25th Aug 202327th Jun 2024 by The Disney Purist

#10 Melody Time (1948)

BACKGROUND

After an adequate start to post-war movies with the Disney animated release Make Mine Music (1946), the Studios continued to release “package features” through the rest of the 1940s.

Make Mine Music was followed in 1947 by Fun and Fancy Free, a feature consisting of just two longer animated stories, instead of the numerous but shorter segments that appeared in Make Mine Music.

However, in 1948, Melody Time was released, which was another movie just like Make Mine Music, in that it consisted of multiple unrelated animated sequences, loosely connected by the theme of music.

Melody Time was the last music-themed Disney “package feature” of the 1940s. It comprises seven separate sequences.

These seven sections are:

“Once Upon a Wintertime”
“Bumble Boogie”
“The Legend of Johnny Appleseed”
“Little Toot”
“Trees”
“Blame It on the Samba”
“Pecos Bill”

Melody Time is not one of the best Disney animated classics for me. I had only watched it once before this week and I didn’t think much of it then. This time round, it only confirmed my original opinion, and I can now say confidently that Make Mine Music is my “favourite” of these two Fantasia-like “package features”, although I did not completely like either of them; Make Mine Music just happens to have slightly more songs and animated sequences that I enjoy. I actually struggled to like any of the Melody Time shorts.

STORY #1: ONCE UPON A WINTERTIME

Melody Time begins with an Opening Credits sequence, which also features the title song of the film. All the upcoming artists and musicians are first credited, with their names written over the top of the animated sheet music for their specific section. We are also told that this time, unlike in Make Mine Music, we have a “Master of Ceremonies”: Buddy Clark. Buddy Clark was a popular singer within the Big Band era, specifically within the 1940s. He had multiple hit songs, including “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”, which he sang with Dinah Shore. Dinah Shore sung “Two Silhouettes” for a sequence within Disney’s Make Mine Music. Clark sadly died in a plane crash in 1949, shortly after recording a radio broadcast with The Andrews Sisters, who also performed songs for both Make Mine Music and Melody Time. The credits continue to be listed over animated sheet music, before moving across to see an animated paintbrush paint a theatre stage, as well as masks. The masks represent Buddy Clark and his background singers for the title song “Melody Time”. This song was written by George David Weiss and Bennie Benjamin. Benjamin and Weiss had also written for Fun and Fancy Free (1947), Disney’s film release before Melody Time. The curtains of the theatre are then pulled back and the show begins.

“Once Upon a Wintertime” is the first segment to be introduced. The short begins with a brief scene of a picture of a couple before seemingly going back in time to see the couple on a sleigh ride in the snow. The couple go ice-skating together on a frozen lake, and are soon joined by a rabbit couple who mimic the human couple. Both couples are so in love, even drawing love hearts in the ice. The girl is not so steady on her feet and struggles to skate alone, however, her partner is only too confident on his skates, racing away and coming back, skidding ice all over her. Naturally, she is annoyed and soon falls down on the ice, before skating away in a huff, as does the female rabbit. However, both are unaware that they are about to skate over thin ice, which begins to break away; the two girls float away on a block of ice, about to go over a waterfall. The men aren’t particularly useful at attempting to rescue their girls, and they end up being rescued by quick-thinking birds, squirrels and horses, which is odd. But the couples make up, and the humans get back in their sleigh and head home together.

As far as the story goes, it is a strange one; I don’t know why the man had to be so useless here, when we know in a real life-or-death situation that forest creatures are not going to be able to save you. It’s not much of a public service announcement on the dangers of skating on random patches of iced-over fresh water! But that’s not the main issue I have with “Once Upon a Wintertime”. That is actually with the animation, which is a difficult thing to admit, as the overall design of the short was developed from concept art by legendary Disney artist Mary Blair, who would go on to produce art for Disney movies, such as Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Peter Pan (1953), as well as attractions such as it’s a small world. I didn’t like the colour choices or the rounded, less realistic look of the humans, though I did like the look of the animals and the wintry landscapes. The short does also have a “Christmas card”-feel to it, which I believe was the aim. The song is just ok for me. It was written by Bobby Worth and Ray Gilbert who had both worked on previous Disney “package features” including both writing the song “Blue Bayou” for Make Mine Music (1946). The song is performed by Frances Langford, a popular singer, radio performer and actress in the 1930s and 1940s.

STORY #2: BUMBLE BOOGIE

The second short of Melody Time is “Bumble Boogie”, which follows a little bee just trying to get on with his day but finding himself being attacked and bullied by flowers, as well as a piano-looking snake-like creature. It is quite surreal animation, with the “animals” being designed after whichever instrument is featured in the music at that point. It mostly does consist of piano keys, but there are also trumpet-looking flowers which appear. In the end, the bee seems to win out over everything, but again, it wasn’t great. Luckily, it was only three minutes long, being the shortest of Melody Time’s seven pieces.

The music choice is an arrangement of Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumblebee”, arranged by Jack Fina, and performed by Fina on piano, along with Freddy Martin and His Orchestra, and is titled “Bumble Boogie”. It was a huge hit for Fina, who had previously joined Freddy Martin’s band, but formed his own band in 1946. Freddy Martin and His Orchestra were a band formed in 1930s, who continued to perform right up until the 1980s, when band leader Martin died in 1983. “Flight of the Bumblebee” was considered for Fantasia (1940), when Disney planned to add in additional new material and re-release it, however, that plan did not come to pass[1]. I like the piece of music, so I did enjoy the arrangement, but, although I thought the bee in the animation was cute, it was all a bit of a mess of colour and noise, to be honest!

STORY #3: THE LEGEND OF JOHNNY APPLESEED

“The Legend of Johnny Appleseed”, the second-longest segment of Melody Time with a runtime of about eighteen minutes, is the third short. Buddy Clark begins by mentioning some of the symbols of great American pioneers, such as Paul Bunyan’s axe and Davy Crockett’s rifle, before getting to those of pioneer Chapman, which were a tin pot hat, a bag of apple seeds, and the Bible. The story is then passed over to the “Old Settler” to narrate the legend. The story shows Johnny happy and content growing apple trees at his home, singing and picking the apples from his trees. One day, he sees a group of settlers heading West. Johnny wants to join them but thinks that as all he knows is apple trees, he wouldn’t be any use over there. His angel comes to him and tells him that of course the pioneers will need apples, as they are a very versatile food. Johnny takes a tin pot hat, the Bible and his seeds, and heads out West with renewed confidence. After some time, Johnny comes across a good area of soil and begins planting. The animals of the area are not sure about Johnny, but they soon warm to him as they see he has no hunting equipment so they are not in danger. Many years later, Johnny’s trees have continued to grow, with those settlers now living by the orchards and having festivals in his honour, where they cook all sorts of foods using his apples. One day, an elderly Johnny takes a rest by a tree and dies, with his angel coming to take him to Heaven. Johnny doesn’t think his time on Earth should be coming to an end, but the angel encourages him to plant apples trees in Heaven, and Johnny goes willingly.

Although Johnny Appleseed is based on real-life early pioneer John Chapman (1774-1845), who planted apples trees over areas such as Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana, Walt Disney asked that their version of his story be adapted from the legends surrounding him. Again, Mary Blair’s designs were translated onto the screen, this time they were of a folk-art style, which I quite liked. Disney animators Milt Kahl, Ollie Johnston and Eric Larson were directing animators for Johnny, and Winston Hibler wrote the narration. Hibler would go on to contribute lyrics to such songs as “Following the Leader” from Peter Pan (1953) and “I Wonder” from Sleeping Beauty (1959), alongside Ted Sears.

Dennis Day, the performer of this segment, actually provides the voices of the characters (Johnny Appleseed and Johnny’s Angel), as well as all the singing, and the narration. Dennis Day was known as “the singing star” on Jack Benny’s radio show from 1939. Verna Felton, legendary Disney voice artist, portrayed Dennis’ character’s mother on the programme. Day was a versatile voice actor, easily able to do accents and impressions well[2]. The music here was written by Kim Gannon and Walter Kent. The two co-wrote many songs together, including the holiday song “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”. Kent also wrote the song “(There’ll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover”. I didn’t mind watching “The Legend of Johnny Appleseed”; it was alright.

STORY #4: LITTLE TOOT

Next up is “Little Toot”, a little tugboat who spends a lot of time messing about and playing around, despite the fact his antics constantly disrupt his dad working and that he continuously halts traffic around the harbour; Little Toot doesn’t seem to understand the importance of being a tugboat. Little Toot is told off by his father and tries to be good, even helping his dad bring in a large ship, however, he causes more harm than good, with the ship crashing onto dry land. Little Toot is taken away by the “harbour police” and exiled in the open ocean. On a very stormy night, whilst trying to stay upright in the waves, Little Toot sees a stranded ocean liner. He sends out an SOS call, which is heard by other boats, including his dad, but before they can even get there, Little Toot has attached himself to the ship and started tugging it to the harbour. He returns as a hero. I quite liked this story; it reminded me a lot of another short called “Pedro”, which appears in Disney’s Saludos Amigos (1942), except that story is about a little plane, instead of a little boat.

The story “Little Toot” was published in 1939 by former Disney animator, Hardie Gramatky, who worked for Disney between 1929 and 1936. The Disney short features The Andrews Sisters singing the story. The Andrews Sisters were a singing group who had previously sung the story of “Johnnie Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet” for Make Mine Music (1946). Capitol Records produced a record of the “Little Toot” story and song which became the first children’s record to hit the one million sales mark on Billboard.

STORY #5: TREES

The fifth segment is called “Trees”. It is a sung version of Joyce Kilmer’s poem “Trees”, with the music being written by pianist and composer Oscar Rasbach. The animation consists of multiple drawings of trees, set in different types of weather and times of day. A few animals, like deer and squirrels, also make an appearance, but there is no story here; it is just meant to be nice to watch. Because of this, I lost interest in this segment quite quickly. Plus, due to the nature of singing through a poem, I could barely understand it at times. Though the poem may be popular, I feel like it should’ve been spoken through instead to ensure it was fully comprehensible to all. I also did not like the wailing singing voices trying to imitate the windy, stormy weather. Luckily, this segment is the second-shortest of the seven in Melody Time, at only four minutes, so I didn’t have to sit through it for long. “Trees” was also planned to be included in a new version of Fantasia (1940) like “Flight of the Bumblebee”.

STORY #6: BLAME IT ON THE SAMBA

“Blame It on the Samba” is the sixth short, and this time it features the familiar characters of Donald Duck and José Carioca. José Carioca first appeared in Saludos Amigos (1942) alongside Donald Duck. This short is quite psychedelic with its imagery, and has a very basic story: Donald and José are walking through the forest, looking quite glum, when they come across the Café Do Samba, and are treated to samba music to cheer them up by the Aracuan bird. The Aracuan bird was first introduced in The Three Caballeros (1944), where Donald and José also appeared. Pinto Colvig, who was the original voice of Grumpy and Goofy, provides the voice of the Aracuan bird, reprising his role from The Three Caballeros and the Disney short cartoon Clown of the Jungle (1947)[3]. Throughout the segment, the birds are dancing and mixing cocktails, but the animation is incredibly abstract as within one of those cocktails is Ethel Smith performing on an electric organ with Donald and José dancing on top of it. The animation is bizarre at times, but the music is fun, and it’s always good to see familiar characters within these types of films!

This segment was originally supposed to be part of a third “package feature” based on and within Latin America, as Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros had been. However, as that third film never happened, it was used in Melody Time instead. Organist Ethel Smith had even come in the Disney Studios to record the music in 1945, but then had to return to the Studios again in February 1947 to film the live-action portions that would feature in the new feature film, Melody Time[4]. The Dinning Sisters singing group perform the vocals to this song. They were very popular around the late 1940s, and were considered to be Capitol Records’ answer to The Andrews Sisters. The music was written by Brazilian composer and pianist Ernesto Nazareth and lyricist Ray Gilbert.

STORY #7: PECOS BILL

The final short, and longest of the film at around twenty minutes, is called “Pecos Bill”, the fictional cowboy from American folk stories. It begins with a typical animated desert landscape, complete with cacti and tumbleweeds. We then get to a live-action section, of cowboys sitting around a campfire. The song “Blue Shadows on the Trail” has been playing during this animation, and it turns out these cowboys have been singing it. The song was performed by Roy Rogers and The Sons of the Pioneers. The Sons of the Pioneers are a Western singing group, still performing today. They have appeared in movies as well as on the radio. Roy Rogers, then called Leonard Slye, Tim Spencer and Bob Nolan founded the group, however when Slye change his name to Roy Rogers, he left the group in 1937. Roy Rogers was a singer and actor. He appears in this segment alongside his horse, Trigger, who featured in many of Rogers’ films and television appearances. At this campfire, Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers tell the story of Pecos Bill to Bobby Driscoll and Luana Patten, who have not heard the story. These two child stars appeared together in the Disney films Song of the South (1946) and So Dear to My Heart (1949)[5]. Driscoll would go on to star in Disney’s animated film Peter Pan (1953) as the title character.

We then move into the animated retelling of Pecos Bill’s story. After falling out of his family’s wagon into the Texas desert, he is raised by coyotes. Bill also starts to learn from all the other animals, such as jumping like a jack-rabbit and hissing like a snake. One day, a young Bill comes across a small, ill horse, and saves him from being eaten by vultures. Bill names his new horse Widowmaker and becomes one of the best cowboys ever, as it is a profession where he can work alongside his horse. We are then told of all the wonderful things that Bill did for Texas, such as bringing the rain from California into Texas to stop a drought and this is how the Gulf of Mexico came to be. He also needed water one day and dug the Rio Grande to get some! One day, he comes across a female cowboy, Slue Foot Sue and instantly falls in love with her. Widowmaker, Bill’s horse, is not impressed at being ignored while Bill “courts” Sue, and is even more annoyed, and jealous, when he finds that the two are getting married. As part of the wedding celebrations, Sue wanted a dress with a bustle and to ride to the ceremony on Bill’s horse, however, although she got the dress she wanted, Widowmaker was not happy to have Sue on his back and bucks her off him. Unfortunately, due to her bustle, Sue doesn’t just fall to the ground, but hits it and bounces up continuously, getting higher and higher each time. Bill calmly gets ready to use his lasso to get Sue down, but it misses – thanks to Widowmaker stepping on the end of the rope. Eventually, Sue bounces up so far that she ends up stuck on the moon. Bill went back to the coyotes, filled with sadness, but never forgot Sue. Every night, Bill mourned her by howling up at the moon, with the other coyotes joining in, and that is why coyotes howl at the moon, answering the question that Luana Patten asked during the campfire. The segment ends with another verse from “Blue Shadows on the Trail”, and that is the end of the film.

