This next picture is probably one of my favorites. I first saw it on my college program in Florida back in 2013. I’m a huge Disney history nerd, so the chance to ‘visit’ the Studios during the 1940’s was pretty amazing. 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
Robert Benchley arrives at the Walt Disney Studio, an appointment in hand to meet with Walt Disney to discuss turning a children’s book into a cartoon. He evades his by-the-book tour guide in favor of a more personalized tour. He wanders about the lot, visiting a drawing class, two different sound stages (where he meets a charming train whistle), the camera stage and so much more. His visit is filled with surprises around every corner. Includes an elephant, lots of sound effects and a fire-breathing dragon.
What works
- I love the structure for this film. It’s educational like a documentary, giving an idea (or the semblance of an idea) of what the Walt Disney Studio was like in the 30s-40s but it’s fictionalized. Robert Benchley’s avoidance of his by-the-books tour guide, Humphrey, allow him and the audience to see the studio in a more personal lighting.
- Each area of the studio doesn’t take too long and there’s always something to see that is specifically part of that area.
- The art class with the live model (the best kind of live model)
- the sound department had two segments, one with the voices of Clara Cluck and Donald Duck singing a song, the other showcasing how sound effects are made while watching a cartoon short of a train.
- the camera room, where voila! Technicolor exists and we’re able to see how animation was photographed.
- The Rainbow Room (the Ink and Paint department) which honestly felt like the color version of the chocolate making/opening credits of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (which was filmed long after this movie).
- A story conference room, with a cartoon short showcased via storyboards.
- The animators’ room with paintings of Donald Duck and a finished Goofy How-to cartoon.
- the Projection room, with Walt Disney and members of the Nine Old Men (and others) and the titlepiece, the Reluctant Dragon.
- If anyone can explain how anything works, it’s Donald Duck.
- Having Robert Benchley as the newbie to the Disney studio world allows him to ask different questions or be told about how things work without it coming across forced.
- Shorts Featured in the Film
- Casey Jr.
- The only dialogue is from the train, though there are some sound effects for other characters in the short.
- The Baby Weems short
- I really like that it’s told via storyboards. Would I like to see a ‘finished’ version of it? Sure, because it’s a cute little short. But the storyboard angle has charm.
- I like the contemporary angle of the story line. Even though it’s set in the 40’s, it could easily, EASILY be adapted to modern society with little changing about the story other than what technology is used throughout the piece.
- The Goofy Short: How to Ride a Horse
- While Baby Weems was a ‘story-board’ short, this short is completely finished.
- I like that it’s in ‘book form’ like Snow White and Pinocchio. A how-to manual, so to speak.
- The Reluctant Dragon
- I adore the Dragon and how he moves, talks and carries himself. The boy and the knight are great but the Dragon, he is my 2nd favorite dragon after Figment (Epcot: Journey into Imagination).
- I really like the different moments of conflict in the story line faced by each of the different main characters (mainly the Boy)
- Sir Giles, the knight, doesn’t really go through much conflict. He’s a calm enough chap that he goes with the flow.
- The boy goes through so much to get the dragon to ‘fight’. Also he has the best piece of poetry in the entire picture.
- Casey Jr.
Honorable Mentions
- There are some cool marquettes on display and I’m pretty sure they are for movies that haven’t come out with yet: Capt. Hook, Aunt Sarah from Lady and the Tramp.
- there’s also one of the centaurettes from ‘Fantasia’ which makes a couple of appearances.
- the Newspaper editor (the Baby Weems short) yelling Copy Boy and the Baby Weems beach wear. I’d never wear them but 1/2 off could be a decent price (jokes).
Side Questions
- Does one of the paint girls call Humphrey ‘Poison’?
What I learned from watching this film
- Unlike Fantasia which didn’t really have an over-arcing story, this film does with Robert Benchley’s tour of the studio. Having that larger arc gives a bit more stability to the picture, where everything feels more connected. Fantasia has each segment as an individual piece, the shorts in the Reluctant Dragon feel more unified despite the fact that they are each stand alone shorts.
