Jim on Film
Page 6 of 7

The structure of Make Mine Music is story-driven segments followed by visually-driven segments, with the exception of The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met following Johnnie Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet. And all of the segments feature performers who were popular at the time. In taking into consideration that the film is very clearly not simply thrown together-its stunning visuals, awesome imagination, and beautiful work a testament to that-it is possible that Walt Disney was indeed attempting a contemporary Fantasia. Not something thrown together for a quick buck and not something as cost-prohibitive as Fantasia, but something grand and entertaining along the same lines-a highly visual film with contemporary music, one that would have the visual creativity of the former but the narrative structure to segments that would hold mass appeal.

But then, when critics weren’t particularly pleased with the result, or even if the combination of the entire feature didn’t seem as pleasing as the studio had intended, this would explain why Melody Time retained the more story-based structure, with the exception of Trees, which seems more in line with the program of Make Mine Music. This, of course, could have been put into production before Make Mine Music was critically received, and after using the money to complete it, Disney might have been stuck with needing to incorporate it into the feature. Either way, I think it would be very interesting to have access to story meeting notes and other pieces of information from this time, including interviews with the few remaining artists alive who worked on them to better understand these two features. The attention to detail and obvious care put into them suggest that they were intended to be more than just stopgap measures.

In watching the features following the Golden Era, it is very clear that they aspired to be more than just time-fillers. The inventiveness of these films, coupled with stunning visuals and labor-intensive techniques, has allowed them to survive years of vault-wear to stand proudly in their place in the Disney canon.

Cinderella
(c) Disney

The Second Golden Age (1950-1959)
Cinderella, as a single-story feature, was a welcomed change in the chronology of viewing, and the film opens with colorful title cards and a title song that almost scream out, “Hey folks. This is what you’ve been waiting for!�?

The visual style of Cinderella almost looks as if both segments of The Adventures of Ichabod and Mister Toad were mixed together. Because of this, I had wondered if the earlier film might actually belong as part of the Second Golden Age period; however, in viewing the films together, it is very clear that in spirit and construction, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mister Toad is a very much a post-war film.

Interestingly enough, if the Lean Years features lack a single-story but still maintain the beauty and love associated with the Disney features, Cinderella regains the single-story structure but loses the lush extras. In fact, the lack of intricate detail and technical additions is so obvious in Cinderella, particularly in comparison to The Adventures of Ichabod and Mister Toad, it is almost like someone pulled the emergency break on such expensive extras.

This is not to belittle Cinderella, not by any means. It too is a spectacular film with beautiful design elements, though these elements were no longer lapped with detail and were not extensively projected through the multiplane camera as they once were.

Partially because of the change in styles, but also in its use of music, development of characters, and tone, Cinderella is very different from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Again, Disney is presenting something in a beloved genre that once proved successful, but he is not repeating himself, and this is a theme that will run through these films for many years.

Stylistically, Alice in Wonderland opens and closes in an artistic direction that hearkens back to The Wind in the Willows, though there is some Mary Blair influence in them. But once Wonderland arrives, it returns to the fanciful designs heavily influenced by Mary Blair. Again, it is a beautiful film, but it is without the detail or the frills of the earlier features.

A part of this film is reminiscent of the package films in its creativity and imaginative visuals, such as the umbrella birds, the birdcage bird, the sweeping dog, and so on. The ending of the film, as everything begins to go crazy in Alice’s mind, is very much like the ending of The Three Caballeros where everything starts to flash across the screen at a manic pace.

It’s very interesting that the story is basically constructed of a series of episodes, but the film is by no means episodic. Walt Disney was very clever to keep the motif of Alice’s curiosity running (something not in the book) to avoid that feeling. Because of this, while it feels very different from the other single-story features, it by no means feels connected to the package films of the Lean Years. It flows together into one story despite the presence of so many characters and situations.