Both the song “Blue Shadows on the Trail”, as well as “Pecos Bill” were written by Eliot Daniel and Johnny Lange. Eliot Daniel went on to write the song “Lavender Blue” for So Dear to My Hear (1949), which was Oscar-nominated, and then compose the theme from I Love Lucy (1951-1957). Johnny Lange was a songwriter, whose song “Mule Train, was also Oscar-nominated and featured in the film Singing Guns (1950). I found this short to be very long, and didn’t feel like we needed the live-action segment before it, though I did like the song “Blue Shadows on the Trail”. The actual story of Pecos Bill wasn’t too bad, but I’m not a big fan of Westerns or stories about cowboys!

PRODUCTION

After Fantasia (1940) was released, Walt Disney, and the Studios, got some backlash to the movie, as, although the whole point of the film was to make it as close to a concert as you could see in a movie theatre, this approach was considered too “high-brow” for audiences and reviewers. So, when the Disney Studios decided to make Make Mine Music (1946), another “package feature” similar to Fantasia with heavy emphasis on its musical choices, they decided to use more popular genres and musicians to appeal to a wider audience. This is the same approach that was used for Melody Time[6].

The reason a “package film” was necessary was because the Disney Studios had suffered financially both because of World War II and its impact on both domestic and foreign markets, as well as the 1941 animators’ strike which affected the Disney Studios badly, both in terms of finances and their reputation. “Package features” were cheaper to make, as they weren’t overly focused on the animation design, and also quicker, which satisfied Disney’s distribution contract with RKO to release their animated features.

It was also good because though they had ideas for stories, these stories did not contain enough material to fill a full-length feature film, so by having multiple sections, or shorts, within one movie, they could still use these story ideas in and amongst other, potentially shorter subjects. For example, for Melody Time, Walt stated in a short essay that he wrote for the 1948-49 volume of Film Review, that they liked the idea of doing full animated features on the legendary Pecos Bill and Johnny Appleseed, but as they were both mostly based in legends, with little life-story or factual evidence to back up their deeds, there was not enough material for a full movie. By using these two stories within a film like Melody Time, it satisfied their want to tell these two specific tales that otherwise may have remained untold, at least in an animated medium. Walt did also make it clear, though, that these types of “multiple episode cartoon fantasy” would not replace Disney’s classic animated picture[7]. One more “package feature” would be released by Disney the year after Melody Time in 1949: The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, which did only feature two stories; one based on The Wind in the Willows novel by Kenneth Grahame and the other on the short story by Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. It was originally titled Two Fabulous Characters, with both that movie and Melody Time being announced by Disney as being in production in 1947.

Despite this optimism for the “package feature” format that was primarily used by Disney in the 1940s, it was not favoured by Walt Disney himself, as they aren’t particularly creative or inventive, and they lacked the usual Disney magic of story-telling. The 1940s was not an easy decade for anyone working at the Studios. In January 1947, a screening of the work-in-progress “Pecos Bill” short was being shown to Walt Disney in its pencil form. It had been worked on by Ward Kimball and Milt Kahl. According to Kimball’s family, even though the piece was not finished, Walt found the “Pecos Bill” piece uplifting, saying it was the most encouraging thing he’d seen at the Disney Studios for six years. It is believed Walt meant that he could still see the talent within the animators and had hope that in the future they would be able to make great things again[8].

RECEPTION

Melody Time premiered on 27^th May 1948 at the Astor Theatre in New York City’s Times Square. It was then released internationally over the next couple of years. Unfortunately, Melody Time received mixed reviews, much like the other “package films”, due to its variety of material and the natural fact that not every section would appeal to everyone. Within US critics, though, many did agree that “The Legend of Johnny Appleseed” and “Pecos Bill” were the two highlights of the movie, as they were both legendary heroic figures within American folklore. Some reviewers were not so kind, with Bosley Crowther of The New York Times writing that Melody Time was a “gaudy grab-bag” of shorts, with some good and some bad[9], though that is basically the standard response to this movie.

Many of the shorts within Melody Time were later released separately on different Disney media, like “Pecos Bill” was released as a stand-alone short in February 1954; “Once Upon a Wintertime” in September 1954; and “Johnny Appleseed” in December 1955. This gave the “better” pieces a wider audience and meant viewers did not have to watch the entire film to find them. Luckily, with the success of Cinderella (1950), the animated “package features” were no longer required; audiences had made it clear that they wanted a full story, not a mish-mash of short sequences, from Disney.

It would not be until 1998 when Melody Time was first released on home video in the US, despite the sequences within Melody Time having been available to watch on previous Disney compilations. When Melody Time was re-released on VHS and released for the first time on DVD, the US version of the movie was censored, much like Make Mine Music was. This censoring removed any and all cigarettes from Pecos Bill’s mouth within the whole short of “Pecos Bill”, which meant large portions of the short, such as those with the cyclone and the “painted Indians” were cut, as Bill had a cigarette dangling in his mouth throughout. The Indians scene perhaps should’ve been cut for other, more obvious reasons… Foreign releases were uncut[10]. However, despite this earlier censorship, the original, unaltered version of Melody Time was released on Blu-Ray in 2021, as well as on Disney+, where it begins with their negative depiction/stereotype warning.

LEGACY

Due to the style of movie that Melody Time is, it did not receive a sequel and it is highly unlikely that it will ever receive the “live-action” treatment from Disney. The only other movie that Melody Time helped create was the last “package feature” to be released during Walt’s lifetime: Music Land (1955). It was never released on home video, and only played in 1955, and once more at the 1970 Tribute to Walt Disney retrospective at the National Film Theater. Music Land (1955) is not the animated short of the same name, released in 1935 as part of the Silly Symphonies catalogue, but a film that took four segments from Make Mine Music and five from Melody Time, thrown together and released on 5^th October 1955. It was only made to satisfy Disney’s contract with RKO, who needed one more release under that contract before Disney could use their own distribution company, Buena Vista Distribution. From Melody Time, Music Land used these shorts: “Once Upon a Wintertime”, “Bumble Boogie”, “Trees”, “Blame It on the Samba” and “Pecos Bill”[12].

Surprisingly, some of the Disney theme parks do feature references to some of the sections of Melody Time, with the biggest one being the quick-service restaurant, Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe, which appears in Frontierland at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, as well as in Westernland within Tokyo Disneyland.

At Magic Kingdom, Pecos Bill Cafe opened in 1971, with two separate dining locations: the Cafe and the Mile Long Bar. In 1998, the two locations were combined into one restaurant, with it being renamed Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe. The location features many references to the Disney short “Pecos Bill” as well as the legends surrounding him and all the things he created for Texas, such as digging the Rio Grande. The Disney-created backstory of the restaurant states that Pecos Bill was convinced to open his own “watering hole” in 1876, with gifts being left by those who came here, which were later adorned on the walls of the restaurant. Some gifts include Paul Bunyan’s axe and Johnny Appleseed’s pot-hat. Bill’s long-lost love, Slue Foot Sue, even left her gloves to him, signed “To Bill, All My Love, Slue Foot Sue”; they can be found within a frame hanging on the wall.

Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe mostly served burgers, with a full toppings bar, until 2015, when the menu changed to serve “Tex-Mex”-style dishes, such as tacos, nachos and fajitas. I suppose this menu fits in better with the overall theming of the area, but I preferred when they had burgers! Posters advertising the restaurant can be seen within the queue for the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad attraction[13]. Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe opened at Tokyo Disneyland on 15^th April 1983 when the park first opened. It also serves Mexican food.

Elsewhere within Magic Kingdom, an old-fashioned calliope, or steam organ, can be found outside the Pete’s Silly Sideshow character meet-and-greet location within Storybook Circus. It is inscribed with the words “Melody Time: Brass Horn Band”. It also says at the top “Toot, Plunk, Whistle, Boom”. This may appear to be another small reference to the movie Melody Time, as the word “Toot” could reference the specific short “Little Toot” from the movie, however, Disney released a short in 1953 titled Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom, so it is likely to be a nod to that short instead.

There is apparently a script of Melody Time that can be seen in one of the windows behind the bus stop queues at the All-Star Movies Resort at Walt Disney World, however, I have not found a picture of it online to confirm it, nor did I see it any of the numerous resort walkthroughs that I found on YouTube. I guess no-one thinks bus stops are interesting enough for their travel vlogs. Rude.

Finally, a very brief scene, literally a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, from “Once Upon a Wintertime”, with the guy skating love hearts into the ice, can be seen during the Wonderful World of Animation nighttime show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort. It is almost at the very end of the show, within the compilation of scenes from various movies that follows the Encanto scene; it is on the screen furthest left of The Chinese Theater – in case anyone wants to find this scene one day!

At Disneyland and at Tokyo Disneyland, another reference to the movie can be found within the queue line for Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin, there is a poster detailing on audition for “toons only” on Tuesday for the “upcoming Disney pic MELODY TIME”.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Melody Time is not my favourite of the Disney’s 1940s movies; I didn’t find much of it that I really liked, which surprised me, as I thought there would have been at least one short that I did like. I guess “Blame It on the Samba” was ok, but the imagery was too abstract for me, so despite the familiarity of Donald and José, I wasn’t bothered when it finished! Most of it was just “alright” for me, but I know that other people may disagree with me, and in particular might love “Pecos Bill” or “The Legend of Johnny Appleseed”. As I’m not American, perhaps that folklore just doesn’t hit me in the same way.

Regardless of anyone’s feelings about Melody Time, this and its other “package film friends” were a necessity to keep the Disney Studios financially stable. It worked and it meant Disney could move on to better things from the 1950s onwards.

I don’t think Melody Time should put anyone off Disney “package features” as some of their other ones are much better and I do really like those. Sadly, Melody Time is just not one of those “other ones” for me.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Michael Lyons, ‘Music with Character: The 75^th Anniversary of “Melody Time”’, CartoonResearch.com, 28^th April 2023.

[2] Credit: Jim Fanning, ‘Did You Know? 10 Tuneful Facts About Walt Disney’s Melody Time’, D23.com, 24^th May 2018.

[3] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Melody Time’, pp. 28-30.

[4] Credit: Jim Fanning, ‘Did You Know? 10 Tuneful Facts About Walt Disney’s Melody Time’, D23.com, 24^th May 2018.

[5] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Melody Time’, pp. 28-30.

[6] Credit: Jim Korkis, The Vault of Walt Vol. 5 (2016), ‘The Disney Package Features’, pp. 65-73.

[7] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Walt Talks About the Disney Package Features’, MousePlanet.com, 2^nd December 2015.

[8] Credit: Lucas O. Seastrom, ‘Hope for the Future – A Story about Walt Disney’s Melody Time’, The Walt Disney Family Museum Blog, 25^th July 2018.

[9] Credit: Bosley Crowther, ‘Disney’s Newest Cartoon Array, ‘Melody Time’, Opens at Astor – Seven Scenes Featured’, The New York Times (online), 28^th May 1948.

[10] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Melody Time’, pp. 28-30.

[12] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Walt Talks About the Disney Package Features’, MousePlanet.com, 2^nd December 2015.

[13] Credit: Lydia Storks, ‘The Secrets You Didn’t Know About This Popular Disney World Restaurant’, AllEars.net, 26^th March 2021.

18th Aug 202327th Jun 2024 by The Disney Purist

#16 Sleeping Beauty (1959)

BACKGROUND

Aesthetically beautiful, yet financially disastrous. That was the legacy of Sleeping Beauty.

Sleeping Beauty was created by those at the Disney Studios to be “a masterpiece”, to look like “a moving tapestry”. These were high bars for the animators to reach, but it is undeniable that they did succeed in making one of the most artistically stunning Disney animated features. But to achieve greatness like this costs money – and it cost them.

At $6 million, Sleeping Beauty cost double the amount of money to make than the previous Disney animated films of the 1950s, with production spanning the majority of the decade as well. Because of the already high spend, the movie was unable to recoup its costs, at least initially. This financial failing led to Disney Animation replacing their traditional Ink-and-Paint method with Xeroxing for their 1960s movies in order to lower their spending. It also meant that another fairytale-inspired Disney movie would not be made again until after Walt Disney’s death, that being The Little Mermaid (1989).

Sleeping Beauty has done well from subsequent re-releases, both theatrical and home, but now faces a different kind of criticism; that around the “passive princesses” of Disney’s oldest royalty, namely Snow White, Cinderella and Aurora. Many now dismiss this film, stating that Aurora is a bad role model, with some parents even going so far as to claim that they won’t let their children watch Sleeping Beauty because of this.

I’ve always liked Sleeping Beauty; it was my childhood favourite, where my three or four-year-old self apparently referred to it as “Pippin’ Boopy”, as I’m constantly reminded by my parents. I still class Sleeping Beauty as my second-favourite Disney animated film, so I clearly do not agree with the modern-day criticism surrounding this film, or the other “princess films”.

Though Disney’s Sleeping Beauty has a basis in the Charles Perrault fairytale La Belle au Bois Dormant, as well as Tchaikovsky’s ballet, The Sleeping Beauty, Disney made several changes to these storylines for their own movie, making it unique.

PLOT

The movie begins with a traditional Disney storybook opening – it’s my favourite of all them; the book is decorated with loads of jewels, and I even bought the notebook of it from the Disney Store a couple of years ago when they were making replicas of all the famous Disney storybooks. Anyway, a narrator reads the opening pages of the book, saying that for many years a king and a queen had longed for a child, and one day, their wish was granted with the birth of a baby girl. They named her Aurora, after the dawn, for “she filled their lives with sunshine”. They decide to throw a party, a christening for the new princess, where everyone in the kingdom can attend.

