Musik, Tanz und Rhythmus (1948)

Musik, Tanz und Rhythmus: Directed by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, Hamilton Luske. With Roy Rogers, Trigger, Dennis Day, The Andrews Sisters. An anthology of animated vignettes set to contemporary music.

“During the u0026#39;40s many of the animated films released by the Disney studios were compilation-style movies. By that, I mean that instead of telling one story over the course of 80 or so minutes, the films were made up of a series of short animated stories linked together. The most successful example of this approach was u0026quot;Fantasiau0026quot; (which was linked together by pieces of classical music), but nowadays many people are not aware that the studio made several films of this kind. u0026quot;The Three Caballerosu0026quot;, u0026quot;Make Music Mineu0026quot;, u0026quot;Saludos Amigosu0026quot;, u0026quot;Fun and Fancy Freeu0026quot; and u0026quot;Melody Timeu0026quot; are some of the other examples.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMelody Time is split into seven sections. u0026quot;Once Upon A Wintertimeu0026quot; deals with a loving couple who go ice-skating on a frozen river; u0026quot;Bumble Boogieu0026quot; deals with a bee which is pursued by a variety of living musical instruments to the accompaniment of Rimsky Korsakovu0026#39;s Flight Of The Bumblebee; u0026quot;Johnny Appleseedu0026quot; retells an old American legend about a pioneer who struck out west and planted the first apple forests; u0026quot;Little Tootu0026quot; deals with a mischievous young tugboat which redeems itself by saving a liner in a storm; u0026quot;Treesu0026quot; is a short poetic sequence in which the title tells you all you need to know; u0026quot;Blame It On The Sambau0026quot; is a simple dance sequence starring Donald Duck; and u0026quot;Pecos Billu0026quot;, which begins with real-life actors (among them Bobby Driscoll) talking around a desert campfire, and proceeds to relate the animated story of the titular Wild West character who was raised by coyotes and got into various wacky adventures.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eGenerally-speaking, I find the longer sequences the best. The opening sequence, u0026quot;Wintertimeu0026quot;, is excellent, with just the right touch of comedy and excitement. u0026quot;Little Tootu0026quot; is excellent too – arguably the best episode in the film in fact. And u0026quot;Pecos Billu0026quot; is thoroughly entertaining and has some laugh-out-loud moments. Of the longer episodes, only u0026quot;Johnny Appleseedu0026quot; feels laboured and frankly dull. The shorter episodes are actually rather disappointing. u0026quot;Bumble Boogieu0026quot; has terrific musical accompaniment, but is forgettable; u0026quot;Treesu0026quot; is pleasant but ordinary; and u0026quot;Blame It On The Sambau0026quot; looks like a rejected sequence from The Three Caballeros (1947), and is by far the most irritating sequence in this film, despite the presence of the perennially popular Donald Duck. On the whole, Melody Time might only really appeal to Disney completists; it has amusing and ingenious moments though you have to wade through some dull stretches to find them.”