I had to employ some industrial-strength Internet-fu to watch this, the black sheep of the Disney canon (which remains unavailable on the streaming service as of this writing). I'm not sure why this work continues to live in exile; my viewing did not show anything that should qualify as outrageously offensive...but I'm not young enough any more to be a match for any of today's Generation AA wilting flowers, so make of that what you will. What my viewing of the film did show me was an uneven work, but one that displays mostly positive and at times downright impressive results. The titular music is fine throughout, if a bit dated in style; the jazz/swing pieces show better staying power than most of the vocal pieces. The segments that employ healthy doses of humor ("The Martins and the Coys," "All the Cats Join In," and "Casey at the Bat" in particular) work as well as any of the studio's short pieces ever produced. And the animation, showing a variety of styles in the numerous segments, ranges from mildly interesting and experimental ("Two Silhouettes") to standard cartoony ("The Martins and the Coys," "Casey at the Bat") to downright beautiful and breathtaking in the realistically rendered "Blue Bayou." And then the closing piece, "The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met," is a singular work that carves out its own territory, being both musically rich, visually and verbally clever, and both comic and tragic through its story arc. This movie as a whole is the best piece to come out of the studio in the post-Bambi years, until Disney found its post-war footing with the now classic films of the 1950s. It's a shame that audiences have to jump through hoops to actually see this work and appreciate it for what it is--not for what some people may imagine it to be. (Note: I had to watch "The Martins and the Coys" as a separate piece on YouTube, as it was not included in the archive.org version of the film I found available online. It is also worth mentioning that many of the individual segments of the movie have lived on in various venues/compilations/etc. apart from the rest of the original release.)
Monday, July 3, 2023
Make Mine Music
I had to employ some industrial-strength Internet-fu to watch this, the black sheep of the Disney canon (which remains unavailable on the streaming service as of this writing). I'm not sure why this work continues to live in exile; my viewing did not show anything that should qualify as outrageously offensive...but I'm not young enough any more to be a match for any of today's Generation AA wilting flowers, so make of that what you will. What my viewing of the film did show me was an uneven work, but one that displays mostly positive and at times downright impressive results. The titular music is fine throughout, if a bit dated in style; the jazz/swing pieces show better staying power than most of the vocal pieces. The segments that employ healthy doses of humor ("The Martins and the Coys," "All the Cats Join In," and "Casey at the Bat" in particular) work as well as any of the studio's short pieces ever produced. And the animation, showing a variety of styles in the numerous segments, ranges from mildly interesting and experimental ("Two Silhouettes") to standard cartoony ("The Martins and the Coys," "Casey at the Bat") to downright beautiful and breathtaking in the realistically rendered "Blue Bayou." And then the closing piece, "The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met," is a singular work that carves out its own territory, being both musically rich, visually and verbally clever, and both comic and tragic through its story arc. This movie as a whole is the best piece to come out of the studio in the post-Bambi years, until Disney found its post-war footing with the now classic films of the 1950s. It's a shame that audiences have to jump through hoops to actually see this work and appreciate it for what it is--not for what some people may imagine it to be. (Note: I had to watch "The Martins and the Coys" as a separate piece on YouTube, as it was not included in the archive.org version of the film I found available online. It is also worth mentioning that many of the individual segments of the movie have lived on in various venues/compilations/etc. apart from the rest of the original release.)
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