The One That Tried to Be Fantasia 2
Fantasia was supposed to be the first in an ongoing saga that would last decades. Walt planned on making a new Fantasia movie every few years with updated music and animated segments. In ’41 he even began work on story and animation with sequences based on music from the likes of Wagner, Debussey and Stravinsky. But, of course, the first one essentially flopped, so that plan was scuppered. And not only would the next one take sixty years to realise, but Walt would never see it. But we’ll get to that later. But when Amigos and Caballeros became surprise hits, Walt got the idea to keep the Fantasia structure, but focus on other styles of music.
Despite the nearing end of WW2, Disney was still having trouble securing funds for feature film production so they had to keep up with the package films for a while longer. And, luckily, Walt had a pile of unused story ideas and concept art lying around, so he commissioned Make Mine Music, a lively combo of musical styles set to ten different shorts. Less kind souls than myself would call this a mess of conflicting animation and musical styles that feels like a desperate attempt to copy the finesse of Fantasia on a shoestring budget.
Personally, I enjoy this one as much as most of the other package films and I’m saddened by the fact that this is the ONLY film in the entire 58 film canon that ISN’T on Disney+ yet. But goddammit, I’m gonna get it put on the site if it’s the last thing I ever do; even if they want to pretend the film never happened. For some reason beyond my comprehension, this film has never been released in ANY form in Australia, to say nothing of it never being released on Blu Ray ANYWHERE. I had to buy the DVD from America about 5 to 10 years ago and it took me longer than I thought it would to find it. I can understand Song of the South not being up there, because that film features some very outdated cultural depictions. There is NO explanation or justification for the complete disregarding of Make Mine Music. This is arguably one of the lowest points in the Disney canon, but one can say that of the whole 1940s era.
THE PLOT
So, the original, UNEDITED film begins with the Martins and the Coys, a “Rustic Ballad” which is pretty much what I call Hillbilly Romeo & Juliet. Two feuding families living right next door to each other in what I assume is the Ozarks. And a scion of each family meets the other and they fall in love.
Next is Blue Bayou sung by the Ken Darby Singers, featuring animation originally intended for Fantasia 2 featuring Claire de Lune instead. It features two egrets flying through the Everglades in the moonlight. Very quiet, but also very beautiful.
Next is All the Cats Join In, which has no actual cats, played by Benny Goodman and his orchestra. Utilizing the technique of the audience watching the artist's brush literally paint the characters into life while struggling to keep up with a frenetic storyline. It focuses on a group of kids who meet up at a dance hall before becoming an abstract animation sequence with musical notes coming to life after coming out of a jukebox. Truthfully, I remember almost nothing about the music in this one. And I only remember snippets of the animation, which looks more like old school Looney Tunes style than Disney, though apparently there were some risqué parts that the UK and US versions have removed, which I disapprove of anyway.
The next sequence, Without You, is one that most would disregard because they might think it’s a bit too depressing/forgettable, but it’s probably my favourite in the whole film. I really have a knack for choosing outside the box when it comes to these things, don’t I? The sequence is a ballad of lost love sung by the crooner Andy Russell, with accompanying animation of a single raindrop falling down a window pane, overlooking a line of leafless trees. Again, as with many very good things, simple, but DAMN powerful.
The mood is greatly elevated in the next sequence, Casey Up To Bat, which tells, through Ernest Sayer’s poem, of a young, cocky baseball player whose arrogance is his undoing. It’s the least musical piece in the movie, which is probably why it did nothing for me.
The next sequence goes abstract again with Two Sillhouettes, which features two rotoscoped ballerinas, namely David Lichine and Tania Riabouchinskaya. It’s a forgettable sequence, but if you like ballet, and Dinah Shore. who sings throughout the short, you might enjoy it. The rotoscoping is a cool technique, but it means that the animation lacks the sophistication of earlier films. WIth a bigger budget and a bit more time, I can see how this could have been something cool. As is… not so much.
Next, arguably the most famous part of the whole movie, a dramatisation of Sergei Prokofiev’s famous children’s composition Peter and the Wolf. Narrated by famous voice actor, the late Sterling Holloway, who has already done quite a bit of voice work for Disney before and since this film. I might be a bit biased, because I love Sterling Holloway, but I love this bit, too. I think he’s an excellent narrator, plus I love the animation and the music… well, it’s Sergei Prokofiev; everything that guy touches is solid gold.
Next, is a move back to surrealism, with a segment I barely remember called After You’ve Gone, performed again by Benny Goodman and his orchestra, in which the instruments in the orchestra dance with and battle each other for no obvious reason. At one truly bizarre moment, two hands detach themselves and morph into a pair of piano playing legs that dance along the keys for a while… It’s very weird.
Penultimately, we have something even more bizarre in Johnny Fedora and Alice Blue Bonnet. Which tells of a pair of two hats in love (yes, you read that properly), set to the Andrew Sisters detailing this odd little romance. Some say this is sweet and emotionally resonant, perhaps I just need to watch it again. But I don’t remember much about this one.
Finally, we have a lengthy piece called the Whale Who Wanted To Sing at the Met; a bittersweet story of a sperm whale (voiced by Nelson Eddy, the greatest baritone in American music) who dreams of being a professional opera singer, which since he can sing in three different tones, he could conceivably do, if he were not a whale. And when he becomes headline news, the impresario of the grand opera sets out to track him down, convinced he’s actually swallowed the real opera singer. So, as you can see, the premise is weird, but completely believable onscreen. Then Willie sings some of the best bits from some of the most popular operas (lollipops, we opera buffs call them) as an audition. But… well, I won’t spoil it.
MY VERDICT
So, this film is pretty much a very confusing Spotify playlist in cinematic clothing, it jumps wildly from country to jazz to pop to opera to ballet, etc. Having said that, however, I still thought the segments were all entertaining, the music was mostly excellent, the animation was INCREDIBLE, especially in the last sequence. And despite it being a blatant attempt to recreate Fantasia, which was never going to happen, there are more good bits than there are bad bits. Sadly, like most of the package films, the film only barely made back its productions cost. In future years, Disney would release specific shorts as stand alone features, though personally I’m cool to keep watching them in one movie.
Is Make Mine Music a Disney Classic? Some call this the poor man’s Fantasia, I think it’s very good despite that.
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