We see the kingdom parading to the castle, where hundreds of guests have arrived to see baby Princess Aurora. During the ceremony, the three good fairies, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, arrive to bestow gifts on the princess. Flora goes first, giving her the gift of beauty. Fauna follows with the gift of song. But just as Merryweather is about to bestow her gift, she is interrupted by a wind blowing open the doors and lightning crashing. It’s Maleficent, the Evil Fairy, with her raven, Diablo. Maleficent is upset at not having received an invitation to this supposedly-open-to-all party. Merryweather informs her she wasn’t wanted, at which point, Maleficent claims she’ll leave. Queen Leah, Aurora’s mother, asks if Maleficent is offended by this, to which she responds that she is not, and wants to bestow her own gift on the child. Except it’s not a gift, but a curse; a curse that states before the sun sets on Aurora’s 16^th birthday, she will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die. King Stefan, Aurora’s father, orders his guards to seize Maleficent but she disappears. Merryweather is asked to undo Maleficent’s curse, but Maleficent’s magic is too great, so Merryweather alters the curse, stating that should Aurora prick her finger, she will fall into a deep sleep, to be awaken by true love’s kiss.

King Stefan is still concerned so orders all the spinning wheels in the kingdom to be burnt. As the fairies watch over this bonfire, they know it’s not enough to stop the curse from being fulfilled and think about how they can help. Suddenly, Flora has an idea: to turn Aurora into a flower, until Merryweather counters by saying Maleficent will just send a frost. Then, Flora has another idea: the three of them will take the child away to the forest to raise her themselves, without magic; this being something Maleficent wouldn’t expect them to do as she has no concept of helping others. The King and Queen need some convincing but allow it, heartbroken at being apart from their only child, but seeing it’s the only way.

Sixteen years pass, and the kingdom starts to rejoice at the thought of seeing Princess Aurora again. They know that Maleficent’s curse has not been fulfilled as her lair, the Forbidden Mountain, continues to thunder with her anger. Maleficent asks her goons if they have found Aurora yet, but they have not, saying they’ve checked everywhere, including in every cradle. To which Maleficent laughs, because for sixteen years they’ve been looking for a baby. The goons are confused and laugh with her, only for Maleficent to call them idiots and fire at them with her magic. Maleficent instead sends her raven to look for a maid of 16.

At the Woodcutter’s Cottage, deep in the forest, we come back to Aurora, now 16 and using the name Briar Rose. She is lonely with just Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather for company, and she dreams of love. On this day, her 16^th birthday, Briar Rose is sent out to pick berries, while the fairies organise gifts for her: a handmade dress and birthday cake. Flora decides she’ll do the dress, whilst Fauna makes the cake, much to Merryweather’s dismay as she seems to have been the only one to cook or sew for the sixteen years they’ve looked after Aurora! Merryweather tries to convince them they can use magic as the sixteen years are over, but Flora insists they mustn’t until the end of the day. Merryweather becomes Flora’s dummy whilst she makes the dress, with Merryweather saying it looks awful.

In the forest, Briar Rose is singing. She tells the animals that she met a prince and that they danced all evening, only for her to reveal that it was just a dream. Little does she know that a prince has been riding through the forest, Prince Phillip and his horse Samson. He tries to follow the sound of her voice as he is entranced by it, except Samson gallops too quickly and sends Phillip falling into a stream. The forest animals want to make Briar Rose happy, so they dress up as a prince, stealing some of Phillip’s clothes to make the perfect disguise! They dance together, but Phillip has followed the thieving animals and steps in to dance with Briar Rose instead. Briar Rose is reluctant to speak with him as he is a stranger, but he encourages her to, saying they met “once upon a dream”. Briar Rose is asked her name by Phillip, snapping her out of her dreamlike state. She runs home, saying that she’ll never see Phillip again, before inviting him to the cottage that evening to see her.

Back at the cottage, Flora and Fauna’s birthday gifts aren’t going to plan, with an annoyed Merryweather going up to collect their wands so they can do things properly. Flora is still concerned about being discovered, so tells them to close every door and window, and block up every hole before they begin. Flora and Fauna successfully make a beautiful dress and birthday cake, with Merryweather cleaning up the house. Merryweather hates the dress being pink, so makes it blue instead with her magic, annoying Flora who changes it back. The two start a colour-changing war, which alerts Maleficent’s raven to the area, as he sees the magic coming up through the chimney. He waits, as Briar Rose returns home. She’s excited to tell the others about who she met, but the three fairies aren’t so happy, and tell her that she is betrothed to Prince Phillip and that she is Princess Aurora and will be returned to her parents and kingdom this evening. That’s enough for the raven who flies off satisfied with what he’s heard. Aurora is heartbroken and runs up to her bed and cries.

At the castle, King Stefan and King Hubert, Prince Phillip’s father, are discussing Aurora’s return, with Hubert saying how he’s already had a castle built for the two of them, which upsets Stefan who hasn’t seen his daughter for sixteen years and doesn’t want her leaving straight away. He is also concerned that all these big reveals might shock her, to which Hubert is insulted, asking what is wrong with Phillip that might cause him to be a shock to her. Stefan tries to calm the situation but fails, with Hubert challenging him to a swordfight – instead of grabbing his sword though, Hubert picks up a swordfish, and the two laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. They call for wine to celebrate, and see that their minstrel is drunk under the table, having drunk most of the wine for himself! Phillip returns to King Stefan’s castle at this point and tells Hubert he’s found the girl he’s going to marry and that it’s not Princess Aurora. Hubert is horrified and tries to get Phillip to think about it, but he doesn’t and rides off to the cottage in the woods to meet with her again.

Aurora has been brought to the castle by the fairies, who give her a crown to wear as she is a princess after all. Aurora is still devastated, so the fairies leave her alone and wait outside. They’re just as upset that Aurora can’t marry the man she wants to, when they hear some strange noises. Aurora has been lured away from the room by a strange orb of green light. The fairies follow, but they’re too late: Maleficent has managed to get Aurora up to the castle tower and to touch the spindle of a spinning wheel. The fairies put a sleeping Aurora in her bed, and decide that, instead of telling the kingdom that they failed in their duty to protect Aurora from the curse, they’ll put the whole kingdom to sleep until she wakes. Whilst doing this, Flora hears Hubert mumbling about Phillip and “once upon a dream”, alerting Flora to the fact that Phillip was the man Aurora met in the woods. They hurry to the cottage, hoping to see him and get him to kiss Aurora and break the spell, but it’s clear that he has been captured by Maleficent by the time they get there. They bravely decide to go to the Forbidden Mountain to rescue him.

At the Forbidden Mountain, Maleficent is celebrating her win, and tells Phillip that the “peasant girl” he met was actually Princess Aurora and that she is asleep, waiting for her true love’s kiss, but he shouldn’t worry as she’ll release him in a hundred years’ time so he can be with his love again, knowing that he will likely not live to that age, leaving Aurora asleep forever. Maleficent leaves the cell, and the fairies come in and free him. Flora arms him with the Shield of Virtue and the Sword of Truth to help him on this journey to save Aurora. Unfortunately, as they are about to leave, Maleficent’s raven spots them and alerts the goons. They pursue the four, with the fairies magicking their obstacles into harmless items, such as rocks into bubbles, arrows into flowers, and tar into a rainbow, to get them out of Maleficent’s lair. Merryweather even turns the raven into stone! They are on their way to Stefan’s castle, much to Maleficent’s shock, and she tries everything to stop them, destroying bridges, sending rocks tumbling on to them, and summoning a forest of thorns to encircle the castle. But it’s not enough and Phillip, with the fairies help, gets through easily, so Maleficent goes over to sort this herself, turning herself into a huge dragon. Phillip and dragon Maleficent battle, with Flora enchanting the Sword of Truth so that it will kill Maleficent on impact. Phillip throws the sword and sure enough, Maleficent is killed.

Phillip and the fairies rush up to Aurora’s tower, with him kissing her and breaking the curse. Aurora awakens, overjoyed that the man she met is Prince Phillip, the man she was betrothed to from birth. The rest of the kingdom awakens, and just as Hubert is about to tell Stefan that Phillip won’t marry Aurora, the two make their grand entrance into the hall. The two dance together, seemingly all the way into the clouds, and the storybook closes.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Although she is the title character and the one the whole movie revolves around, Princess Aurora is only seen in the movie for about eighteen minutes in total, roughly a fifth of the entire runtime of the film[1]. Because of this, we don’t get to see a lot of personality from her, but it is clear that Aurora is kind, elegant, graceful, and a hopeless romantic. Typical of a Disney princess, she likes to sing, specifically with forest creatures, such as birds and squirrels, but this is because the fairies have tried to keep Aurora from harm by not letting her speak to anyone, so the animals are the only ones she can talk to, away from her guardians! All of this means that viewers are quick to dismiss Aurora as simply a pointless character and a terrible example of a good female role model. I disagree with this because there is nothing wrong with dreaming of romance, and there is also nothing wrong with being kind and considerate of others. Her character lives in the 14^th Century; I’m sorry to have to point out that there wasn’t going to be much career progression for her at that time, princess or not! She doesn’t go out on a big adventure, like more contemporary Disney princess, but that’s because she’s spent her whole life being protected from the impact of Maleficent’s curse; she’s not given the opportunity to do this.

Aurora’s character design was based on a few people, with one apparently being Audrey Hepburn. This was more in terms of her posture, to give Aurora poise, elegance and grace. Her design was also inspired by Aurora’s live-action reference model, Helene Stanley, who had ballet experience, and can be seen dancing in Aurora’s costume in behind-the-scenes footage. Her voice artist was also a strong inspiration for the character, Mary Costa. Mary Costa had been chosen in part for her operatic singing voice, which is integral to the story as Aurora is given the “gift of song” from birth. Walt Disney loved Costa’s voice and encouraged her to “paint with her voice”[2]. Disney had been auditioning women for the part for three years by the time they found Costa! Mary Costa had the perfect fairytale speaking voice too, but she had to put on an English accent to work with the European fairytale setting, as Costa was born in Tennessee and had a natural Southern accent. Marc Davis watched Costa’s recording sessions to include her natural expressions and gestures into the character of Aurora. Costa would go on to become a successful opera singer.

Again, many people like to ignore Prince Phillip as well, saying that he is just a typical Disney prince, with not much going for him in way of a personality; he’s just there to marry the girl at the end of the movie. Though I might agree with this comment for Prince Charming and Snow White’s Prince, I disagree for Prince Phillip. Unlike the other two princes, I think Prince Phillip actually gets to say quite a lot and certainly does more for the story. Prince Phillip is charming and handsome, but also kind of funny, in both his conversation with Aurora in the woods, as well as later with King Hubert. Prince Phillip even gets some action scenes, getting to fight off Maleficent and rescue the girl, though he does get a lot of help from the three fairies here! Woolie Reitherman directed the whole sequence of Phillip escaping Maleficent’s lair, and that includes the dragon battle. Reitherman got some stick in the company for the fact that Phillip gets through all the thorns even on his horse and for elements of it not being “logical”, but Walt didn’t care; he loved it. This sequence is considered to be one of the biggest climatic scenes in Disney history, so Reitherman must have done something right! It is such a huge part of the movie that it has even been built in LEGO and can be seen outside the LEGO stores at both Disney Springs in Walt Disney World and Downtown Disney at Disneyland.

Prince Phillip, and his horse Samson, were animated by Milt Kahl. Most animators did not like animating the princes, thinking they are a bit bland and boring, but I’m hoping Kahl didn’t mind designing Prince Phillip. I definitely think he’s different to the other Disney princes that came before him. Prince Phillip is voiced by radio performer and pop singer Bill Shirley, who also provided the live-action reference modelling for the character, even acting out the final battle scene on a makeshift horse contraption! Disney chose Shirley for the role because of his singing range and his youthful voice. Bill Shirley would later go on to dub the singing voice of Freddy Eynsford-Hill in My Fair Lady (1964). Regardless of what anyone says, I like Prince Phillip and Princess Aurora; I like them as characters and as a couple.

Then there is Maleficent, considered to be the best villain in Disney history to many, who has spanned her own personal legacy from this movie, but more on that later. Maleficent doesn’t have a backstory in Sleeping Beauty, so we don’t know why she wants to curse a baby or why it’s so important to her that Aurora dies. I personally don’t need one, I just like villains being evil for evil’s sake, but if you need one, Disney made the live-action Maleficent (2014) to do this. Maleficent is an evil fairy, who dabbles in dark magic. She lives in her fortress, the Forbidden Mountain, with a gaggle of hopeless goons, who just irritate her, and her beloved raven, Diablo, the only thing she can trust. Maleficent is cruel and terrifying, but has a grace and elegance to her, like Aurora. She is formidable and stern, and her magic allows her to do anything she wants, like turning herself into a dragon, which makes her even more scary! I’m a big fan of Maleficent as a character.

Marc Davis, as well as animating Aurora, also worked on Maleficent’s design. He wanted her gown to look like flames, which it does by having triangular wisps coming from. Davis also gave her a bat-wing shaped collar and horns of the devil to show how evil she is[3]. Davis didn’t particularly like the fact that Maleficent is such a straight, sharp, calm character, so when he got to design Cruella de Vil for Disney’s next animated feature, One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), he was pleased to be able to do more with the expressions and make Cruella very over-the-top! Marc Davis had ample inspiration from Maleficent’s voice artist, Eleanor Audley, who had a particularly powerful and impressive voice. According to Mary Costa, many of the voice actors would go to watch Audley’s voice recordings because they loved how expressive she was[4]. Eleanor Audley had voiced the role of Lady Tremaine in Cinderella (1950) and would later voice Madame Leota for Disney Parks attraction The Haunted Mansion. Marc Davis also animated Maleficent’s raven, Diablo, using footage of ravens from Disney’s True-Life Adventures series as guidance.

