Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Sick Product of a Sick System

A lot of fun.

A different way of telling a story

OK, so "Make Mine Music" follows the "Fantasia" model of setting action to music. The Looney Tunes cartoon "A Corny Concerto" was probably the coolest incarnation. I understand that a sequence from "Make Mine Music" showing feuding hick families shooting at each other got cut out of concern that it made gun violence look funny. Isn't the problem easy access to guns? I noticed that the jitterbug sequence featured some scenes that probably irritated the prudes (a girl showers and then shows her naked upper back). It's always neat what animators managed to slip into their cartoons. Overall, a lot of the content was too flowery for my tastes, but I did like the vignette about the singing whale. And of course, sarcastic person that I am, while watching the movie I made a few remarks similar to those that Mike, Servo and Crow make at the crummy movies sent them by Dr. Forrester and TV's Frank on "Mystery Science Theater 3000". Specifically, during "Peter and the Wolf" whenever it played Peter's theme, I referenced Otter in "Animal House" (you may recall that he whistles the theme).Anyway, we can accept the movie for what it is.

Unable to initially return to making true animated features like "Pinocchio" and "Bambi" after the Second World War, Disney turned to making "package features". Like "Fantasia", these films strung together various shorts and featurettes into a feature-length anthology. Between their release in the 1940s and the DVD age, these films were rarely, if ever, shown in their entirety. Instead, the individual segments were re-released as stand-alone pieces, some of which became quite popular. It's understandable why this was done. Whereas the individual elements of "Fantasia" have a similar enough artistic vision to be kept intact as a single experience, the package features do seem like a line of random, individual shorts that have been strung together. As such, the films can seem quite uneven and somewhat unsatisfying collectively.In particular, "Make Mine Music" stands out as being one of the most inconsistent package features. It consists of ten shorts, all relying heavily on music. Some of the shorts are fairly conventional, story-driven, while others are quite experimental. The real stand-out pieces are "Peter and the Wolf" (initially considered for a sequel/continuation of "Fantasia") and "The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met". The stories are engaging, and they are absolutely charming, although "Peter and the Wolf" relies a bit too much on narration. It comes as no surprise that these two shorts became the film's most famous segments. Special mention should also be given to "Blue Bayou", which uses footage from a deleted segment of "Fantasia" that was to be set to Debussy's "Clair de Lune" (here, though, it's set to a love ballad).Other segments, however, vary. "The Martins and the Coys", which was rather stupidly removed from the American DVD, is not bad but hardly memorable. "After You've Gone", an interlude featuring anthropomorphised musical instruments, means well but falls quite flat, ultimately appearing as not much more than filler. "All the Cats Join In" and "Without You" equally seem like experimental filler, yet both are more successful. "Casey at the Bat", on the other hand, contains too many self-indulgent gags and overly caricatured animation to be of any real artistic or entertainment merit, a fact not helped by Jerry Colona's obnoxious narration. The two other segments, "Johnny Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet" and "Two Silhouettes", are so cutesy that they become nothing but pieces of unadulterated kitsch.Ultimately, the only people I would recommend "Make Mine Music" to would be the people who would only be interested in it - Disney fans and animation buffs. To everyone else, as with a good number of package films, it would probably be best seeing individual segments, which is how these films work best.

