Make Mine Music (1946) and Melody Time (1948)

 

Make Mine Music (1946) and Melody Time (1948) are two of the series of five “anthology” animated features produced by Walt Disney in the 1940s. Most of the animation crew of the Disney studio were away serving in the military, and a reduced staff were left juggling some orphan story ideas. These cartoon collections were like a casserole made of leftovers, but quite delightful.

I have a particular fondness for these Disney anthology features, which also include Saludos Amigos (1942), The Three Caballeros (1944),  and Fun and Fancy Free (1947), which we covered in this previous post.  Tied loosely by a general theme of music and folklore, the cartoons in each anthology are tune-filled, vibrant, and nostalgic.  There are also restful. 

That’s kind of a funny thing to say about a cartoon, but I find them soothing.  They are like half-remembered lullabies from childhood that still calm and entertain.

Make Mine Music and Melody Time are both popular music cousins to the more distinguished Fantasia (1940), which sought to evoke animated stream-of-conscious visions to classical music.  They also drift into the realm of folk tales.  Both feature popular singers of the day, which is especially enjoyable.

The roster for Make Mine Music includes a segment called “Blue Bayou” with, literally, a blue bayou featuring trees, mirrored images on the water, and a pair of white herons to a sleepy tune by the Ken Darby Chorus. 

Benny Goodman, the King of Swing, gives us “All the Cats Join In,” with striking minimalist animated style such as we would normally find at the innovative UPA studio of the era.  We follow teens going to the malt shop in a peppy jive that’s really cool.

The minimalist cartoon style is continued in “A Ballad in Blue” with Andy Russell singing “Without You.”  Moonlight on the water, moody, impressionistic, rain-washed.

Folk tales and “poetry corner,” as Bullwinkle and Rocky would say, with a rendition of the classic, “Casey at the Bat.”  It’s a more or less musical recitation by the larger-than-life Jerry Colonna.

Dinah Shore sings “Two Silhouettes” in a Fantasia-like scene, and Sterling Holloway narrates “Peter and the Wolf.”  The Goodman Quintet jams on “After You’ve Gone” in another Fantasia clone with images suggestive of Salvador Dali in the expression of sounds and the image of shifting sands.

The cute and unexpectedly poignant “Johnny Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet” follow the romantic adventures of a man’s hat and a lady’s hat, courtesy of The Andrews Sisters.  If I can have my heart broken by a couple of cartoon hats that get separated because one of them gets bought, then I suppose it doesn’t take much to destroy me.

My favorite piece of Make Mine Music is the grand finale, the “Opera Pathetique” starring the resounding voice of Nelson Eddy, who portrays Willie the Whale, “The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met.”  Mr. Eddy narrates and sings the arias of the operatic hopeful whale.  I love the image of the giant whale standing on his tail in a Pagliacci costume on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.  Most impressive is Nelson’s singing all three male voices in the Sextet segment of Lucia di Lammermoor.  There is a sad ending to this tale, but as Bugs Bunny says of grand opera, “What did you expect, a happy ending?”

The Pied Pipers, the Kings Men, popular choral groups of the day also lend a hand, with the Kings Men doing a raucous takeoff on “The Martins and the Coys” hillbilly feud.

There is a fad now about adult coloring books.  Most of the ones I’ve seen feature pages with evocative patterns of an almost psychedelic design.  Coloring them in is supposed to be relaxing for us stressed adults.  The fluid animated imaginings of these cartoons is likewise therapeutic.

 

Melody Time was released two years after Make Mine Music, and is quite similar in style. Freddy Martin and a frenetic cartoon bee take off in “Bumble Boogie” in the “Flight of the Bumble Bee.” The Andrews Sisters give us “Little Toot,” the tale of a junior tug boat who, despite his rascally ways, makes good in the clinch. 

Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians are the background to the poem “Trees” by Joyce Kilmer, as dawn cascades over an impressionistic landscape, and diamonds of mist dot airy cobwebs.

Ethel Smith and the Dinning Sisters give us “Blame it on the Samba”.  Making a guest appearance are two of the “three caballeros” – Donald Duck and Joe Carioca in a surreal and comical conga drum nightmare.  I love Donald Duck in anything.

The grand finale to this collection is Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers telling us the tale of Pecos Bill.  “Uncle Roy” spins the yarn for two young-uns played by Bobby Driscoll and Luana Patten, who also appeared in Disney’s Song of the South (1946) and So Dear to My Heart (1948).

I think my favorite segment of Melody Time, however, is the tale of Johnny Appleseed told and sung by the wonderful Dennis Day.  He narrates, including doing different voices.  Old Time Radio aficionados will know that Mr. Day was a terrific mimic, doing a variety of voices on The Jack Benny Show and other shows, and his crystal-clear tenor voice could soar, charm, and enchant.  The cartoon character of Johnny Appleseed even looks like him.

