think we have really come across. As a Brit I didn’t really know much about this historical character and I can’t say I feel much more informed having watched this movie. This seems to me to be the type of subject matter which Disney might have tried to tackle with a feature-length film in the 90s, when they didn't play things as safe as they do now, if it didn't already exist.
Incidentally, the Three Caballeros also return in this movie for those who are fans.
Melody Time may be the least interesting of all the package films - We both really struggled to remember any sequences in particular once it was over.
However, I did really like the very stylised animation in one of the sequences (I think it’s the first one), which is about a couple skating in winter. Apparently, Mary Blair worked on this sequence, which you can see from the color palette and style of the figures. One of my favourite aspects was the fact that the climax of the ‘story’ happened at an inevitable waterfall - how did the water freeze enough to skate on if it was that close to a waterfall? And why do these things always end up at waterfalls?
The second story about Johnny Appleseed contains allusions to heaven and god, and religious symbology, which I don’t think we have really come across. As a Brit I didn’t really know much about this historical character and I can’t say I feel much more informed having watched this movie. This seems to me to be the type of subject matter which Disney might have tried to tackle with a feature-length film in the 90s, when they didn't play things as safe as they do now, if it didn't already exist.
Incidentally, the Three Caballeros also return in this movie for those who are fans.