- Something that I really like is that each of the four shorts in this film are placed (at least as it seems to me) in order of their completeness. It shows a level of progression in both the overall film as well as the individual stories. They’re each fine the way they are but it’s nice to see what the different stages are.
If you’ve seen The Reluctant Dragon, 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 Fantasia
Fast Forward to the next film with Dumbo
I’ve never seen this, but I like your comparison (or lack thereof) of fantasia. It was never one of my favorite movies because I kept waiting for a plot! I also really liked your “side questions” part!
I’ve never seen this movie before but I heard so many wonderful things about it on how was develop the story and everything else so thank you for this review.
Although I was very familiar with Fantasia, I have never heard of this one. It seems very interesting. I always love anything that delves a little bit into real life. I like the studio sections.
I’m a Disney fan and yet I’ve never seen this movie. Nor have I see Fantasia! I really need to fix that.
I love Disney movies too, and I thought I’ve seen them all. And I am wrong, I need to find where can I get access to this movie.
This sounds like a movie that I would enjoy. I need to have a movie night.
Sounds like a great movie. Will definitely watch this. Thanks for sharing
I’ve never even hard of that one before! Thanks so much for sharing this with all of us!
I love this review. I have never seen or heard of this movie but I am definitely interested now. I also really enjoy Fantasia it’s one of my favorites!
I’ve never seen the Reluctant Dragon but I’m so curious to see it now. I love watching old Disney movies and learning more about their history.
You have the soul of a historian. I love your reviews of old movies. Thanks for sharing.
I can’t believe I’ve never heard of this film before! I’ll definitely be checking it out, thank you
I like to rediscover old films and be enchanted by their stories and atsmofera. Thanks for letting me know about this.
This sounds like an interesting film to check out. I had not ever heard of it before, so thank you for sharing!
I haven’t even heard of this old movie. Thanks for sharing, it sounds like it is worth looking up and watching.
I’ve never heard of this movie before. I will have to look into it for sure! It sounds good.
Oh I would love to love to check this out, I am a huge fan of Disney, never even heard of the Relutant Dragon.
I’ve never heard of this and now that I have read your thoughts I am intrigued. Thanks so much for sharing!
Wow this looks awesome! While I haven’t seen every Disney movie, I did love Fantasia! I’ll have to check this out.
This is the first time I have heard about the movie. It sounds interesting and I’d love to check it out. Would you know where I could get a copy?
Sounds like a very interesting movie! I love documentaries, as along as they won’t make me fall asleep.
Wow, that is vintage! Where did you get access to that movie? Thanks for sharing your insights, now I am intrigued to watch it.
Disney does it again. All those movies are magic. My favorites are always Disney movies.
I’ve never even heard of this! I’ll have to check it out.
This sounds really interesting. I LOVE Disney, but I hadn’t heard about this before. I’m going to have to check it out! My husband and I have been watching a lot of movies and tv shows lately, especially on rainy days, so I’m adding this to the list.
I like Disney movies and my children, too. The last one we watched together was Frozen 2. I can still hear my children mimic the mysterious hum in the movie from time to time. As for this Reluctant Dragon, I haven’t seen it. Thanks for giving an idea about it.
Wow! Been a fan of Disney for so many years but never seen this movie yet. I want to watch this movie soon with my friends!
Although I havent watched or heard about this movie, I think that this is a good one… I need to check this one out on the weekend! Thank you for sharing!
I think I never saw it. Actually I am a bit interested now! sounds nice!
Sounds like an interesting movie to watch. I will definitely put this on my to watch list. Thanks!
I love Disney movies but I haven’t seen this one yet. It sounds like a good movie. I am familiar with Fantasia but I have never heard of this one.
Oh, I’m so fond of Disney movies but how come I didn’t heard about this film! Checking this out now!
I had never heard of this movie until I read this. it’s nice when movies contain elements of reality though.