For the three good fairies, originally Walt Disney wanted the trio to all be the same, but the animators, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnstone, fought for them to all be likeable but different – and they got their way, thankfully, because the fairies bouncing off each other’s personalities gives the movie some comedy! Flora, who wears red, is the bossy one, the leader of the group, even though she may not be the smartest or have the best ideas. Flora is voiced by veteran Disney voice artist Verna Felton, who had worked on numerous Disney movies, even by this point, such as being the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland (1951) and the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella (1950). Some have alleged that Verna Felton also provides the voice for Queen Leah, Aurora’s mother, however, it has since been pointed out to me that the voice artist for Queen Leah remains unknown, as there are no specific records detailing who this actually was.

Fauna, the green one, is the sweet but ditzy fairy! Apparently, Fauna was based on a woman that Frank Thomas met in Colorado, who was sweet but not “quite all there”. She is funny because she makes lots of mistakes, and doesn’t seem to fully understand what’s going on all the times. Her silliness is apparent during her baking scene, when she has to ask what a “tsp” is and literally folds whole eggs into her batter! Fauna is voiced by Barbara Jo Allen, who portrayed Vera Vague on radio around this time. She would also voice the Scullery Maid in Disney’s Sword in the Stone in 1963.

Finally, we have Merryweather, in blue, who is the feisty one who always speaks her mind. Merryweather is voiced by Barbara Luddy, who also had a long history with Disney voice acting, starting with Lady in Lady and the Tramp (1955), in the movie before Sleeping Beauty. Merryweather is quite the contrast to the proper and posh Lady! She is probably my favourite of the three but I like them all together. I do agree with Merryweather though about making Aurora’s dress blue instead of pink. I used to think that her pink dress was great, but one day, I realised that blue looks so much better with Aurora’s blonde hair, and she also ends up blending into the pink floor in the final scene of the film in the Great Hall…

For the last of the characters, we have King Stefan and King Hubert, kings of neighbouring kingdoms who seem to have forged a strong friendship. They only have a couple of scenes together, but the main one, where they are talking over a banquet, the “Skumps” drinking scene, is very funny, and was used to liven up the film a bit as it isn’t the most humorous of Disney movies. The two have a bit of a pointless argument, which escalates to petty insults, a lacklustre declaration of war, and a sword fight with a fish, but they see the silliness of their actions and quickly move on! It was animated by John Lounsbery, with the lute-playing minstrel being animated by John Sibley to add some slapstick humour to the scene[5]. King Stefan is generally calmer than King Hubert, more softly-spoken whereas King Hubert is bolder, yet mostly jolly. King Hubert is voiced by Bill Thompson, who is another cast member in Sleeping Beauty who had a history with Disney! Thompson voiced characters such as Mr. Smee in Peter Pan (1953), the White Rabbit and Dodo in Alice in Wonderland (1951), and various voices, including Jock, in Lady and the Tramp (1955). The part of King Stefan seemed at one point to have gone to Hans Conried, the voice of Captain Hook in Peter Pan (1953) as his voice features in a deleted song, but actually went to Taylor Holmes, who had roles in movies such as Mr. Esmond Sr. in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), and as Ebenezer Scrooge in the Vincent Price-narrated 1949 television version of A Christmas Carol. Taylor Holmes died eight months after the release of Sleeping Beauty.

PRODUCTION

Production on Sleeping Beauty was advertised as being six years in the making, but in actual fact, work on the story began as early as 1951, meaning that the movie took almost a whole decade to make. As other Disney films of the 1940s and 1950s had been either “hit or miss”, Walt Disney wanted to go back to his fairytale roots, especially as Cinderella (1950) had boosted the studios financially and showed Disney were back at their best post-war. Walt wanted Sleeping Beauty to be similar to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Cinderella (1950) in terms of story, but wanted the imagery to be unique and beautiful.

Even though work on Sleeping Beauty’s storyline began in 1951, work on the movie took a while to progress as the Disney Studios were incredibly busy in the 1950s, with numerous live-action films in the making, as well as three television series, and the construction of Disneyland theme park. The story was also problematic as the original Charles Perrault tale that Disney used as the basis of the film was only a few paragraphs long, and Walt did not want the story to be fleshed out with elements like gags, that had been featured in Snow White, or subplots like in Cinderella. By 1952, the storyboard was well-refined enough and the movie ended up being pretty much exactly as was storyboarded at this time[6].

The earliest recorded version of Sleeping Beauty as a fairytale is from the 14^th Century, where it was called Perceforest. There was then an Italian version written in 1634 by Giambattista Basile, called The Sun, the Moon and Talia. The tale got to Charles Perrault who published La Belle au Bois Dormant in 1697, which is the most well-known version of the fairytale, and the one that Disney used as a loose basis. But the differences are that Perrault’s tale has the curse go on for 100 years, whereas the Disney film takes place over one night, and the prince just being in the room, without a kiss, is enough to wake her, but the Disney film talks of “true love’s kiss”. There is also an additional part to Perrault’s tale after the awakening where the prince’s ogre mother tries to eat the new bride and their children. Gross. Perrault’s fairytale was updated by Brothers Grimm in 1812 under the name Little Briar Rose. Then, the Grimm’s version was adapted for Russian ballet, scored by Tchaikovsky, called The Sleeping Beauty. The ballet also uses the idea of the 100-year curse, but nowadays has a kiss to awaken Aurora. There are multiple good fairies in the ballet, but only one helps the curse be broken, the Lilac Fairy, and Maleficent is sometimes known as Carabosse[7].

In terms of changes being made to the story, there were multiple different approaches and scenes that were cut from Sleeping Beauty during production. One of these was an alternate opening, which would have had similar dialogue to the final film and still have a storybook opening, but the song was different, a song called “Holiday Song”, which sounded more like a traditional Disney film song. It followed all the regular townspeople attending the christening, as we are told in the final film, all of high or low estate were invited. The final film doesn’t really show that, with everyone attending looking to be quite noble and majestic, but this type of song wouldn’t have fit with the artistic choice of the final film. Other songs of this type were also cut, such as “It Happens I Have A Picture”, where the two kings sang of their children’s virtues. This is where Hans Conried can be heard auditioning for King Stefan, along with Bill Thompson. This sounded similar to the final “Skumps” scene.

In the cottage when the fairies are making the birthday cake and dress with magic, words were written to match the “Magical Cleaning” instrumental that is played in the scene to create the song, “Riddle Diddle”. I hated it; it was strange and must have been meant to resemble a spell with the magic words, but it takes away from the instrumental which is one of my favourites. Another close song to the final decision was “Go To Sleep”. It wasn’t as calming as the kept song but the tune was relatively similar, just slightly louder.

Some other deleted scenes include one of Aurora dressing as her maid servant to attend a nearby fair, as she has been kept inside the palace walls all her life to keep her away from Maleficent. Maleficent’s bird, in this version a talking vulture, who reminded me of Iago from Aladdin (1992), is told to follow Aurora and lead her to Maleficent. Maleficent disguises herself as a gypsy woman and tells Aurora she’ll meet a “tall, dark stranger”. She offers to give Aurora a gift of a spinning wheel but before she can, a “tall, dark stranger” comes in and leads Aurora away. Maleficent’s vulture is told to tell Maleficent when she is alone again, but he gets distracted and misses her. Another scene is of Aurora being cursed. In this case, she sees an old woman on a spinning wheel in the tower, and is told to make a wish on this woman’s wishing wheel. Aurora makes a wish to see her true love again, touches the spindle, and is cursed. Maleficent’s original arrival into the christening was going to be slightly different but not overly. She would’ve been referred to as “Mistress Maleficent” and is announced into the room, instead of appearing in a rush of wind and storm[8].

Once the story was decided, the artistic look for Sleeping Beauty then had to be confirmed. Walt Disney specifically chose artist Eyvind Earle to complete the concept art and backgrounds for the movie, as he had a stylised look in mind for the film. Earle particularly favoured gothic, pre-Renaissance and medieval styles of art, which was perfect to achieve Walt’s plan of a “moving tapestry”. Earle even got ideas for the art from Persian tapestries, as well as using ideas from the book Très Riches Heures by Duc de Berry. Despite this older art style, Earle managed to make the style feel contemporary. Earle was a hard-working, but quiet, man at the Disney Studios, where he began working in 1951, starting as an assistant background artist on the short The Little House (1952). He then moved on to working on the films of the 1950s, like Peter Pan (1953) and Lady and the Tramp (1955). Earle has said that he either painted or at least touched every background in Sleeping Beauty, where he taught his assistants how to recreate his exact style, including landscaping, like bushes and trees, and his method of painting in layers[9].

This very detailed, sophisticated approach, though, caused some clashes of ideas between the animators and Eyvind Earle. Because of the stylisation of the backgrounds, the animators were concerned that they would overtake their character animations. It also became an annoyance to them that they had to make their design choices fit in with Earle’s overall artistic choice for the film. One example of this is that Merryweather’s scene where she is doing a balletic-type dance whilst cleaning, where she seems to be floating, was “spoilt” in the animator’s mind by her having to have a black bodice, as it “anchored her to the ground” and made the scene work less well than envisaged[10]. Clean-up and Ink and Paint had to be meticulous to deliver the artistic results that Earle and Walt Disney wanted. This was not necessarily a problem, however on this specific movie, these processes were taking so long that by 1957, people were being taken off jobs in other departments and put on Sleeping Beauty. Disney animator Floyd Norman was one of those people, with his department being assigned clean-up of the three good fairies. He also reiterated that there was annoyance at Earle for having some ornate and complex backgrounds, with fears of them upstaging the characters[11].

But this wasn’t the only area that contributed to budget and time issues. Another was “Sequence 8”, which is the scene of Aurora in the woods, where she dances with Prince Phillip right up to the song “Once Upon a Dream”. Eric Larson, who animated characters such as Figaro in Pinocchio (1940) and Peg in Lady and the Tramp (1955) directed this sequence. It was the first scene that was worked on for the movie, but it took ages to complete. The animators wanted to prove they could make this look amazing, however, due to the precise drawings, only eight drawings on average were completed in a day, meaning that they only had one second of footage after three days – and this is a long sequence!

To make matters worse, when Walt first saw the sequence he thought it was dull and asked that more forest animals be included to liven it up. It had already cost $10,000 to complete. Because of the loss of budget control, Larson was removed from directing the sequence, something that he was irritated by as he had not been told they were going over budget. Luckily, the sequence is one of the most important and most beautiful, so although it caused some troubles financially, now it shows the artists’ talent[12].

MUSIC

Walt also wanted Sleeping Beauty to stand out from his other movies not just artistically, but musically as well. Originally, they tried some normal Broadway-type songs, such as “Holiday Song” and “It Happens I Have A Picture”, as I’ve mentioned, but it was decided these didn’t fit in with the stylised beauty of the production. The only original song to stay in was “Once Upon a Dream”, which is actually from the “Garland Waltz” within Tchaikovsky’s ballet. It was written by Sammy Fain and Jack Lawrence. Fain contributed to the scores of Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Peter Pan (1953) for Disney, and Lawrence had written “Never Smile at a Crocodile” for Peter Pan. “Once Upon a Dream” is the iconic song of the whole movie, appearing in the scene where Phillip and Aurora dance in the forest, as well as in the final scene when Aurora and Phillip dance in the hall after Aurora’s awakening. I love it, it’s a beautiful, romantic song, and I don’t even mind when the whispery choir comes in to finish it after hearing Mary Costa and Bill Shirley begin in!

Apart from this song, many viewers have found the remaining songs to be “forgettable”. I find “Hail to the Princess Aurora”, the opening song of the kingdom arriving at the coronation, to be less enjoyable, but it does resemble royal occasion music, so it works in that respect. I like the calming music of “The Gifts of Beauty and Song”, when Flora and Fauna bestow the two gifts on baby Aurora, and I also like “Sleeping Beauty”, when the fairies are putting the kingdom to sleep after Aurora is cursed, for the same reason. But I will admit, they aren’t particularly memorable if you’ve only watched the film once or twice. “I Wonder”, sung beautifully by Mary Costa when Aurora is walking through the forest, is a nice operatic tune, typical of Disney princesses singing with birds. I like it, but it’s hard to sing along to! The other song is called “Skumps (Drinking Song)”, which is a silly song to match one of the few comic scenes in the movie. It is “sung” by King Stefan and King Hubert as they await Aurora’s return to her home and are celebrating, but end up arguing instead.

But the major highlight of Sleeping Beauty’s music is its score. George Bruns, who was an in-house composer for Disney and went on to score multiple Disney animated films such as The Sword in the Stone (1963) and The Jungle Book (1967), was selected to compose the score for Sleeping Beauty, using Tchaikovsky’s original ballet score as a basis. Bruns said that it would’ve been easier for him to have composed a new score for Sleeping Beauty instead of having to use Tchaikovsky’s score, however, he did say that he had a lot of choice of melodies and motifs. Bruns conducted the Berlin Symphony Orchestra to record the score, with recording taking place in Germany from September to November 1958. It used state-of-the-art six channel stereo equipment. The score ended up being nominated for an Academy Award[13], losing to Porgy and Bess (1959), co-written by Ken Darby, who had worked for the Walt Disney Studios as a composer in the 1940s.

My favourite piece within the score is “Magical House Cleaning/Blue or Pink”, when the fairies are baking and sewing for Aurora’s birthday. It’s a lovely piece of music to accompany a fun scene; my sister and I used to watch that scene multiple times when we were younger. I also like “Awakening” as it’s a romantic tune for when Phillip kisses Aurora awake, and signifies hope returning to the kingdom after evil has been slayed, and “Battle with the Forces of Evil”, which plays during Phillip’s epic battle with Maleficent. But really, the whole score is nice, and for this reason a year or so ago, I decided to watch a version of the ballet The Sleeping Beauty on television and I loved it. It’s interesting to see where the pieces I know from the Disney score actually fit within the ballet. For example, when Aurora touches the spindle and falls asleep in the ballet, Disney uses this melody for the scene where the fairies go to their cottage to find Phillip before Maleficent. When Maleficent first appears at the christening of Aurora in the ballet, this music appears in the film as “Forbidden Mountain”, when the fairies go to Maleficent’s lair to rescue Phillip. Strangely enough, the music Disney used in their film for when Aurora is led by Maleficent to touch the spindle is the same music as the White Cat and Puss-in-Boots dance in the ballet; they are wedding guests of Princess Aurora and her Prince.

