Melody Time.

 

                                                Melody Time.

This is one of those movies that has changed over the years cause 

political correctness and cancel culture but I am glad to see that it was 

restored to show the original version on all platforms cause it really is a 

great movie and I think everyone should be able to watch the original, I 

think the biggest change to the movie was bill rolling, lighting and 

smoking a cigarette, I get why they changed it but I'm also glad that you 

can still find that version out there. The animation and story are great 

and the music fits the movie so well and I think everyone young and old 

should see this movie, it is great for the whole family. So, with that, lets 

get to the story shall we:

 "In the grand tradition of Disney's greatest musical classics, such as 

FANTASIA, MELODY TIME features seven classic stories, each enhanced 

with high-spirited music and unforgettale characters... feast for the eyes 

and ears full of wit and charm...a delightful Disney classic with 

something for everyone". Rose Pelswick, in a 1948 review for The News-

Sentinel, described the film as an 'adventure into the intriguing make-

believe world peopled by Walt Disney's Cartoon characters". It also 

explains that "with the off-screen voice of Buddy Clark doing the 

introductions, the...episodes include fantasy, folklore, South American 

rhythms, poetry, and slapstick". A 1948 review by the Pittsburgh Post-

Gazette described it as a "mixture of fantasy, abstraction, parable, 

music, color, and movement".

The seven "mini-musical" stories outlined:

Once Upon a Wintertime

This "Mansley" segment features Frances Langford singing the title song 

about two romantic young lovers on a winter day in the late 1800s 

December named Jenny and Joe unlike most Disney cartoons, Jenny and 

Joe do not have spoken dialogue in this cartoon. Joe shows off on the ice 

for his lover, Jenny, and near-tragedy and a timely rescue ensues. This is 

intertwined with a similar rabbit couple. Like several other segments of 

these package films, Once Upon a Wintertime was later released 

theatrically as an individual short, in this case on September 17, 

1954. Clips from the beginning and end of this short showing a horse-

drawn sleigh along with the Carfaces and their blue horses are featured 

in Disney's Very Merry Christmas Songs, which is part of Disney's Sing 

Along Songs, as a background movie for the song "Jingle Bells" also 

belonged to the Carfaces and their blue horses.

Bumble Boogie

This segment presents a surrealistic battle for a solitary bumble bee as 

he tries to ward off a visual and musical frenzy. The music is courtesy 

of Freddy Martin And His Orchestra with Jack Fina playing the piano and 

is a swing-jazz variation of Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee, 

which was one of the many pieces considered for inclusion in Fantasia.

The Legend of Johnny Appleseed

This segment is a retelling of the story of John Chapman, who spent 

most of his life roaming Mid-Western America mainly Ohio and Indiana 

in the pioneer days, and planting apple trees, thus earning his famous 

nickname. He also spread Christianity. Dennis Day narrates as an "old 

settler who knew Johnny well" and provides the voices of both Johnny 

and his guardian angel. This segment was released independently on 

December 25, 1955 as Johnny Appleseed. The piece has a running time 

of "17 minutes making it the film's second-longest piece". Before being 

adapted as a segment in Melody Time, the story of Johnny Appleseed 

was "first immortalized around campfires", then later turned into 

"storybook form".

Little Toot

This segment is based on the story of Little Toot by Hardie Gramatky, in 

which the title protagonist, a small tugboat, wanted to be just like his 

father Big Toot, but could not seem to stay out of trouble. The Andrews 

Sisters provide the vocals. A clip from Little Toot features briefly in the 

"Friendship" song on Disney Sing Along Songs volume Friend Like Me. It 

was also featured in Sing Me a Story with Belle.

Trees

This segment featured a recitation of the 1913 poem "Trees" by Joyce 

Kilmer and music by Oscar Rasbach performed by Fred Waring and the 

Pennsylvanians with the lyrical setting accompanying animation of 

bucolic scenes seen through the changing of the seasons.

To preserve the look of the original story sketches, layout artist Ken 

O'Connor came up with the idea of using frosted cels and rendering the 

pastel images right onto the cel. Before being photographed each cel 

was laminated in clear lacquer to protect the pastel. The result was a 

look that had never been seen in animation before.

Blame It on the Samba

This segment has Donald Duck and José Carioca meeting the Aracuan 

Bird, who introduces them to the pleasures of the samba. The 

accompanying music is the 1914 polka Apanhei-te, 

Cavaquinho by Ernesto Nazareth, fitted with English lyrics. The Dinning 

Sisters provide the vocals while organist Ethel Smith appears in a live-

action role.

Pecos Bill

The film's final segment is about Texas' famous hero Pecos Bill. He was 

raised by coyotes similar to how Mowgli was raised by wolves in The 

Jungle Book and later became the biggest and best cowboy that ever 

lived. It also features his horse Widowmaker, and recounts the ill-fated 

romance between Bill and a beautiful cowgirl named Slue Foot Sue, 

whom he falls in love with at first sight. This retelling of the story 

features Roy Rogers, Bob Nolan, Trigger, and the Sons of the 

Pioneers telling the story to Bobby Driscoll and Luana Patten in a live-

action frame story. This segment was later edited on the 

film's NTSC video release except the PAL release to remove all parts with 

Bill smoking a cigarette and almost the entire tornado scene with Bill 

rolling his cigarette and lighting it with a lightning bolt. Both the 

cigarette and the tornado scene were restored when the film was 

released on Disney+. With a total running time of "22 minutes, it is the 

lengthiest piece".