Make Mine Music
Year: 1946
Director: Robert Cormack, Clyde Geronimi, Jack Kinney, Hamilton Luske & Joshua Meador
Starring: Nelson Eddy & Sterling Holloway
Runtime: 75 mins
BBFC: U
Published: 08/01/22
Director: Robert Cormack, Clyde Geronimi, Jack Kinney, Hamilton Luske & Joshua Meador
Starring: Nelson Eddy & Sterling Holloway
Runtime: 75 mins
BBFC: U
Published: 08/01/22
After being thoroughly disappointed by the first two films of Disney’s ‘Wartime Era’, Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros, I feel no shame in saying my expectations for Make Mine Music, Disney’s Eighth Animated Classic, were very low. But even though the same restraints Disney were facing were present for the creation of this film it thankfully turned out somewhat better than the previous two films.
Make Mine Music is a collection of ten animated short films and all of them are musical in one way or another. Some stories are told exclusively through song such as ‘The Martins and The Coys’, some have no dialogue at all and are just animation to music like ‘After You’ve Gone’, and some have music as the central premise to the story such as ‘The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met’.
Some of the stories are funny, some are sad, and some feel as though they could be fairy-tales given a film all their own if the story was expanded more. Some are good, some are great, and some aren’t particularly noteworthy. It’s a real mixed bag of content here and whilst I will definitely say there’s something for everyone in Make Mine Music, there is probably a fair amount that also isn’t for you in that same package. It’s like a box of chocolates at Christmas, there’s always one’s you don’t like, but the box is probably still worth investing in because you’ll like a few of them.
Make Mine Music is a collection of ten animated short films and all of them are musical in one way or another. Some stories are told exclusively through song such as ‘The Martins and The Coys’, some have no dialogue at all and are just animation to music like ‘After You’ve Gone’, and some have music as the central premise to the story such as ‘The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met’.
Some of the stories are funny, some are sad, and some feel as though they could be fairy-tales given a film all their own if the story was expanded more. Some are good, some are great, and some aren’t particularly noteworthy. It’s a real mixed bag of content here and whilst I will definitely say there’s something for everyone in Make Mine Music, there is probably a fair amount that also isn’t for you in that same package. It’s like a box of chocolates at Christmas, there’s always one’s you don’t like, but the box is probably still worth investing in because you’ll like a few of them.
My personal favourites were ‘The Martins and The Coys’, ‘All the Cats Join In’, ‘Johnnie Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet’, and ‘The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met’. I did also enjoy ‘Peter and the Wolf’, though not quite as much.
The most visually engaging of the ones I mentioned is probably ‘All the Cats Join In’ which is an instrumental Jazz number with the scene being drawn in as the characters navigate the environment. It’s simplistic in nature, but with the great music and relatable story it tells it’s really quite engaging. ‘Peter and the Wolf’ was the most narratively complex of the segments in the entire film which sees a boy named Peter befriending some woodland creatures on his way to hunt a wolf living amongst the trees.
My least favourite section was easily ‘Blue Bayou’. Whilst it is beautiful to look at, it’s too slow and simplistic in nature to capture your attention for the entire duration of the short. Plus, the song that accompanies it is enough to put you to sleep within a couple of minutes.
Whilst I don’t see myself ever returning to Make Mine Music, I’m glad I watched it. It does feel as though they threw ideas at a wall and whatever stuck stayed in the film, so it's incredibly inconsistent in both quality and tone. But it did allow Disney animators to flex their creative muscles in the same vein as Fantasia did, and also provide something that children are likely to find considerably more entertaining than something like Fantasia.
I feel like most people will find something to like about Make Mine Music, but I would be surprised if it was something someone wanted to revisit for repeat viewings.
The most visually engaging of the ones I mentioned is probably ‘All the Cats Join In’ which is an instrumental Jazz number with the scene being drawn in as the characters navigate the environment. It’s simplistic in nature, but with the great music and relatable story it tells it’s really quite engaging. ‘Peter and the Wolf’ was the most narratively complex of the segments in the entire film which sees a boy named Peter befriending some woodland creatures on his way to hunt a wolf living amongst the trees.
My least favourite section was easily ‘Blue Bayou’. Whilst it is beautiful to look at, it’s too slow and simplistic in nature to capture your attention for the entire duration of the short. Plus, the song that accompanies it is enough to put you to sleep within a couple of minutes.
Whilst I don’t see myself ever returning to Make Mine Music, I’m glad I watched it. It does feel as though they threw ideas at a wall and whatever stuck stayed in the film, so it's incredibly inconsistent in both quality and tone. But it did allow Disney animators to flex their creative muscles in the same vein as Fantasia did, and also provide something that children are likely to find considerably more entertaining than something like Fantasia.
I feel like most people will find something to like about Make Mine Music, but I would be surprised if it was something someone wanted to revisit for repeat viewings.