RECEPTION

Sleeping Beauty was released on 29^th January 1959 in Technirama 70. The movie was released alongside the roughly thirty-minute theatrical short Grand Canyon, which was a live-action documentary, showing imagery and photos of the Grand Canyon, set to Ferde Grofé’s “Grand Canyon Suite”. It ended up winning the Academy Award in 1959 for Best Short Subject.

Multiple Disney productions were released to promote Sleeping Beauty before its release, such as The Peter Tchaikovsky Story, which was an episode of the television series Walt Disney Presents, released in 1959. It begins with Walt discussing Sleeping Beauty and all its advancements in sound and format, mentioning Technirama 70. He says that Sleeping Beauty took six years and $6 million to make. Walt then mentions that the team were inspired by Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty ballet when making the film. The episode then goes into a live-action dramatized version of Tchaikovsky’s life, from childhood to him writing The Sleeping Beauty. This section would later be released as a standalone programme. After this, Walt shows the first images and clips of Sleeping Beauty, including the sequence of Aurora and Phillip in the forest[14]. Another promotional television programme, this time for Disneyland on ABC, was called Four Artists Paint One Tree, broadcast in 1958. It was about how artists have different ways of showing or drawing the same image, but it showed a few images from Sleeping Beauty, including designs of Aurora, and the backgrounds by Eyvind Earle[15].

Despite these promotional activities, the reviews for Sleeping Beauty were not great, though many critics did appreciate the artistic quality and the use of Tchaikovsky’s original ballet score in Disney’s own score. However, it was considered to be less heartfelt and touching than Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), with some even claiming that Sleeping Beauty and its characters were simply a carbon-copy of all those in Snow White, which I feel is unfair. Some also found the lack of memorable songs disappointing.

The biggest issue was just how much Sleeping Beauty cost to make, as it did not recoup its costs in its initial run despite a relatively successful box-office result. This led to Walt Disney taking much less of an interest in his animated movies for a while, deciding instead to focus on other pursuits. However, Sleeping Beauty is now considered a financially successful movie for Disney, after numerous re-releases and home releases, becoming the second most successful film of 1959, with the top one being Ben-Hur (1959)[16].

LEGACY

Sleeping Beauty was a driving force behind the sudden obsession, as I’d call it, of Disney making live-action remakes of their animated films, as it led to the release of the 2014 movie, Maleficent, though this one is slightly different to some of the later remakes, as it tells the story of Sleeping Beauty from Maleficent’s point of view, with her being given a backstory around being betrayed by her love, Stefan. Angelina Jolie was chosen to portray the evil Maleficent. Though the film received mixed reviews, it did well financially, and led to a sequel, titled Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019). A third film is said to be in early development currently. I have not watched either, and will not, because I don’t want Maleficent to become weak in my eyes with a sad childhood love story.

Also in the movie world, Maleficent’s daughter, Mal, is the main figure in the Disney Channel Original Film Series, Descendants (2015-present), which spanned a total of three films, three short films, an animated spin-off television series, multiple novels, and potentially two further spin-offs. Maleficent features in the first Descendants film, but is only mentioned in the remaining two, after Mal turns her mother from a dragon into a lizard, which she keeps as a pet. It’s a clever series, and one I don’t mind watching, because it feels completely separate from the Disney franchises as it is a fairly comedic take on the characters. Maleficent is portrayed by Kristin Chenoweth, known for originating the role of Glinda in the musical Wicked, amongst numerous other screen roles, with Mal being played by Dove Cameron, who starred in the Disney Channel television series Liv & Maddie (2013-17) and has recently had starring roles on stage as well as beginning a promising singing career.

Characters from Sleeping Beauty have also appeared in Disney video games, such as Kingdom Hearts (2002-present) and Disney Infinity (2014-2016). The three good fairies had a recurring role in the Disney Junior television series Sofia the First (2012-2018).

But the Disney Parks is where Sleeping Beauty has had more impact, with her castle being the symbol for both Disneyland and Disneyland Paris. Sleeping Beauty Castle was also the focal point for Hong Kong Disneyland, which looked similar to Disneyland’s one. It only lasted from 2005 until 1^st January 2018 when the castle was closed for a redesign for the park’s 15^th anniversary, reopening in November 2020 as Castle of Magical Dreams.

Herb Ryman was tasked with creating a visual concept of Disneyland in 1953, with Walt wanting a castle to be the symbol of the whole place. Ryman was inspired by Neuschwanstein castle in Germany; he could not have used the movie as inspiration as that would not be released for another six years. Walt wanted the castle to have a blue roof to make it look taller, as the castle is only 77 feet tall. This feature would be used on all other Disney castles, with every Disney Park getting a castle to be the visual beacon of the area[17].

Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland opened with the park on 17^th July 1955, and is one of the rare occasions when a Disney Park opened an attraction based on a film that has not yet been released. It wasn’t originally designed to be Sleeping Beauty’s castle, with it being referred to as “The Medieval Castle”, “Fantasyland Castle” and even “Robin Hood Castle”, to tie-in with the live-action Disney film, during early planning stages. Walt designed referred to the castle on his television show in December 1954 as “Snow White’s Castle”.

But on opening day, it was named Sleeping Beauty Castle, with the space inside completely empty, with no plans to become an attraction. That didn’t stop some curious guests from managing to get inside the castle through an unlocked door on opening door and sitting on the balcony though! It soon became clear that guests wanted to go inside the castle so Walt Disney asked Ken Anderson to come with him inside the castle to see what they could do with the space. They were not aware that the castle was full of about a hundred feral cats, who had left fleas everywhere! In the end, the cats were cleaned up and rehomed, despite “quicker options” being available to remove them. Disneyland’s castle became such an icon that the silhouette of it became the logo of many divisions of the Walt Disney Company, including its movie division.

The internal area was official dedicated by actress and child star Shirley Temple as the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough attraction on 29^th April 1957, complete with a 25-cent booklet available to purchase at the end of the experience to tell the story of the still-unreleased Sleeping Beauty film[18]. This walkthrough consisted of storybooks, telling the guests parts of the story, with dioramas representing some of the movie’s scenes, using special effects such as Pepper’s Ghost. The dioramas displayed were: spinning wheels being burnt; the fairies bestowing gifts on Aurora; Aurora being cursed; the kingdom being sent to sleep and Aurora asleep. Then there was an interactive part where guests could peep through keyholes and see goons staring back at them. These were soon removed as they blocked traffic as guests waited to try them out, causing queuing on the stairways. Then there was a scene of Maleficent summoning her goons, which did not end up in the film, as well as a bottomless pit, and a scene of Maleficent celebrating her curse. The final scene of course shows the final kiss, but just as guests went to go down the stairs to leave the attraction, a silhouette of Maleficent would pop out from the shadows and laugh. This scared guests and stopped them moving, so this feature only lasted a month before being removed. Concept art from Eyvind Earle was used for this attraction to match the styling to the movie.

As the walkthrough was developed before the release of Sleeping Beauty in 1959, many guests starting questioning the dioramas as they did not follow the plot of the movie after its release. In 1977, the walkthrough was redesigned, with miniature sculptures being used, resembling the window displays on Main Street, U.S.A. It also followed the movie more closely. In October 2001, the walkthrough was closed, with some speculating that this was due to safety concerns after the September 11^th attacks. This was apparently not the case but actually due to much needed maintenance on the castle and the declining popularity of the attraction[19]. Finally, in November 2008, the walkthrough was reopened after a further redesign, with this version looking back at the designs of the original walkthrough from 1957 for style inspiration. The storybooks and diorama scenes are still included but follow the film closely, unlike 1957’s version. They also are enhanced with special-effects.

At Disneyland Paris, the opening of that park showed their icon, Sleeping Beauty Castle, or in French, Le Château de la Bella au Bois Dormant. It is the most fantastical in appearance, but is the most similar to the castle that appears in the movie, even having square topiary trees around it, matching the artistic style of Eyvind Earle in the film. The Imagineers were also influenced by Mont St. Michel in France. The castle is 148 feet tall[20]. This is supposedly a favoured Disney Park castle by many. I disagree as I feel it looks a bit tacky, with the pink paint and gold trim being a bit garish, but I agree that it is better than Disneyland’s tiny castle, but not as good as Cinderella Castle!

The castle also features a walkthrough attraction titled La Galerie de la Belle au Bois Dormant, or Sleeping Beauty Gallery, which details the movie’s story through huge ornate tapestries and stained-glass windows. It was beautiful inside that gallery, and I really enjoyed seeing it when I last went to Disneyland Paris. Maleficent in her dragon form can also be found as an audio-animatronic being moody and blowing smoke at you in La Tanière du Dragon, or The Lair of the Dragon. This is located beneath the castle in the “dungeons”. Both these attractions opened with the park and castle on 12^th April 1992.

Princess Aurora can be found as a meet-and-greet character in multiple locations in the Disney Parks. At Walt Disney World, for example, she can sometimes be found at Princess Fairytale Hall and the character dining experience, Cinderella’s Royal Table, in Magic Kingdom, and at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall character dining meal in Epcot as well as in the France pavilion of World Showcase. An interesting fact about Cinderella’s Royal Table is that the restaurant was originally named King Stefan’s Banquet Hall, from its opening in 1971 to 1997, despite Walt Disney World’s iconic castle being named after Cinderella and not Aurora. It was a confusion that bothered guests so much that it led to the name being changed, only 26 years later!

At Disneyland Paris, Aurora may be available for photos at the Princess Pavilion. At Disneyland, she may be seen at Royal Hall in Fantasy Faire in Fantasyland. At Shanghai Disneyland, Aurora may be found at Storybook Court, within the castle grounds or at Royal Banquet Hall, the castle’s dining area. There is a restaurant called Aurora at the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel. It is a fine dining restaurant with views of Shanghai’s impressive Enchanted Storybook Castle. At Hong Kong Disneyland, Aurora may be one of the characters around at Royal Banquet Hall, the castle restaurant, or in and around the castle. At Tokyo Disneyland, Princess Aurora is likely to be around the castle at some point.

Prince Phillip and Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather are most likely to only be available for meet-and-greets at certain special events, however, they do all feature in Walt Disney World’s Festival of Fantasy parade in Magic Kingdom, along with dragon Maleficent. This specially designed float actually caught fire back in 2018, and was out of action for a while, before returning in 2019. Maleficent can also be found in her dragon form at Fantasmic! in Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World, where she appears in more of a puppet-form. At Disneyland, there used to be a very impressive animatronic Maleficent dragon which debuted around 2009 in the show. Unfortunately, in April 2023, the Maleficent dragon caught on fire, destroying it entirely. Fantasmic! at Disneyland has since been suspended until Spring 2024, where it will likely return without a replacement dragon. Maleficent in human form is likely to be available for meet-and-greets around Halloween, and feature in parades, but may also appear at special events, or even randomly.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Sleeping Beauty may have had a difficult history, but it deserves to be remembered for its romance, charming characters, enchanting score, and brilliant Disney story-telling. Its characters are frequently featured in Disney Parks and in other Disney media products. Their popularity has lasted a long time, and it remains one of the most popular franchises, with Princess Aurora being one of the signature Disney Princesses.

So, stop reading so much into Sleeping Beauty, and all this talk of Aurora being “passive”, and enjoy the film for what it is: an artistic masterpiece from Disney Animation that has not been equalled since.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Jim Fanning, ’11 Royal Facts You Might Not Know About Sleeping Beauty’, D23.com, 24^th January 2019.

[2] Credit: Jim Fanning, The Disney Book: A Celebration of the World of Disney (2016), ‘The Secret Princess’, p. 57.

[3] Credit: Disney, Once Upon A Dream: The Making of Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty (1997).

[4] Credit: Anna Tims, ‘How we made Sleeping Beauty’, The Guardian (online), 17^th June 2014.

[5] Credit: Disney, “Picture Perfect: The Making of Sleeping Beauty”, from Sleeping Beauty (1959) 50^th Anniversary Platinum Edition 2-Disc DVD (2008).

[6] Credit: Disney, “Picture Perfect: The Making of Sleeping Beauty”, from Sleeping Beauty (1959) 50^th Anniversary Platinum Edition 2-Disc DVD (2008).

[7] Credit: Alex Reif, ‘From the Vault: The History of “Sleeping Beauty”, LaughingPlace.com, 6^th October 2014.

[8] Credit: Disney, “Alternate Opening” “Deleted Songs” “Deleted Scenes”, from Sleeping Beauty (1959) 50^th Anniversary Platinum Edition 2-Disc DVD (2008).

[9] Credit: “Eyvind Earle: The Man and His Art” from Sleeping Beauty (1959) 50^th Anniversary Platinum Edition 2-Disc DVD (2008).

[10] Credit: Disney, “Picture Perfect: The Making of Sleeping Beauty”, from Sleeping Beauty (1959) 50^th Anniversary Platinum Edition 2-Disc DVD (2008).

[11] Credit: Anna Tims, ‘How we made Sleeping Beauty’, The Guardian (online), 17^th June 2014.

[12] Credit: Disney, “Sequence 8 from Sleeping Beauty (1959) 50^th Anniversary Platinum Edition 2-Disc DVD (2008).

[13] Credit: Jim Fanning, ’11 Royal Facts You Might Not Know About Sleeping Beauty’, D23.com, 24^th January 2019.

[14] Credit: Disney, “The Peter Tchaikovsky Story” from Sleeping Beauty (1959) 50^th Anniversary Platinum Edition 2-Disc DVD (2008).

[15] Credit: Disney, “Four Artists Paint One Tree” from Sleeping Beauty (1959) 50^th Anniversary Platinum Edition 2-Disc DVD (2008).

[16] Credit: Disney, “Picture Perfect: The Making of Sleeping Beauty”, from Sleeping Beauty (1959) 50^th Anniversary Platinum Edition 2-Disc DVD (2008).

