Make Mine Music 1946

Disney Classics Marathon :pound_symbol:8

Another classic, another package film. Again, I‘m not sure I have ever seen this one in its entirety before, but I‘m pretty sure I know some segments.

"Make Mine Music" is basically the Walmart version of "Fantasia" (no offense), with a lesser budget, wildly inconsistent animation, no particular musical style and no coherence to tie the solo segments together in any form.

Now, this might all sound very bad, but surprisingly enough, as a whole "Make Mine Music“ is at least far more enjoyable than its predecessors "Saludos Amigos" and "The Three Caballeros."

But let’s get into the segments.

The Martins and the Coys
This first segment tells the story of two rivaling families, the Martins and the Coys who fight each other to death. Or, two groups of trigger-happy old white dudes shoot randomly at each other for no particular reason. Huh, must be the most reasonable segment for a lot of Americans. Anyways, the old dudes kill each other, leaving only two youngsters, Henry and Gracie behind who madly fall in love, get married and then start shooting each other, because... genetics? It’s boring, unfunny and I couldn’t care less. Some editions edited this part out because of the comical use of guns, well okay then? I mean I think it’s cartoony enough to be kept in, but personally I don’t care if it’s in the film or not.

Blue Bayou
This segment follows two egrets flying over a lake in the middle of the forest (according to Wikipedia it’s supposed to be the Everglades) bathed in a beautiful blue light and accompanied by the lovely song "Blue Bayou" performed by the Ken Darby singers. It’s animation and overall style differ a lot from the rest of the film, simply to the fact that it was originally supposed to be a part of "Fantasia" with Debussy‘s Clair de Lune as the musical segment. Both versions are available and both are gorgeous to watch. While the original Clair de Lune gives segment a more haunting and mysterious vibe, Blue Bayou makes it nostalgic and romantic instead. As much as I like Clair de Lune, I would give the overall tone of the version with Blue Bayou the slight edge here.

All The Cats Join In
This jazzy segment is piece of culture pig it’s time, showing the youth enjoying themselves, going out, dancing and having fun. It was later censored for the silhouette of a teenage girl showering, a scene I didn’t even notice. What’s more disturbing is that one girls design is actually corrected within the story to look thinner. Yeah, way to go here Disney. I honestly don’t care for this segment. The music is fun, but the animation not good and I can’t stand the character design.

Without You
A rather short segment accompanied by a sad love song, sung by popular vocalist Andy Russell. It’s a story about lost Love and instead of showcasing it in big images the animation is "small," intimate and rather dark. It is beautiful to look at and to listen to.

Casey At The Bat
Here we have the Story of Casey, a narcissistic baseball player who ruins his game play due to his own arrogance. The animation is overly exaggerated and plays a lot on slapstick elements. It’s another segment I could easily do without.

Two Silhouettes
This segment shows two ballet dancers that are rotoscoped with animation. It’s another short, yet lovely piece, telling a sweet love story (I think that’s what it is) with a beautiful animated background.

Peter and the Wolf
Now, this one I knew before. Or at least I have seen parts of it. It’s based of the musical piece by Sergei Prokofiev and probably one of the more famous animated shorts Disney produced at the time. Telling the story of a young Russian boy named Peter, who sets out to kill a wolf who is terrorizing his village. He is accompanied by his animal friends, a songbird, a duck and a cat and each character appearing is represented by another instrument. It’s one of the darker tales within this collection and while I‘m not the biggest fan of the animation again, the story is told very well.

After You‘ve Gone
Another short and jazzy segment with anthropomorphic instruments playing their music. It’s colorful but also kinda superfluous.

Johnnie Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet
This is the only short film I actively remember seeing. I instantly recognized and remembered it. It must have been ages, but it’s quite the memorable story (I don’t think I have seen it in context of this film though). Johnnie is a fedora who lives in a department store window and falls in love with Alice, a blue bonnet who lives next to him. When Alice is sold, Johnnie tries everything find her again, overcomes several hardships and in the end, they get the chance to be together. It’s a cute little love story with hats. It’s bizarre and creative and very sweet.

The Whale Who Wanted To Sing At The Met

Why are whales always called Willie? Is it because of the alliteration? It is because of the alliteration, right? Anyways, the last segment is about Willie, a musically talented whale who dreams of becoming an opera singer. He is so great that human newspapers start writing about him, but unfortunately a short-sighted impresario wrongfully believes Willie swallowed an opera singer instead of being one. He tries to kill Willie to free the opera singer and succeeds in the end, while a montage of what Willie‘s live as a famous singer could have been is show. While musically very well done, again the animation is just not my favorite. But the way the story is told through the music is fantastic. It’s also the darkest one for sure (besting Peter and the Wolf). It’s a tragedy of sorts, but what to expect from an opera. It’s colorful and really grand until the finale hits you like that bullet hit Bambi‘s Mom (excuse the comparison, but come on!). It’s also an interesting choice to round up this patchwork film of segments.

Favorite Segment: It’s either "Blue Bayou" or "Johnnie Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet"

"Make Mine Music" is no masterpiece. The segments are either really good or really bad, there’s hardly a middle ground here.

It’s still surprisingly entertaining and memorable at some parts and way better than anticipated.

5 out of 10 Stars.