The whimsical storytelling of these animated anthologies is perhaps less prestigious than the Disney full-length features, those projects where Disney swung for the fences, but there are small and significant gems here.  They do not require as much an emotional investment from us, but they warm the heart.  Nostalgic, certainly, and for some of us they literally recall our childhoods.  I remember them not only from television, but from the projector in a grammar school assembly that was a Christmastime treat.  They were gentle in tone, and none of them featured a wicked witch, which was a relief.  Life is stressful enough sometimes, whether you’re seven or seventy-seven. 

Take a look at several snippets of these cartoons on YouTube.  It’ll take you back.  

 

 

Also: just a note to draw your attention to the "free preview" box in the upper right corner for my book on Ann Blyth.  Click on the cover and you get to read the first few chapters.  Enjoy.

 

COMING ATTRACTIONS:  Next week is part 2 in our year-long series on the state of the classic film fan.  I'll post my interview with blogger and author Cliff Aliperti of Immortal Ephemera and a review of his new book: Helen Twelvetrees, Perfect Ingenue. 

 

 

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"Lynch’s book is organized and well-written – and has plenty of amusing observations – but when it comes to describing Blyth’s movies, Lynch’s writing sparkles." - Ruth Kerr, Silver Screenings

"Jacqueline T. Lynch creates a poignant and thoroughly-researched mosaic of memories of a fine, upstanding human being who also happens to be a legendary entertainer." - Deborah Thomas, Java's Journey

"One of the great strengths of Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. is that Lynch not only gives an excellent overview of Blyth's career -- she offers detailed analyses of each of Blyth's roles -- but she puts them in the context of the larger issues of the day."- Amanda Garrett, Old Hollywood Films

"Jacqueline's book will hopefully cause many more people to take a look at this multitalented woman whose career encompassed just about every possible aspect of 20th Century entertainment." - Laura Grieve, Laura's Miscellaneous Musings

"Jacqueline T. Lynch’s Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. is an extremely well researched undertaking that is a must for all Blyth fans." - Annette Bochenek, Hometowns to Hollywood

Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. 
by Jacqueline T. Lynch

The first book on the career of actress Ann Blyth. Multitalented and remarkably versatile, Blyth began on radio as a child, appeared on Broadway at the age of twelve in Lillian Hellman's Watch on the Rhine, and enjoyed a long and diverse career in films, theatre, television, and concerts. A sensitive dramatic actress, the youngest at the time to be nominated for her role in Mildred Pierce (1945), she also displayed a gift for comedy, and was especially endeared to fans for her expressive and exquisite lyric soprano, which was showcased in many film and stage musicals. Still a popular guest at film festivals, lovely Ms. Blyth remains a treasure of the Hollywood's golden age.

The eBook and paperback are available from Amazon and CreateSpace, which is the printer.  You can also order it from my Etsy shop. It is also available at the Broadside Bookshop, 247 Main Street, Northampton, Massachusetts.

If you wish a signed copy, then email me at JacquelineTLynch@gmail.com and I'll get back to you with the details.

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My new syndicated column SILVER SCREEN, GOLDEN YEARS, on classic film is up at Go60  or check with your local paper.

 

 

 

Carol Burnett - Tribute to an Old Movie Buff

The recent “American Masters” documentary on PBS about Carol Burnett reminds us that among Miss Burnett’s many fine qualities is that she is the ultimate movie buff’s movie buff.

This being a blog devoted to old movies (I hesitate to use the word “classic” because not all of the films covered here are classics, just old.), the excerpts in this Burnett biography covering the film parodies on “The Carol Burnett Show” delightfully illustrate what it is about us old movie buffs that may baffle our loved ones who couldn’t care less if Frank Capra directed the movie or Douglas Shearer was the sound engineer. We love the details.

The details are what Miss Burnett and her team of writers skewered from the plots of old Hollywood films and twisted them into a distortion that was recognizable as much as it was new and creative. Like the way a caricature artist will draw a picture of you and make your nose way too big.

In her take on “One Way Passage,” she and James Coco take the parts originally played by Kay Francis and William Powell as the doomed shipboard lovers, one off to prison and the other terminally ill. Vicki Lawrence plays her doctor, “Dr. Ouspenskaya” (a nod to the formidable character actress Maria Ouspenskaya, who actually was not in the film, but it’s funny). When Carol becomes ill on ship, the doctor informs her, “You got what Bette Davis had in ‘Dark Victory’ and also Olivia de Havilland had it in one other picture. And if I’m not mistaken it was also had in one other picture by Sylvia Sidney. It’s called the Movie Disease and it’s incurable.”

Perhaps only old movie buffs would crack up at that, because to really enjoy these parodies, you had to have had some familiarity with Hollywood films of that era, and even better if you had seen the particular movie they were spoofing.