[17] Credit: Sophie Jo, ‘Once Upon a Dream: The History of Sleeping Beauty Castle’, The Walt Disney Family Museum Blog, 19^th December 2018.

[18] Credit: Wade Sampson, ‘A Walk Inside Sleeping Beauty Castle’, MousePlanet.com, 23^rd July 2008.

[19] Credit: Disney, “Original Disneyland Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough Attraction”, from Sleeping Beauty (1959) 50^th Anniversary Platinum Edition 2-Disc DVD (2008).

[20] Credit: Jim Fanning, The Disney Book: A Celebration of the World of Disney (2016), ‘Castle of Dreams’, p.180.

11th Aug 202327th Jun 2024 by The Disney Purist

#8 Make Mine Music (1946)

BACKGROUND

Make Mine Music was the first Disney animated feature to be released after World War II.

The war and the 1941 animators’ strike had caused numerous problems for Walt Disney and the Disney Studios, however, even after the war had ended, the Disney Studios were still struggling financially, and with European markets closed off to them as a direct result of wartime relations, a new direction was needed to get the Disney Studios back up and running, therefore, it was decided that a “package feature” was their best option.

Disney had released a few “package features” previously, with the formula of Fantasia (1940) being used, although not in quite the same way. The Disney “package features” that followed Fantasia, beginning with Saludos Amigos (1942), were cheaper to make than Fantasia, and more “needs-must”. Fantasia was developed as an experiment into how far animation could go. It was devised as a proper concert, something that would be an event, an occasion, more sophisticated than just going to see a movie. The “package features” that followed were not that.

A “package feature” is basically multiple segments of varying length, with a vague connection, being bundled together to make a full-length feature. Make Mine Music was the third of these to be released after Fantasia, and comprises ten separate sequences.

These ten sections are:

“The Martins and the Coys”
“Blue Bayou”
“All the Cats Join In”
“Without You”
“Casey at the Bat”
“Two Silhouettes”
“Peter and the Wolf”
“After You’ve Gone”
“Johnnie Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet”
“The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met”

I wouldn’t be surprised if you have not heard of Make Mine Music as it’s not particularly celebrated. It’s one of those animated features that has been mostly forgotten, at least in its entirety; some of these shorts were released separately or shown on television, so it is possible that Disney fans may be familiar with some of the movie, if not all of it.

I’d only watched it once before this week, a few years back when I was on a quest to watch all the Disney Animated Classics. I didn’t like it much then, and watching it again this week, I had similar feelings; it wasn’t very entertaining for me, though I did like some of the shorts, but others were just boring. The film is only 75 minutes long, but at times it felt longer, almost like it would never end!

STORY #1: THE MARTINS AND THE COYS

Make Mine Music begins with the standard Opening Credits, which uses the outside of a concert hall at night as the location, with the written credits appearing on posters. It then shows a theatre programme, calling the film “A Musical Fantasy”. This programme is used to introduce the upcoming ten shorts, detailing the style or genre, its musical accompaniment, and the title. The opening song, “Make Mine Music” was written by Ken Darby, who went on to collaborate on the music, alongside Alfred Newman, for films such as South Pacific (1958), The King and I (1956), and Camelot (1967), and Eliot Daniel, who wrote the theme from I Love Lucy (1951-1957). The opening song was performed by the Disney Studio Chorus.

First up is “The Martins and the Coys”, though I keep wanting to say “The Martins and the McCoys” for some reason. Maybe because the whole story idea was based on The Hatfield-McCoy feud; two warring families, one from West Virginia, the other Kentucky, which went on from 1863 to 1891, because of events during the American Civil War. “The Martins and the Coys” is described as a “rustic ballad”, and it does follow two feuding families, who live in the mountains, with them living directly opposite each other, with only a small valley and stream separating the two sides. Basically, the two sides shoot at each other for days, killing all but one family member each. They then go up and sit on the clouds as ghosts and watch over the remaining relatives. Weird.

The last two family members, Grace Martin and Henry Coy, set out to destroy each other, but end up falling in love, thus ending the feud and angering their ancestors. However, the married couple keep on fighting, as couples do, so the feud is not actually over! The narrative song is performed by The King’s Men group and was written by Al Cameron and Ted Weems. This isn’t my favourite of the shorts, and the only thing I came out of it thinking was that Grace Martin looked a lot like Katrina Van Tassel in the Sleepy Hollow section of The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949). It had a country-feel to it, in terms of both the animation and the music, so I guess it was a success in creating the right mood.

STORY #2: BLUE BAYOU

Next is “Blue Bayou”. It follows two egrets flying through the Everglades with the moonlight shining on them. It’s quite a basic idea, though the animation is quite magical, and the music is gentle and calming. It’s a bit of a contrast to “The Martins and the Coys”! The song was written by Bobby Worth and Ray Gilbert, who had both worked with Disney before. Worth contributed songs to Fun and Fancy Free (1947) and Melody Time (1948), the two subsequent “package features”, and Gilbert wrote the lyrics to the Oscar-winning song “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” from Disney’s “banned” film Song of the South (1946). The song was performed by The Ken Darby Singers, Ken Darby’s choral group. I quite like this segment, though it probably helped that it was one of the shorter ones in the film. The animated sequence was originally intended to accompany Debussy’s Clair de Lune in Fantasia (1940); I would’ve liked to have seen that version[1].

STORY #3: ALL THE CATS JOIN IN

Following that is the “jazz interlude”, as it is introduced, called “All the Cats Join In”. The story is simple, a group of young boys and girls head over to the local malt shop to dance, eat ice cream, and drink soda. Much of the animation for this short is “hand-drawn” by an animated pencil in front of your eyes, which is quite an interesting look for the segment. The musical accompaniment was written by Alec Wilder, who had written songs for artists such as Frank Sinatra and Peggy Lee, and Ray Gilbert. It was performed by Benny Goodman and his orchestra. Benny Goodman was a popular bandleader during the 1930s and 40s, with him even being known as the “King of Swing”. The singers are The Pied Pipers, a singing group formed in the 1930s. Again, I like this sequence. The music is catchy and the animation is clever. The only strange part for me was when the girl at the start of the piece is getting ready to go out, showering and dressing, with Disney actually animating her stepping out of the shower and into her underwear; it was surprisingly risqué for a Disney movie!

STORY #4: WITHOUT YOU

Then, there is “Without You”, described in the “programme” as “a ballad in blue”. It certainly is that, with the song recounting a tale of lost love. The animation is more abstract, so if it weren’t for the song, it would just be a story about being depressed! It begins looking through a window on a rainy day, before looking at the night sky, some park landscapes, and then back into the room. It’s a bit strange and definitely melancholy, with the first part of the short mostly using colours like blue and grey, before moving into light pink and purple, which suggested the sun coming up and a new day starting, but I don’t really know to be honest. It wasn’t easy to follow, and I didn’t like the animation, though I liked the song, even though it is sad. The song was written by Ray Gilbert, and performed by Andy Russell, known for being one of the most popular “crooners” at the time in the US. He was bilingual, so performed songs in both Spanish and English, having hits with “Bésame Mucho” and “What a Diff’rence a Day Made”.

STORY #5: CASEY AT THE BAT

“Casey at the Bat” is the fifth short in the film, with it being a musical recitation of the 1888 Ernest Thayer poem of the same name. Casey is a popular baseball player who believes his own publicity. So much so, that when it comes down to him being the final batter, and needing to win the game for his team, he arrogantly ignores the first two pitches, thinking he’ll easily get a good swing on the third and final pitch, but instead, he strikes out and angers the crowd, losing the game for his team and town. Entertainer Jerry Colonna provides the narration for the short. Colonna’s voice will sound familiar to Disney fans as he would go on to voice the March Hare in Disney’s Alice in Wonderland (1951).

STORY #6: TWO SILHOUETTES

Next is “Two Silhouettes”, which is literally two silhouettes of ballet dancers. Two little cupids join in with the dance at times, such as lifting the prima ballerina up onto the “clouds” to dance a solo. David Lichine and Tatiana Riabouchinska are the two ballet dancers featured in the short. They had previously served as the dance models for Ben Ali Gator and Hyacinth Hippo in the “Dance of the Hours” sequence for Disney’s Fantasia (1940). Their dance was rotoscoped, meaning that their live-action movements were traced over frame-by-frame to turn them into animation. The song was written by Charles Wolcott, who wrote music for many Disney shorts and films, such as Saludos Amigos (1942) and The Three Caballeros (1944), and performed by Dinah Shore, a popular singer of the “Big Band” era. I personally didn’t like this short much at all, even though I like ballet, because I felt like the dance was basic and not very entertaining. I didn’t like the song either, but at least it was another short segment.

STORY #7: PETER AND THE WOLF

Then, there is an animated sequence of “Peter and the Wolf”, using Prokofiev’s musical composition of 1936. It is narrated by Sterling Holloway, Disney’s original voice of Winnie the Pooh, who begins by explaining that each character we will see in the short is represented by a different instrument, i.e., Peter by strings; the cat, Ivan, by clarinet; the bird, Sascha, by flute; the duck, Sonia, by oboe; and the Wolf by horns and cymbals. The story states that Peter wanted to go into the woods to capture the wolf that terrorises their town. His grandfather tells him to stay inside, but he disobeys, armed with only a toy gun. The animals, Sonia, Ivan, and Sascha, come to help Peter. They find the wolf, only for Peter to realise that his gun won’t do anything to it. Sonia is presumed killed in the chaos as they all try to run up a tree to protect themselves from the wolf.

Sascha tries to distract the wolf but almost gets eaten itself. Somehow, Peter and Ivan manage to ensnare the wolf’s tail in a rope and hoist it up into the tree to tie it to the branch. The town hunters come by shortly after to capture the wolf, but seeing that Peter has already managed to do this, they bring the wolf back to town and celebrate Peter’s heroism. A surprise ending also shows that Sonia is in fact alive and was not killed by the wolf after all. This short is perhaps the most well-known of the ten that feature in Make Mine Music, and for many a highlight of the film, but I didn’t enjoy it so much. It felt the most like traditional Disney storytelling, but the animation wasn’t for me, though I liked the music.

STORY #8: AFTER YOU’VE GONE

Next, there is another strange animated sequence, this time featuring anthropomorphised musical instruments, like a clarinet, double bass, and piano, each meant to represent one of the Goodman Quartet and Benny Goodman himself, who perform the music. The instruments are running around on different abstract shapes and landscapes; at one point, the clarinet and double bass seem to be about to wrestle or box. I don’t know; it was odd and I didn’t like it! But again, it was short, less than three minutes long, so it wasn’t difficult to sit through. The jazz music was quite nice, and is an upbeat version of the 1918 song “After You’ve Gone”, written by Turner Layton and Henry Creamer.

STORY #9: JOHNNIE FEDORA AND ALICE BLUEBONNET

Second to last is “Johnnie Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet”. It is a tale of two hats who fall in love whilst sitting in a window of a department store. However, one day, Alice Bluebonnet is bought, and later so is Johnnie Fedora. This sequence follows Johnnie as he spends his life trying to find Alice again. At one point, he sees her in the city, but as he tries to follow her, he becomes battered and lost on the streets. When all looks lost, and it seems that Johnnie is about to be washed down into a sewer, he is rescued, with two holes being cut into him, so that he can fit on this man’s horse. It would seem bad, however, sitting on the top of the next horse is Alice; the two are finally reunited. The musical narration is provided by The Andrews Sisters, a close harmony singing group, who had hits with songs such as “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” in 1941. The song was written by Ray Gilbert and Allie Wrubel. Wrubel collaborated with Ray Gilbert on the song, “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah”. Some reviews said that they found this short silly, but I liked it and thought it was sweet.

STORY #10: THE WHALE WHO WANTED TO SING AT THE MET

Finally, the grand finale, “The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met”, an “opera pathetique”. The story goes that a whale has been spotted singing in the ocean. Many experts try to disprove the phenomenon, or figure out how it may be possible. One man, Tetti-Tatti, believes that the whale must have swallowed an opera singer and sets out to “rescue” him. The whale, named Willie, who really can sing and is desperate to be discovered, swims right up to Tetti-Tatti, who tries to shoot him with a harpoon, believing that due to Willie’s impressive range of voices he must have swallowed three singers. It seems that Tetti-Tatti has realised that he is just an impressive whale, and takes him to the Met, where he performs opera in front of mesmerised crowds who adore him.

However, this was all just a dream, and we return to the ocean where Tetti-Tatti succeeds in shooting poor Willie, who unsurprisingly dies from his wounds. The Narrator tries to encourage us by saying that Willie is now singing in Heaven, where one of the final shots shows a “Sold Out” sign on the Pearly Gates, proving that Willie did still get his dream. That does little to take away from the fact that that is quite a dark ending to a Disney movie, especially one that didn’t seem to be heading that way, with its unconnected, mostly harmless short cartoons! It was quite a good story up until that point, but I guess having a whale sing at the Met would’ve come with numerous challenges, so we actually ended up with the most realistic ending for a change!

Anyway, all the voices, including the singing, in this short are provided by Nelson Eddy, who had performed in numerous operas, including those by Gilbert and Sullivan with the Savoy Company in the 1920s. He then appeared in movies, including eight starring alongside soprano singer Jeanette MacDonald, in the 1930s and 1940s. To perform as Willie the Whale and sing all the parts, including tenor and bass, as he was predominately a baritone, Eddy used home recording equipment to manipulate his voice to fit all the necessary registers. The short contains excerpts of multiple opera pieces, including “Largo al factotum” from The Barber of Seville. Walt Disney told reporters that the Disney Studios could not obtain the rights to use music from the opera I Pagliacci, leaving Eddy to write a “phony one himself, complete with sobs”[2].

PRODUCTION

After World War II, the Disney Studios did not bounce back instantly, unsurprisingly. Many staff members had been called up to the army to fight, the US had to recover from the impact of it, and foreign markets were still closed to Disney, with some European countries taking years to pick themselves up after the hardships of war. It was decided, because of this, that a new animated movie had to be quick and cheap to make, compared to Disney’s pre-war full-length features. A “package feature”, also called anthology features, omnibus features, or compilation features, was deemed the best medium for Disney to go with.

