Melody Time
Melody Time is the 10th Entry in the Disney Animated Canon, released in 1948.
Like Make Mine Music, the movie is a music-based Animated Anthology in the style of Fantasia
The film contains 7 shorts:
- Once Upon a Wintertime features a couple who go out skating in the wintertime. A small spat leads to trouble when thin ice gets involved.
- Bumble Boogie is an unused Fantasia short that follows the adventures of a small bumble bee set a jazz rendition of the classic Rimsky-Korsakov piece, Flight of the Bumblebee.
- The Legend of Johnny Appleseed is an adaptation of the fictionalized account of the story of John Chapman, the pioneer who planted apple trees across the country, told and sung by Dennis Day.
- Little Toot is the story of a small tugboat who wants to be just like his father, but always seems to cause trouble. Told and sung by The Andrews Sisters.
- Trees is a song-version of the famous Joyce Kilmer poem, with visuals to match.
- Blame It On the Samba is based on an idea created during the trip to South America that created Saludos Amigos. Donald Duck and his friend Joe Carioca are literally blue, when the Aracuan bird (from The Three Caballeros) invites them into the Café do Samba, where he uses the rhythm of the samba to perk up the duo and restore their colour. Once their moods have been perked up, the Aracuan mixes the two into a cocktail, and generally starts messing around with the two.
- Pecos Bill is an adaptation of the story of the legendary cowboy who was raised by coyotes. Told by Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers to Disney child-stars Luana Patten and Bobby Driscoll by a campfire.
Tropes used in Melody Time include:
- Action Girl: Slue-foot Sue from the Pecos Bill segment, who can ride a giant catfish standing up. Of course, it's her dangerous nature that leads to her demise in the end.
- All Animals Are Dogs: The mountain lion in Johnny Appleseed.
- Charles Atlas Superpower: Pecos Bill
- Color Failure: The girl rabbit upon looking over the waterfall in Once Upon a Wintertime.
- Couldn't Find a Lighter: Pecos Bill uses a lightning bolt to light a cigarette.
- Crowd Song: "The Pioneer Song."
- Disney Acid Sequence: Blame it on the Samba. After all, most of the action is taking place in a giant wine glass.
- "Bumble Bee Boogie" too. Wow.
- Disneyfication: Johnny Appleseed's life was a bit harder than that.
- Disney Death: There is a brief moment where Little Toot appears to have sunk.
- Everything Is Big in Texas: Pecos Bill
- Everything Trying to Kill You: The bee is a victim of this.
- Fridge Horror: In the Pecos Bill segment he moves in with a mother coyote and her four pups. When they are nursing he grabs one of the pups and tosses it aside so he can nurse from her, and later when they are older there are only three coyote pups. Did the fourth starve to death?
- Also, at the end of the segment, Sue is literally launched into space by Widowmaker. Given the fact that there is absolutely no oxygen in space...
- Friend to All Living Things: Johnny Appleseed.
- Grimmification: Pecos Bill doesn't save Slue Foot Sue in this version of the story, not for lack of trying.
- Gun in My Pocket: When Slue-Foot Sue kisses Pecos Bill, Bill's guns start going off by themselves.
- Inevitable Waterfall: Once Upon a Wintertime. Not the best choice for a skating area.
- Hey, It's That Voice!: All the voices in "The Legend of Johnny Appleseed" are done by Dennis Day of The Jack Benny Program fame.
- Heroes Want Redheads: Sue and Jenny are readheads.
- Horsing Around: The segment of Disney's Melody Time where Slue-Foot Sue tries to ride Pecos' horse Widowmaker. Watch it here, starting at 4:00.
- How Do You Like Them Apples?: The Legend of Johnny Appleseed
- Howl of Sorrow: In the "Pecos Bill" sequence, the coyotes howl at the moon out of sympathy with Pecos, who howls for sorrow at losing Slew Foot Sue.
- I See London: Sue in her white long bloomers or pantalets, as she's getting dressed for the big wedding day.
- Karma Houdini: Windowmaker, Pecos Bill's horse, gets off scot-free for pretty much killing Slue-foot Sue.
- Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: Subverted. Slue-foot Sue tries to ride Widowmaker in the bustled dress she was wearing for the wedding. Let's just say it was a bad idea.
- List Song: "The Apple Song."
- Moody Mount: Widowmaker in "Pecos Bill".
- Murder the Hypotenuse: Windowmaker effectively does this to Slew Foot Sue.
- Panty Shot: Quite a few of Sue while she's riding the catfish.
- Technically more of an ankle-length bloomers or pantalets shot in her case, but Jenny from "Once Upon a Wintertime". As seen in the poster above and in the movie, with them being put on display when she bends over because of the hoop skirt she's wearing under five or six other skirts, such as when she puts on her ice skates.
- Pretty in Mink: Jenny in the "Wintertime" segment has a white fur muff, as do a few other ladies skating on a pond the couple passes by.
- Raised by Wolves: Pecos Bill. Coyotes, actually.
- Roger Rabbit Effect: Blame it on the Samba features animated characters interacting with a live action performer in the same style as The Three Caballeros. The frame story for Pecos Bill features live action actors in an animated background.
- Setting-Off Song: "The Apple Song."
- Stock Footage: They did need to save money after all. Some of Joe and Donald's dancing in Blame it on the Samba is taken from either Saludos Amigos or The Three Caballeros.
- Teeth Flying: In the "Pecos Bill" segment, Bill knocks out all the gold fillings off a gang of rustlers, which is why "there's gold in them thar hills".
- The Something Song: "The Pioneer's Song" and "The Apple Song."
- Tall Tale: The segments on Johnny Appleseed and Pecos Bill.
- Through a Face Full of Fur: This occurs with not only the male half of the rabbit item, but the human couple (despite not really having fur) Joe and Jenny as well. Any whole scenery involving them changes color as well as it follows their moods, a few of these moments include:
- Jenny getting mad at Joe and turning red (and her back on him).
- A downhearted Joe turning blue and as he sadly walks away, he makes an arrow through the heart that was inscribed on the ice with the blades of his skates.
- The male bunny also turning blue when his mate rejects him, then red as he furiously kicks a log, injuring his foot.
- The male bunny gets angered and turns red again, when he fails to get Jenny's attention of the "thin ice" sign, then causes the ice to crack when he pokes a hole through it with the sign.
- Joe turns pale as he sees Jenny and the male bunny in danger, with them on a board of ice that's going to go over a waterfall and as he hurries to their aid.
- Jenny turning pale and fainting when she and the male rabbit nearly meet their impending doom.
- The male bunny turning hot pink and the ice block in which he's imprisoned melts from literal heat of passion, when the female bunny kisses him.
- Joe turns pink as well when Jenny embraces him for saving her.
- Also in the "Pecos Bill" segment, the eponymous character gets red-faced when Sue catches him eyeing her and he gets so infatuated with her, his hair has a reaction that's as if it were electrified and he takes off into the air like a rocket.
- Wolverine Publicity: Donald Duck received some fanfare in the VHS trailer, and is the only character on the DVD case.
