Professor Popinjay's Compendium of Perspicacity

A Non-Review by Professor Popinjay

(1948)

Disney’s Melody Time features a variety of animated shorts all set to original music. A few of them have appeared in other collections or stand-alone installments here and there. I’ve seen each of these throughout my childhood and they made a lasting impression.

There’s a surprising amount of Christian imagery in a few of these segments. The Johnny Appleseed segment starts with the lyrics “the Lord is good to me! And so I thank the Lord!” Soon after appears a coonskin hat-wearing guardian angel who refers to Johnny’s Bible in the line “an’ fer readin’, there ain’t nothin’ finer than your bOoOoOoK!”

In the segment titled “Trees” which depicts and features a recitation of Joyce Kilmer’s famous poem of the same name, not only does the poem refer to God in the last line, the tree depicted at the end is unmistakably shaped like a crucifix.

It’s an unusual play for Disney who today typically shies away from religious tones except for Hercules but in 1948 things were obviously different. None of this feels preachy or like there’s an agenda. It’s actually a breath of fresh air seeing Christian symbolism separate from the idolatrous and toxic variety of nationalism for a change (even while the story of Johnny Appleseed is a charming slice of Americana.) But Appleseed’s faith is simply a part of who he is. That’s all. The angel even says things like “Dad Gummit” which is a dissimilation and metathesis of “God Dammit.” Not trying to point out any hypocrisy. Just saying the whole thing doesn’t take itself too seriously. The story is highly apocryphal anyway as are most folk tales.

“Once Upon a Wintertime” is an inoffensive story of two lovers and two bunnies who also love. The bunnies mimic the humans’ ice-skating foibles. It’s adorable.

“Bumble Boogie” features a bee trying to escape literal musical notes and animated (re-animated?) instruments to a jazzy rendition of “Flight of the BumbleBee” by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Again, adorable if the song doesn’t drive you nuts like it does a friend of mine. Okay, the jazz version is slightly easier on the ears.

“Little Toot,” is the story of an anthropomorphic tug boat which predates Cars, Planes, even Thomas the Tank Engine. He even predates Hannah-Barbera’s Speed Buggy. Remember that one? Speed Buggy was just another Scooby-Doo clone with a talking dune buggy instead of a dog. He even had a Daphne and Shaggy clone as passengers.

Anyway, I’m off topic. Little Toot features a song by the Andrews Sisters. If you’ve never heard three women sing the exact same notes at the exact same time, these ladies do that. It is Melody Time after all. Don’t expect any harmony. They didn’t have harmony back in 1948.

Referring back to the “Trees” segment again, the art was done in pastels which can easily smudge. Each art piece was covered in a protective film and the whole segment was photographed under frosted glass. It makes for a unique effect and the finished work is really quite beautiful. If you appreciate art, I recommend taking a look.

I just did an article for the film “I Accuse My Parents”. The next vignette is titled “Blame it on the Samba”. Great! More blame-shifting is all we need! I suppose the Samba is why you’re involved in organized crime? 

“Blame it on the Samba” features Don Duck and, a personal favorite, José Carioca. He’s such a snappy dresser and he’s green! The animated duo do cartoon hijinks around organist Ethel Smith while she plays. No story really. Just the three of them enjoying some peppy South American electric organ music. What’s not to love? But where was Panchito Pistoles? I thought they were a team? They’re the three Caballeros afterall! You can’t just have two of the three Caballeros. That’s like… (author counts on fingers) carry the two… one less!

The last short in Melody Time is the story of Pecos Bill. It starts with a live-action scene featuring Roy Rogers and his horse Trigger telling the story to two children in western garb about… wait… Roy was telling the story, not Trigger. Trigger may be “The Smartest Horse in the Movies” but he’s no Mr. Ed.

So these kids in 1950’s Western garb. No one ever dressed like that! They looked like Marty McFly after Doc dressed him for his trip to 1885. And what exactly were these kids doing in the middle of nowhere with these dudes who clearly weren’t their parents? I have questions.

The story of Pecos Bill and Slue Foot Sue is great fun. Not sure why they (gnomes of the old West) call her Slue Foot. It means a large, clumsy, or turned out foot but her feet looked just fine to me. I Googled “Slue Foot Sue feet pics” several times a day just to make sure.

One release of Melody Time had all the smoking and cigarette images from the Pecos Bill short removed. I don’t understand why though. Fred Flintstone and Ronald Regan told me smoking is healthy. The cartoon wasn’t preachy about it or pushing an agenda. It’s actually a breath of second-hand nicotine-laced tar to see someone inhaling the toxic variety of oxygen. Chain smoking is just a part of who Pecos Bill is. Later releases left the footage unchanged, some with a disclaimer and warning at the beginning. It’s a fun cartoon but I can see it leading a kid to think smoking is cool so maybe it is best left out. It sure makes Bill look strange though when he’s rolling around an invisible cylinder in his mouth all the time. Plus the tornado scene is almost completely missing.

The whole affair from start to finish is thoroughly enjoyable. I think it works better as individual shorts though. I can’t imagine paying money to see all these in the theater. Also, on what collection is The Saga of Windwagon Smith? That story wasn’t even on the American Legends VHS and it’s an American legend.. Strange.

Ah! I found it. It was released on “Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts: 1920s–1960s” DVD. In retrospect “The Saga of Windwagon Smith” has a few insensitive racial depictions but some slight alterations would fix it up. Here it is in its entirety:

For a surprisingly interesting history of the word “Dag Nabbit” and words like it, also why bears aren’t actually named bears, click on the link below. ALL HAIL THE INTERNET!

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-does-dagnabbit-mean