The first of several postwar “package” films, this next film was one that I saw for the first time during my initial attempt at this project. My music-loving ears have quite enjoyed this picture. For this project, I’m focusing on the story itself, including dialogue, character development, any subplots, how a story presents itself, the speed at which it moves, if it slows down unnecessarily, etc.
Update: In February 2022, I started a video version of the DFP on Tiktok. You can find the video below. Thoughts expressed in the video may be different than what are expressed in the blog post, due to the time difference in posting.
A Brief Summary
A musical compilation, the first film since the end of World War II. 10 shorts were included in the original production whereas only 9 shorts (minus the Martins and the Coys) were included in the US video release. Make Mine Music contains such delightful shorts as “All the Cats Join in”, “Casey at the Bat” and “Johnnie Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet”. Includes kids at a malt shop, a scary, scary wolf, and a singing whale.
What works
- It’s similar to Fantasia, in that it is a group of shorts connected together, but while Fantasia is a night at the symphony/concert hall, Make Mine Music is more of a variety show with a ballet, an opera, a musical recitation and various other pieces. The variety in music is also really nice, with the styles working well together while not blending together.
- Also unlike Fantasia, there are no in-between bits. There’s no narration, no introduction of the next piece. While it worked with Fantasia, it would have detracted from Make Mine Music. Each piece does have an opening title card but that’s the only separation between segments.
- Another similarity to Fantasia is that there are representatives of each of the three types of segments that had been used in Fantasia: abstract, segments with a story but no strict plot line and segments with a definite plot.
- “Blue Bayou”, “Without You”, and “Two Silhouettes” are each segment with a story but do not have as clear of storylines as majority of the other shorts do; “The Martins and the Coys”, “All the Cats Join in”, “Johnnie Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet”, “Casey at the Bat”, “Peter and the Wolf”, and “The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met” all have a solid plot; and finally “After You’ve Gone” is pretty abstract.
- What I really like about “All Cats Join in” is the simplicity of the plot. A group of teens get ready and go to a malt shop to hang out. That’s it. There’s not really dialogue (other than the music) so it’s all about show rather than tell. It also doesn’t try to go longer than needed, following the pattern of Fantasia and sticking to the length of the song.
- “Casey at the Bat” worked in that it brought about questions (see Side Questions section) and I really like when a story makes me want to know more, whether it’s relevant to the story or not.
- I’m really impressed at how quickly each segment is moving. It’s not that they are being rushed, with each coinciding with a musical score (such as “Casey at the Bat”), not extending past the end of their corresponding music. It definitely says something about the skill of the creators that the timing of each story was given such careful thought.
- “The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met” was a short that I had seen on many occasions as a child (it was on a VHS tape with 2-3 other shorts) and I was thrilled to see it here.
- The most unique of all the shorts in this film in that it is, for the most part, sung in operatic form. The narrator (who also provided just about all of the singing voices) did a fabulous job, his soothing voice keeping the short moving smoothly through musical numbers. There was this personable warmth in his voice that he sounded more like a friend, a kind uncle rather than just a voice through the screen.
Side Questions
- I have so many questions about “Casey at the Bat”. Was this game just a bad game? How many games does Casey usually win? Did the coach put him in as a last resort? (Kind of obvious but still) If Casey has such a bad game as this, will the ladies still love him? Are they loyal fans or bandwagoners?
- Is Willie the one dreaming of going to the Met, I mean, is it his imagination that provides all the fantastic musical snippets that are seen, or does the imagination belong to his friend, the seagull?
Honorable Mentions
- Welcome back Sterling Holloway as the narrator of Peter and the Wolf. It’ll be a couple more decades (from the release of this film) before we get to listen to your most famous role: Winnie the Pooh.
- Nelson Eddy (who provided just about all the voices/singing in the “Whale” short) was so amazing to listen to. I replayed the trio voice song and the ending song at least a dozen times each, mostly the ending song which comes from the 3rd act finale of the opera, Martha.
What I learned from watching this film
- I mentioned up above that “The Martins and the Coys” was among the group that has a solid plot and it is. However, due to comic gunplay, it was removed from the US released video version and I haven’t actually seen it. So why bring it up? Because censorship is a real thing and as time changes, so can what gets or doesn’t get removed. I think I might have liked the storyline (at least from what I’ve read about it) but without seeing it, I can’t say for certain. But it does give thought to creative freedom when working on new stories and projects. Is it worth it to toe, or even cross the line if it means that there’s a chance for censure?
- As I mentioned in the ‘What Works’ section, the timing was really well thought out for this film. Not just in the length of the shorts for the overall picture, but the stories of each of the segments (the ones with stories). They didn’t try to force extend any of the stories just to fill screen time. It made watching the film that much more enjoyable because I didn’t have to feel as if I was stuck sitting through the film.
If you’ve seen Make Mine Music, what did you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Rewind to the beginning of the Disney Film Project
Skip back to the previous film with The Three Caballeros
Fast Forward to the next film with Song of the South
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