The idea for Make Mine Music was essentially based on Fantasia (1940), i.e., non-related animated sequences being set to music, with a loose narrative connecting them together. They had been working on the ideas for animations based on Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf”, as well as the story of “The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met”, but alone, they would not make a full feature, which is why other sequences were developed and assembled together to create Make Mine Music.

Walt Disney was still sensitive about some of the criticism he’d received after the release of Fantasia, namely that the use of classical music had been too “high-brow” for many audiences, and had therefore not worked for everyone. Based on this feedback, Walt Disney decided that for Make Mine Music they should use popular tunes instead, using well-known acts for the time to perform the songs, such as Benny Goodman, Dinah Shore, Nelson Eddy and the Andrews Sisters[3].

RECEPTION

Make Mine Music was released to theatres in the United States in August 1946. It received mixed reviews at best. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote in a review at the time that the movie contained a mixture of “delightful” subjects, with others being “ponderous and dull”. Reading his review, it seems like Crowther liked around half of the sequences, with “After You’ve Gone”, “All the Cats Join In”, “Casey at the Bat” and “The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met” being his preferred ones. Benny Goodman and his orchestra’s performances in “After You’ve Gone” and “All the Cats Join In” were the biggest highlight for Crowther. The other shorts were deemed to be confused and silly at times[4].

His review echoed the thoughts of many viewers back then, and his words still ring true today. It is near impossible for a movie containing so much diverse material and varying musical styles to have universal appeal; there will always be some who like certain aspects, and others who like a different one. As an example, my favourite short was actually “Johnnie Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet”, which many thought was silly, but I suppose I liked it for its musical theatre style of music and its romantic storyline, though I am aware it is about two hats falling in love, which is a bit odd! I did also like “Casey at the Bat” and “All the Cats Join In”, as many others did, however, I personally did not like the animation style in “Peter and the Wolf”, although appreciated the use of Prokofiev’s music, or “The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met”, which I just found weird and not amusing at all. But the good thing about a movie like this is that there is something for everyone – providing they have the willpower to sit through the whole movie to find it.

Make Mine Music was later entered into the 1946 Cannes Film Festival, which ran from 20^th September to 5^th October 1946, where it won the award for Best Animation Design. This was the first Cannes Film Festival to take place, though it could be considered a relaunch after the first attempt to put on the Festival in 1939 was halted because of the imminent outbreak of World War II, when German troops invaded Poland on 1^st September, the official start date of the event.

However, Make Mine Music’s triumph at the Cannes Film Festival did nothing to help the Disney Studios financially, nor did further releases of two more “package features” in the coming years do anything to help Walt Disney’s reputation, where he was thought to have lost his vision and direction, even being called “a hack filmmaker”. Luckily, the release of Cinderella (1950), a return to the magic of Disney animation and storytelling, would recover his reputation and the financial stability of the Disney Studios, with the movie becoming their biggest money-maker since before the war[5].

Many of the sequences from Make Mine Music were released separately on other Disney compilation and anthology releases, such as “Peter and the Wolf” and “The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met” featuring on the Walt Disney Mini Classic series and Favorite Stories Collection. The actual film was released on VHS and DVD in 2000 in the United States, however, the full sequence of “The Martins and the Coys” was removed from the movie for scenes of “comic gunplay”, along with “sexual imagery” from “All the Cats Join In”, which I can only assume is the scene of the girl getting dressed. The movie was released on Blu-Ray in 2021, but it was still the 2000 censored version of the film, disappointing some.

Luckily for me, I’m British and live in the UK so I have a copy of Make Mine Music on DVD from 2006, and it is the full version, not the same censored version that was released in the US six years earlier. I distinctly remember where I bought the DVD as well, from an HMV in Milton Keynes, in 2016. I’d been trying to watch all the Disney Animated Classics, and though I had the help of the streaming app Disney Life, basically the UK, and maybe other parts of Europe, version of Disney+ before that appeared, it must not have featured any of the six “package features” of the 1940s as I purchased all of them at that time.

But it’s a good thing I did, because Make Mine Music is actually the only feature within the official Disney Animated Classics list that is still not on Disney+. In 2021, Make Mine Music’s 75^th anniversary, a few people commented on this omission, trying to figure out why it is not there, and asking Disney to put it on the service. It is still not on the UK version of Disney+, as of the time of writing, so I can only assume it is not on the US Disney+ either.

Some thought it could have been due to offensive content within the movie. After all, “The Martins and the Coys” and parts of “All the Cats Join In” were removed from the US version of the film as far back as 2000. It could have suffered the same fate as Song of the South (1946) and been hidden away for all eternity, though Song of the South has never been re-released in any format, not even on home video, whereas Make Mine Music has.

It is also worth noting that many of Disney’s animated releases, such as Dumbo (1941) and Peter Pan (1953) are still featured on Disney+, despite their offensive content; a 10-second warning was added to the start of the movie as an alternative to removing it from the platform entirely[6]. Perhaps it’s a rights issue, maybe around some of the opera music in “The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met”, as Walt Disney even stated around the time of Make Mine Music’s release that they had not been granted the rights to use music from the opera I Pagliacci. All the shorts are available to watch online though, from what I can see, so there’s no need to miss out.

Basically, no-one knows, and this not knowing and wondering if or when it will come to Disney+ has apparently driven people crazy, or it had done in 2021; maybe they’ve all forgotten about it now! Even if it was on Disney+, these few people waiting for it might watch it once, realise it’s not as great as they thought, and never watch it again. It’s the rarity that’s making it so interesting – and I can say all this with a big smile on my face, knowing that my copy of Make Mine Music is sat neatly and comfortably in my alphabetised DVD cupboard. And people think I’m weird for still having DVDs – well, who’s laughing now?

LEGACY

Due to the style of movie that Make Mine Music is, it did not receive a sequel and it is highly unlikely that it will ever receive the “live-action” treatment from Disney. However, the short, “Casey at the Bat”, did get a sequel, another animated short entitled “Casey Bats Again” which premiered in June 1954. Shortly after Casey’s infamous strikeout, Casey finds that his wife is pregnant, and is excited to have a boy to teach how to play baseball. But, despite having a total of nine children, all of them end up being girls. Casey is dismayed. His friends tell him that his girls are just as good at baseball as he is, and so, Casey starts up a women’s baseball team, called “The Caseyettes”. Casey is concerned about his daughters losing a big game, so during the game, he goes in to bat, disguised as a girl, obviously, replacing his eldest daughter. As Casey is about to strike out again, his daughter comes up behind him and hits a home run, winning the game for everyone.

Make Mine Music’s short sequences were released separately and shown elsewhere after the movie’s initial release, with the only other movie that Make Mine Music helped create being the last “package feature” to be released during Walt’s lifetime: Music Land (1955). It was never released on home video, and only played in 1955, and once more at the 1970 Tribute to Walt Disney retrospective at the National Film Theater. Music Land (1955) is not the animated short of the same name, released in 1935 as part of the Silly Symphonies catalogue, but a film that took four segments from Make Mine Music and five from Melody Time, thrown together and released on 5^th October 1955. It was only made to satisfy Disney’s contract with RKO, who needed one more release under that contract before Disney could use their own distribution company, Buena Vista Distribution. From Make Mine Music, Music Land used the shorts: “All the Cats Join In”, “After You’ve Gone”, “Johnnie Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet” and “Casey at the Bat”[8].

Surprisingly, some of the Disney theme parks actually do feature references to some of the sections of Make Mine Music, with the biggest one being the quick-service baseball-themed restaurant, Casey’s Corner.

When Disneyland Paris opened in 1992, the location at the end of Main Street, which at Disneyland and Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom at the time was a Coca-Cola-sponsored location called Refreshment Corner, was instead named Casey’s Corner, and themed to both the 1888 poem “Casey at the Bat” by Ernest Thayer and the Disney short cartoon of the same name that features in Make Mine Music.

When Magic Kingdom’s northwest side of Main Street was renovated, Casey’s Corner was then brought to Walt Disney World, with the food location opening on 27^th May 1995. It is heavily baseball-themed, with signage shaped like baseballs, Cast Members wearing vintage baseball player costumers and umpire-style aprons, vintage baseball memorabilia throughout the area, as well as two fibreglass statues of baseball players outside the restaurant. Disneyland Paris’ Casey’s Corner has these same pieces of theming.

At Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, it used to have bleachers to sit on, with a screen running sports-themed Disney cartoons on a loop in front of the seating location. I remember it was always busy to sit inside there – it still is – but I think I managed to get a seat in their once or twice. In 2014, this area was removed and replaced with more traditional seating, with the outdoor seating being doubled. Casey’s Corner at both Disney Parks feature red and white chairs and table umbrellas, as well as vintage Coca-Cola light fixtures, to signify the locations’ Coca-Cola sponsorships[9].

Casey’s Corner serves traditional hot dogs and fries, with the Magic Kingdom spot also serving fan-favourite corn dog nuggets, amongst other typical baseball game-themed fare. They also have more premium hot dogs nowadays with interesting toppings. Casey’s Corner in Paris has less options, but does sell ice-creams. I have been to both; Casey’s Corner at Walt Disney World has much nicer hot dogs, but then it is in America and not France!

An added bonus to Walt Disney World’s Casey’s Corner is that a pianist is scheduled to perform just outside the restaurant daily, at various times throughout the day, playing a mixture of ragtime tunes, Disney classics, and may even take requests. Disneyland Paris used to have a pianist in this location, however, I cannot confirm if they still have one there.

At Disneyland, this food location, though in the same spot as Magic Kingdom’s and Disneyland Paris’, remains as Refreshment Corner. The other three Disney theme parks also do not have a Casey’s Corner.

A poster of Willie the Whale, singing in the opera I Pagliacci, can be seen in the queue area of Mickey’s PhilarMagic at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland, and at Disneyland California Adventure. It would seem that Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland, although having a version of Mickey’s PhilarMagic at their parks, do not seem to have this poster in their queue.

But, at Disneyland Paris, on the Storybook Land Canal Boats attraction, currently, as you go through the tunnel, Prokofiev’s music for “Peter and the Wolf” can be heard. Then a snow-covered miniature scene of the short can be seen on the left. However, in October 2023, it was announced that two new areas will be coming to this attraction in 2024, known as Le Pays des Contes de Fées in French. These are one for Frozen, and another for Winnie the Pooh. It would seem that the Frozen scene will likely replace the “Peter and the Wolf” scene.

Finally, a very brief scene, literally a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, from “After You’ve Gone”, with the anthropomorphised clarinet, can be seen during the Wonderful World of Animation nighttime show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort. It is almost at the very end of the show, within the compilation of scenes from various movies that follows the Encanto scene; it is on the righthand side of The Chinese Theater – in case anyone wants to find this scene one day!

FINAL THOUGHTS

Make Mine Music is not terrible or unwatchable; it’s just a bit boring in places, although certain scenes are relatively enjoyable. It also served a purpose: to keep the Disney Studios afloat, so that they could make “better” animated movies when staff numbers were back to normal, and when foreign markets were able to show Disney movies again.

Without Make Mine Music, and the other “package” features, it was possible that the Disney Studios may have gone bankrupt, and then the world would have been without so many iconic and beloved classic animated movies.

So, let’s all give thanks to the lacklustre, but very necessary, Make Mine Music.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Jim Korkis, The Vault of Walt Vol. 5 (2016), ‘The Disney Package Features’, pp. 65-73.

[2] Credit: Jim Korkis, The Vault of Walt Vol. 5 (2016), ‘The Disney Package Features’, pp. 65-73.

[3] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Walt Talks About the Disney Package Features’, MousePlanet.com, 2^nd December 2015.

[4] Credit: Bosley Crowther, ‘THE SCREEN IN REVIEW: ‘Make Mine Music!’ Animated Cartoon by Walt Disney, in Which Casey Once More Swings Bat, Arrives at Globe’, The New York Times (online), 22^nd April 1946.

[5] Credit: Jim Korkis, The Vault of Walt Vol. 5 (2016), ‘The Disney Package Features’, pp. 65-73.

[6] Credit: Josh Spiegel, ‘’Make Mine Music’ Turns 75 Today, But It’s The Only Disney Animated Film Not Streaming On Disney+’, SlashFilm.com, 20^th April 2021.

[7] Credit: Disney, “Bonus Features”, from Make Mine Music (1946) 1-Disc DVD (2006).

[8] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Walt Talks About the Disney Package Features’, MousePlanet.com, 2^nd December 2015.

[9] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: Casey’s Corner’, YourFirstVisit.net, date unknown.

4th Aug 202327th Jun 2024 by The Disney Purist

#44 Brother Bear (2003)

BACKGROUND

Brother Bear is another of Disney’s animated features that has been overlooked, underrated and/or forgotten.

The 2000s were not a great time for Disney animation; their famous, though costly, 2D, hand-drawn animation style was being overtaken by the new, modern computer-animated medium, with studios like DreamWorks and Pixar becoming more and more competitive, to the point that many of Disney’s animated releases of the 2000s, even now, pale in comparison to the releases of those other studios.

Brother Bear is considered by some Disney fans to be very underrated, but, like I said, due to that time frame, many people do not remember watching this film when it first came out, and therefore, do not feel the need to watch it now; it’s done, it’s gone, forget about it.

I did watch Brother Bear around the time it first came out. I can’t remember if my family watched at the cinema or not when it was first released, but I’m thinking we did. I didn’t like it when I first saw it. I was still in a phase of only liking the “princess fairytale films” at that time, and it just didn’t interest me. But at some point, probably about a decade later, I rewatched many Disney animated films that I previously hadn’t liked, and I was surprised to find that I did like Brother Bear quite a lot, particularly the music.

Another decade has since passed, and I like Brother Bear even more now. I love the story and find it to be very touching and emotional, with some parts reducing me to floods of tears! Many others would think it a good movie too, if they took the time to watch it, but more and more often, modern audiences would rather return to a Disney movie they are familiar with than go back to an older one and try to change their opinion of it.

