"Package Films: Part I"

Make Mine Music (1946)

And now we delve VERY deep into the Disney Vault, with the first of the studio's "Package Films."
See, during World War II, Walt's studio lost a lot of manpower and resources, which left them with a lot of unfinished ideas and projects that were either too long for a short, or too short for a feature length film. So, being as resourceful as they could, they decided to cram a bunch of them together in a series of films. This one, being the first of four.
Make Mine Music picks up the proverbial ball, where Fantasia left it. It's a series of shorts all set to different kinds of music popular at the time of production, everything from jazz, ballads, symphonic orchestrations, and even opera. Some are standouts, such as Willy, the Singing Whale who wanted to perform Opera at The Met. Johnny Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet, which was a love story about two hats (I know, only Disney could pull that off) featuring long-time collaborators with Disney, the Andrew Sisters. As well as, Peter and the Wolf, which quickly became the scariest cartoon I ever saw as a child. I don't know which animator was responsible for the design of the wolf in that short, but it was the most terrifying thing I had ever saw when I was young. I guess it was just furthering the legacy of fairy tales, making children scared to death of wolves.
Most people will recognize these shorts each individually, as they are rarely seen all together as one piece. And really, they have VERY little to do with each other besides the context of a musical theme. Having said that, most of these pieces are worth seeing, as they continue to showcase Disney's talent for marrying music and art.
"All the Cats Join In" remains to be one of the most inspiring animated pieces I can ever recall, as it sets an amazing jazz standard to the scenes of bobby-soxers going out on a night to dance at the malt shop. A glimpse of what all the cool kids were doing at the time.
"Blue Bayou" was a piece originally set to "Clair De Lune" that was supposed to be part of Fantasia, but was reworked with an original piece of music, and went on to inspire the name of the sit-down dinner restaurant in Disneyland that resides within Pirates of the Caribbean.
There were many "Oh, I remember this one!" moments as I watched this feature, and it continues to impress me how creative Walt was.
I was rather disappointed to learn a piece was cut from the home version. "The Martins and The Coys" was not included, which, after researching and finding the short on YouTube, I can see why. As guns blazed ALL over the screen in animated, murderous glee! Probably not something that would translate well into the homes of young viewers in this day and age....
There are others featured in this film, unfortunately not nearly as noteworthy as the ones above, but nonetheless they all meld well into the theme of this movie.
Overall, the film was enjoyable, in a very non-traditional sense, as it probably will continue with the next three film in line. But hey, a commitment is a commitment! And I'm truly not complaining. Disney broke the mold with his animated features, even at the time when the world's attention were elsewhere. So, again I will say, if you're looking to jump into the more un-familiar pieces of the Disney Vault. Consider this my recommendation.