When they did a takeoff on “Random Harvest” with Carol in the Greer Garson role, Harvey Korman does a better Ronald Colman than Ronald Colman. In fact, he could give lessons to Ronald Colman on being Ronald Colman. He is also the domineering father in the Ralph Richardson role to Carol’s Olivia de Havilland role in their takeoff on “The Heiress.” Olivia de Havilland merely slouches, eyes downward, to demonstrate her shyness. Carol crawls inside the grand piano.

Sometimes just taking a piece of a film and encapsulating the feel of it, like the caricature artist making your nose too big, is enough to suggest the entire film for us, like the huge portrait of Carol with an enigmatic smirk on her face in their takeoff on “Laura.” Or, her hysterical underwater ballet in the takeoff on “Dangerous When Wet.” In the “Double Indemnity” spoof, Carol in the Barbara Stanwyck role wears an ankle bracelet that audibly clanks whenever she takes a step. Steve Lawrence, in the Fred MacMurray role, also wears an anklet.

Parody is built on exaggeration, and in this skit, instead of disposing of the body of the murdered husband by throwing it off a train, they plan to toss the body out of a blimp. We don’t need to see the blimp. Just the word sends an hysterical image to us, and when the plans are forged and Carol dramatically utters the conspiring words, “Here are the blimp tickets,” pulling them out from the bodice of her dress, we film buffs are on the floor laughing.

By the way, Vicki does an excellent take on Jean Heather as the surly stepdaughter, breaking into extremely funny tearful hysterics at the drop of a hat. Vicki Lawrence is also an over-the-top Mrs. Danvers in the Judith Anderson role in “Rebecca.”

In their take on “The Little Foxes” we see the elaborate effort put into sets and costumes which so distinguished “The Carol Burnett Show.” The doorbell plays “Camptown Races” to denote in as campy a way as possible the Southern charm and affluence of the setting. Guest star Roddy McDowall plays the unfortunate invalid in the Herbert Marshall role, and Carol is in the Bette Davis role as his scheming wife. We get the entire plot of the movie in one line when Roddy utters from his wheelchair, “Put my heart medicine without which I will surely die on that table over there.”

When Harvey blurts “Chitlins” as an expletive, it is one of those few (and treasured) times we see Carol almost break up. When Roddy collapses, Harvey re-enters with the line, “What happened? We heard all that dying music!”

Undoubtedly, the most famous of their film parodies has come to be the takeoff on “Gone With the Wind,” where Carol strides down the staircase with the curtain rod over her shoulders. To this day, I cannot watch the Vivien Leigh that scene in “Gone With the Wind” without thinking of the Burnett parody. When Miss Leigh shakes her fist at the red dawn and shouts, “As God is my witness, I’ll never be hungry again!” I inevitably think of Miss Burnett shouting, “I’ll never be hungry again! Not if I have to make tuna casserole!”

Again, Harvey Korman is not doing Rhett so much as he is doing Clark Gable, and this is, to use my favorite term from that era, swell. Guest star Dinah Shore is the perfect simpering Melanie role, and gets to shove Carol down the stairs in a manner Olivia de Havilland never got to do with Vivien Leigh. One of the impressive aspects about this skit is that it is broken into two parts, the first showing the interior of a grand Tara; the second part shows the mansion crumbling around them from the ravages of war.

I imagine a compilation of just the movie parodies on “The Carol Burnett Show” could take up several DVDs.

Carol Burnett’s everywoman qualities appeal to millions of fans who feel she is one of them. We old movie buffs know for a fact she is one of us.

Fun and Fancy Free (1947)

On his Sunday evening Chase and Sanborn Hour radio program, September 21, 1947, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy took advantage of the airwaves to plug their new film. The above graphic is a magazine ad for “Fun and Fancy Free,” which was a feature comprised of one animated short called “Bongo,” sung and narrated by Dinah Shore, and another short which combined animation and live action called “Mickey and the Beanstalk.”


Edgar Bergen, Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd appeared in this one, as hosts of a party for a little girl. They narrate the story, which features Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy. Our old pal Jiminy Cricket tied both stories together, and “Fun and Fancy Free” is the only time all four characters appeared in the same feature. It was also the last time Walt Disney gave voice to Mickey.

Mr. Disney also appeared as a guest on Mr. Bergen’s radio show that evening to help promote the film. Edgar Bergen had a resilient career, crossing over from vaudeville, to an immensely successful radio program, to film, and eventually to television guest parts. His telling of “Mickey and the Beanstalk” is constantly punctuated by Charlie McCarthy’s funny remarks. Combined with the detailed, almost oil painting quality of the landscapes in “Bongo,” the circus bear who escapes to the wild, make “Fun and Fancy Free” a delightful escape from the everyday gloomy headlines Jiminy Cricket tisks over as he encourages us to take things easy. It’s a sweet film.