Day 8: Make Mine Music

Make Mine Music (1946)

Starring: Nelson Eddy, Dinah Shore, Benny Goodman, The Andrews Sisters, Jerry Colonna, Sterling Holloway, Andy Russell, David Lichine, Tania Riabouchinskaya, The Pied Pipers, The King's Men, The Ken Darby Chorus

Songs: See segments below for info

Make Mine Music is the third Package Film produced by Disney.  It has a mix of artistic segments featuring music and story segments told through music.  There isn't much to say here so I'll just jump right in to the next part.

• "The Martins and the Coys" is the story of two feuding mountain families (a la the Hatfields and McCoys) sung by the King's Men.  This segment actually has been cut from home video releases in the US because of the extreme use of comedic gun play.  I tried to find it on youtube, but the only one I could find was an Italian version (here, if you're curious).  It's pretty easy to follow the story even without speaking the language.  It's a cute enough segment... whether cutting it is justified is not my place to say.
• "Blue Bayou" is a pretty piece with two flying egrets set to the song "Blue Bayou."  It's very artistic and when I was watching it, I thought it felt like something that would have been in Fantasia.  Afterwards, I read that it was originally planned for Fantasia, where it would have been set to Debussy's "Clair de Lune."
• "All the Cats Join In" is a segment featuring teenagers dancing to swing music and being drawn as the action goes on.  The music is done by Benny Goodman.
• "Without You" is a long song set to stylized nature scenes and sung by Andy Russell.
• "Casey at the Bat" is the story of an arrogant baseball player who makes a pretty big mistake.  The poem by Ernest Thayer is read by Jerry Colonna and set to music.  The character designs are cute in this one.
• "Two Silhouettes" is sung by Dinah Shore as two live action ballet dancers (David Lichine and Tania Riabouchinskaya) do a lovely routine with animated cherubs and other characters around them.
• "Peter and the Wolf" is the story of a little boy named Peter who goes out with his friends (a cat, a bird, and a duck) to hunt a wolf, though his grandfather told him to stay home.  It's set to the music of Sergei Prokofiev and narrated by Sterling Holloway.
• "After You've Gone" is another Benny Goodman tune featuring anthropomorphized musical instruments.
• "Johnnie Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet" is the story of two hats that fall in love in a department store window and are later separated when Alice is purchased.  It's beautifully sung by the Andrews Sisters.
• "The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met" is the story of a sperm whale with a legendary operatic voice who dreams of becoming a star.  A rumor is spread, however, that his voice comes from having swallowed a human opera singer.  This is read and sung by Nelson Eddy.

This movie, with it's various musical and animations styles was fun and interesting.  It's unfortunately a bit dull in comparison to the previous film The Three Caballeros, which was more experimental with technology, art, and subject matter.  That doesn't make this a bad film, however... but it perhaps suffered a bit in my eyes by being placed between two movies I really enjoy -- The Three Caballeros and tomorrow's Fun and Fancy Free.  However the variety in the segments makes it stand out a bit from the previous two package films.

Like Saludos Amigos, I never saw this movie as a child and today was my first time watching it ever.  I had, however, seen a few of the segments before so it wasn't entirely new.  I can't say whether I'd have liked the movie as a kid, but I did like "Peter and the Wolf" as a kid... and I think I'd have loved "Two Silhouettes."

What I Liked: The music.  Good song choices.

What I Disliked: There's a joke in "All the Cats Join In" where one of the girls is drawn with a really big butt and is ignored by the boy she wants to dance with until her butt is erased and drawn smaller.  I know it's a joke and I know by 1946 standards, it wouldn't have been considered harmful.  But it is still a harmful image.  While I wouldn't say it should be cut out of the film or the film shouldn't be shown to children, I did very much dislike that.

Favorite Segment: Had it not been for the joke I just mentioned, it would have been "All the Cats Join In."  Otherwise, it's a tie between "Peter and the Wolf" (which I've always loved, and still really enjoy the music to) and "Two Silhouettes" which is just gorgeous.

Least Favorite Segment: I didn't really dislike any of them.  "Johnnie Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet" is a bit silly, but my love for the Andrews Sisters and the art style saved it.  I guess I'll say "The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met" because it has a sad ending and I'm not here for that.

Should You Watch This Movie: Sure, for Disney fans.  Your average kid could probably miss it and not care.