"Make Mine Music" is another post-war feature film that is actually a compilation of shorts all packaged together--like "Fun and Fancy Free", "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad", "Saludos, Amigos" and the like. And, for the most part, these films marked a low-point in Disney history--as the great quality and artistry of their earlier full-length films (such as "Snow White", "Bambi" and "Pinocchio") and before the studio's rejuvenated late 40s and 1950s (with films such as "Cinderella" and "Peter Pan"). Much of this is probably due to the studio staff experiencing HUGE changes after WWII and a protracted union strike--and a very sizable number of animators and other artists were lost. Unlike the other features released just after the war, the shorts in "Make Mine Music" were very, very short."Blue Bayou"--Thankfully this was a very short film, as I was contemplating suicide it was so boring and dreadful. The music was somewhat like Jeanette/Nelson Eddy music and seemed very dated...and dull. 1 "All Cats Come Join In"--Benny Goodman and his orchestra provide the music and the style is a jazzy big-band sort of tune. The animation VERY simple--with characters with very non-detailed faces and backgrounds. While the music integrated well with the music and it was enjoyable, it would NEVER be confused with "Fantasia" as the look of this short was rather cheap. 3 "A Ballade in Blue"--A dull affair as a whiny guy sings about how life sucks without his beloved. Sure to make kids angry and restless. 1 "Casey At The Bat"--Probably the best and most famous of the shorts in this film. Jerry Colonna narrated the famous poem and it really came to life due to the silliness of the animation--which was reminiscent of a Goofy short. Too bad this short was so unlike the rest of the film and didn't seem to really fit the theme--which was really dull music and animation! There was only incidental music and this short forgot to be boring. 8 "Two Silhouettes"--Dinah Shore sings as silhouettes of a man and woman dance together. Frankly, if the earlier shorts didn't drive kids crazy with boredom, this one is sure to do it. Dull. 1 "Peter and the Wolf"--Oddly, this one began with a narration (Sterling Holloway--who later played Winnie the Pooh) as he explains how various instruments represent various characters in the story--then he continues to explain the story as the music plays. While I am not a huge fan of this short, it is head and shoulders better than most of them--and certainly is entertaining. Not a great film for most kids (unless they are a Frasier or Niles Crane sort of kid who adores classical or neo-classical music). But, it might also serve as a nice way to introduce kids to this sort of music. The animation of this one is noticeably better than the rest of the film and most adults should enjoy this film. 8 "After You've Gone"--The Goodman Quartet (including Benny Goodman) provide some bouncy music during which musical instruments, keyboards, fingers, etc. come to life. While kids will also surely hate this one, adults will probably find the music and animation zippy good fun. I didn't hate it. 6 "Johnny Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet"--Sung by the Andrews Sisters, this is the story about two hats that fall in love---something you DON'T see everyday! This is a pretty weird cartoon. Again, kids probably won't love this one but it was amazingly cute seeing these anthropomorphic hats. And the Andrews Sisters' music is pretty enjoyable and cute. 7 "Opera Pathetique"--This is sung by Nelson Eddy whose style of music is not to my liking although it was popular back in grand-pappy's day. The animation is much more enjoyable than most of the rest of the film but the singing is very operatic. If that's your thing, then are you in for a treat. However, if you think this sort of music is LESS enjoyable than hearing a cat being tortured, then it will be a chore to watch even with the cute animation of a gigantic singing whale. Cute but probably not everyone's cup 'o tea. 5 Overall, the film was hard to watch because it was so wildly uneven---it just frustrates the viewer to no end. Some of the shorts are very nice but many are just plain awful. Kids will most likely hate most of it and it's best you only show them a few selections. Adults will be, on the whole, more patient and willing to stick with it--particularly if they loved "Fantasia"--though the quality of "Fantasia" was almost always much higher--especially in regard to the artwork. For huge Disney-philes it's worth seeing--others might want to try renting this one instead of investing in the DVD.

I saw this as a child in the 50s (imagine that) and have always loved Willie the Whale the most. This film kick-started my love of classical music and opera. The ballet scene was another favorite, and led to a period when I dreamed of dancing (luckily, I discovered how poorly that occupation suited my talents and gave it up, but I still love to watch). Unfortunately, while I was eventually able to find out that Lucia di Lammermoor was the name of the opera Willie (Nelson Eddy) sang to Tetti Tatti, I was never able to find anyone who knew the title of the piece he sang in Whale Heaven. I've given up humming it to librarians and music store clerks--it gets more embarrassing every decade. Does anyone recognize it?