Unfortunately, not only did Brother Bear not manage to capture the hearts of its viewers, but it also signalled the end of 2D animation, with this being the second to last one to be released – until a very brief revival between 2009 and 2011 – and the final Disney animated film to be made at the Disney Animation Feature Florida studio, which closed in 2004. Not exactly a legacy any movie wants to have.

PLOT

Brother Bear begins with an Inuit storyteller, translated by an invisible narrator, recounting the story of him and his two brothers, and how the everchanging lights in the sky are the spirits of their ancestors, who change and guide this world.

The movie then goes back to those three brothers: Kenai, the youngest, Denahi, the middle brother, and Sitka, the eldest. They all go to catch fish before Kenai’s big “coming-of-age” ceremony, where he will be given a totem by the shaman-woman, received from the Spirits. This totem will be shaped as an animal and provide whoever receives it with the core value that they should live their life by, and in doing so, they become an adult. Kenai, however, is so excited by his upcoming ceremony that instead of tying up the fish properly in a tree, to stop the bears eating it, he runs off, having tried and failed to tie the basket up.

At Kenai’s ceremony, he is bestowed with the Bear of Love totem, something that he doesn’t think is “manly enough” for him, even saying during the ceremony how he’d like to trade totems with someone else; sorry, Kenai, no trades allowed! Kenai is teased by Denahi about his totem, and on their arrival back at their camp, they realise that the fish have been eaten, and even their basket has been dragged off by a bear. Denahi blames Kenai for being stupid and not tying the fish up properly, saying it took him days to make that basket, so Kenai angrily grabs a spear and hunts for the bear to get Denahi’s basket back. The two brothers shortly go after him, to make sure he is safe. It’s a good thing they do, as Kenai finds the bear but is soon attacked by it, with Denahi and Sitka having to come to his rescue, though all of them are overwhelmed by the strength of the bear. Denahi and Kenai at one point become trapped in ice, with the bear heading straight for them. Sitka plunges a spear into the ice on the edge of the mountain, causing him and the bear to fall straight down to the river below. The bear survives, as do Kenai and Denahi, however, Sitka never resurfaces, having sacrificed himself to save his two younger brothers. Sitka is laid to rest, but Kenai decides that him and Denahi must kill the bear who caused Sitka’s death. Denahi doesn’t want to, telling Kenai he “doesn’t blame the bear”. Kenai angrily goes on alone, having also thrown his “stupid totem” away, which is picked up sadly by Tanana, the shaman-woman of the tribe. Denahi decides to follow him, to stop Kenai from making a big mistake.

Kenai tracks the bear to the top of a mountain where a fight ensues. As the bear lunges at Kenai, he stabs the bear with his spear. Denahi is lower down the mountain and only hears a bear roar, and a scream from Kenai, but rushes up to the top to see what has happened. At this point, a large beam of light appears before Kenai – it is the Great Spirits. Sitka appears, morphing from his spirit animal of an eagle into his human form, to show Kenai how disappointed he is by his choice to kill the bear. The Spirits transform Kenai into a bear, so he can learn from his error of judgement. Confused and dazed after his encounter, Kenai sees Denahi coming towards him, but thinks he’s still human, so it’s a shock to see Denahi go to attack him. Denahi thinks Kenai has been killed by the same bear that killed Sitka, not having seen his “transformation” into a bear. Kenai stumbles off the mountaintop, into the river below, and washes up on shore.

The next morning, he is visited by Tanana. Kenai is confused about what happened yesterday, but sees his reflection in the stream and finally realises that he is a bear. Naturally, he freaks out, and has to be calmed by Tanana, who tells him that Sitka must have done this for a reason, and that if he wants to be changed back, Kenai will have to go to the point where “the lights touch the earth” to discuss with Sitka. Tanana then leaves and Kenai is alone, with his thoughts – and the sounds of animals talking, which, obviously, he has not experienced before. He comes across two moose, and tries to explain that he is not a bear. The moose, Rutt and Tuke, think he’s crazy and run away from him. Then, Kenai gets himself caught in a bear trap, which is when he meets young cub, Koda, who tries to help him, but Kenai doesn’t want help. When Kenai’s plan to get down fails, Koda makes a deal with him – if he can get Kenai down from the trap, then he will take Koda to the salmon run. Kenai reluctantly agrees, not expecting Koda to be able to do it, but by simply pushing over the post in the ground, Kenai is released. Koda then sees a hunter – Denahi – and tells Kenai to run. They hide in an ice cave and wait for Denahi to leave. Kenai plans to go off on his own, breaking Koda’s deal, even though Koda tells him he has been separated from his mother. That is, until Koda tells him that the salmon run is right next to the point where “the lights touch the earth”. Kenai agrees to take Koda to the salmon run and they set off quickly.

Koda’s incessant talking irritates Kenai, but eventually, he starts to have a little bit of fun on their journey. They encounter the two moose brothers again, who tell them that their tracks will certainly lead the hunter to them all. But Kenai has an idea; they should all ride on woolly mammoths! One night, Koda tells Kenai all about the Spirits; it turns out humans and animals have both been told the same thing about them. Koda says that his grandparents are up there, and Kenai tells Koda that his brother, Sitka, is up there too. Koda looks up to the sky and thanks Sitka for Kenai, as Kenai said if Sitka wasn’t up there, he wouldn’t be here now; Koda always wanted a brother.

The next day, the two get off the mammoths to make the next turn to the salmon run, but Koda doesn’t exactly know which way to go, and the two argue. Koda walks off, and Kenai, feeling guilty, follows him to a cave, where they see paintings of man fighting bears. Koda tells Kenai that humans are scary, especially with those spears. Koda and Kenai set off again, with Koda recognising the area that they are in, which is handy, because the two rams they plan to ask for directions get distracted by their own echo while they’re talking to them… They just have to get over a lava pit and then they will be at the salmon run. Kenai gingerly starts to step across, with Koda way ahead, when they begin to be chased by Denahi again. Kenai sets off a geyser in Denahi’s face to distract and slow him down, so that the two bears can run ahead. They start to walk on a log, which Denahi tries to dislodge. Kenai throws Koda to safety before jumping across himself. The log falls, but the bears are safe, angering Denahi. He jumps across, hoping to make the great leap, but he doesn’t and falls to the river below, despite Kenai’s attempts to help him up to the ledge. Denahi lives though.

The two bears finally make it to the salmon run, but the number of bears there is overwhelming for Kenai. The other bears soon realise that Kenai doesn’t know how to do anything bears do, even catch fish, so they have to teach him. Koda finds that his mother is not yet there, but thinks she’ll turn up eventually. Kenai wants to leave to find the Spirits, but is convinced to stay. That evening it’s storytelling time, and this is where Koda gets to tell everyone the exciting story of how him and his mother where separated, as she protected him from hunters. Kenai quickly realises that the hunters were him and his brothers, so the bear must have been Koda’s mother. Koda thinks his mother is still alive as he saw her get out of the water, but Kenai knows that he later killed her. Consumed with guilt, he leaves the bears to figure out what to do. Koda soon finds him, and Kenai knows he has to tell Koda the truth. Koda is so upset that he runs away, right up into a tree, despite Kenai’s attempts to apologise. Kenai climbs the mountain and calls for Sitka. Denahi is lost and cold, but soon sees an eagle, who leads him up to the mountain, where Kenai is. Denahi starts to attack Kenai, with Koda coming to the rescue, after hearing how Rutt and Tuke, though they argue, would never want to be without their brother. Koda takes Denahi’s spear, and as Denahi looks like he’s going to hit Koda, the eagle returns, revealed to be Sitka, and turns Kenai back into a human, with his totem also being returned.

Koda is scared by this new turn of events, not sure who Kenai is. Denahi realises that the bear he has been tracking was in fact Kenai. The two reconcile, but Kenai realises that it is his responsibility to look after Koda now that he has been orphaned. Kenai asks Sitka to turn him back into a bear, with Denahi ok with this as he will always be his little brother, even saying that Kenai looks better as a bear! Koda is reunited with his mother’s spirit – albeit briefly – and is overjoyed to find Kenai a bear again. Sitka returns to the spirits, Denahi returns to his tribe, and Kenai and Koda go back to the forest. We then see that Kenai returns to the tribe, with Koda, for his final ceremony, where he gets to finally put his handprint – or bear print – up on the wall with all the others, because, as the Narrator tells us, this was a story of “a boy who became a man by becoming a bear”.

There is also a brief End Credits scene, where Koda informs the audience that no fish were harmed in the making of this film, shortly followed by a bear chasing a clearly distressed fish at the salmon run area!

CHARACTERS & CAST

Kenai is at the heart of this film, as it is his journey to becoming a man that we are following throughout the course of the story. He begins the story in a difficult place; he is the youngest of three brothers, where he is constantly teased by Denahi, and is desperate for his coming-of-age ceremony to begin so he can prove he’s more of a man than his brothers. He isn’t satisfied with his totem the Bear of Love, and when bears eat their fish, Kenai feels the only way to prove he’s a man is to kill them, despite his brothers’ protests. This doesn’t work and only results in the death of Sitka. Kenai then wants to avenge his brother’s death by killing the bear that caused his death, and because of his stubbornness and lack of understanding, he does this, but instead of feeling better, only feels guilty. Still, he’s not happy about being transformed into a bear as punishment and spends the first half of the movie being very moody about it, and rude to Koda, who is just trying to find someone to protect him as he’s lost his mother. Eventually, though, Kenai learns to be a brother to Koda, and even confesses to killing Koda’s mother, showing the guilt and shame he feels about it. The Spirits accept Kenai has learnt his lesson and change him back into a human, only for Kenai to ask to be turned back into a bear, to be a proper brother to Koda, showing that he is accepting responsibility for the young cub, and proving himself a man.

Because of the importance of Kenai within the story of Brother Bear, and the fact that he had to be both a flawed character, yet one capable of compassion and change, Disney were very careful in their casting of the role, auditioning over 100 actors for it. In the end, they felt that actor Joaquin Phoenix was a good fit, especially after seeing his performance in the film Gladiator (2000), where he played Commodus and was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards in 2001. He then won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as the Joker in Joker (2019) and will reprise the role in an upcoming sequel. It may seem a surprise that Disney hired Joaquin Phoenix to voice a role in their film, as Phoenix is known for playing quite dark characters, but Phoenix stated that he liked the character of Kenai, saying that he is flawed, and even unlikable at times, but that makes him very relatable as nobody is perfect. The animating team of Jim Jackson, who worked on Human Kenai, and Byron Howard, who drew Bear Kenai, thought Phoenix had great range when working with him on the character, and felt his performance enhanced the character design. Human Kenai was designed to already have a bear-like stance, basing his structure on the form of a standing bear. He was also given thick hair like a bear.

Sitka is the leader of the family, having received the totem the Eagle of Guidance. He is strong, masculine, and can speak to his brothers honestly and calmly, to keep them on the right path and to help them grow as people. Sitka is designed to be larger than both brothers to show his leadership quality. Sitka may not feature too much in the movie itself, but he makes a lot of difference to the story. By sacrificing himself to save Kenai and Denahi from the bear, he sets off a chain of events, where both brothers try to come to terms with his death, but in different ways. This then leads to Sitka making the decision, with the help of the Great Spirits, to turn Kenai into a bear to learn the error of his ways. Sitka, in his eagle form, arrives just in time at the end of the movie to give Denahi and Kenai a chance to reconcile with him, and to see the great transformation that Kenai has had, by making a brave, but necessary choice, proving the lesson was learnt. Sitka is voiced by D.B. Sweeney, who also voices Aladar in Disney’s Dinosaur (2000).

Denahi is the middle brother, given the Wolf of Wisdom totem, who transforms from being a fun-loving brother at the start of the movie, teasing Kenai and play-fighting him, into a tormented man, who thinks that one bear has caused the deaths of both of his brothers, living him lost and alone. I can see why he set out on a quest to destroy that bear – even though it was actually Kenai! Jason Raize, who originated the role of adult Simba in the Broadway musical of The Lion King, voices Denahi in his first and final film role. Raize sadly died in 2004 at the age of 28.

Denahi also appears at the start of the movie as an elder telling the story of him and his brothers to the children of his tribe, though it is not specifically stated that this is him. The narration is first spoken in Inuit, before being translated into English. The Inuit narration is provided by Oscar Kawagley, who was an anthropologist, actor, and Associate Professor of Education at the University of Alaska until his death in 2011. The English narration is provided by Harold Gould. Gould had many roles in both television and film, including as Miles Webber on The Golden Girls (1985-92) and as Grandpa in Freaky Friday (2003), which starred Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis. He passed away in 2010.

The final human character in Brother Bear is Tanana, the shaman-woman of the tribe. She is responsible for collecting each member of the tribe’s totem when they come of age, and for performing important ceremonies. Tanana also tries to keep all members of the tribe on the straight and narrow. She looks so disappointed when Kenai refuses to accept his totem, and is determined to make sure that Kenai sees through whatever lesson Sitka is trying to teach him by transforming him into a bear. Tanana then does not appear again until the end of the movie, when Kenai gets to formally show himself as a man by adding his print to the wall with all the others; it’s clear she’s proud of him in that moment. Joan Copeland voices Tanana. Copeland began her career in the theatre, and then began working on screen in the 1950s, including in various soap operas. I love her voice performance as Tanana, making her both spiritual, wise, and funny.

Koda is the sweet, but talkative, bear cub that Kenai teams up with. I feel sorry for Koda, especially at the start of his time with Kenai, because Kenai is clearly not interested in Koda’s stories and is so rude to him by basically telling him to shut up all the time. He just wants some company and someone to talk to; he’s been on his own for a few days, give him a break! Alex Kupershmidt, who animated Stitch, animated Koda. He wanted Koda to seem like a four or five-year-old kid, whose attention is constantly switching and who gets excited about the smallest things. Some people have said that they find Koda annoying, but I don’t; I think he’s cute and cheeky. Koda goes through an immense tragedy, by finding out that his mother was killed and isn’t coming back, so you have to have sympathy for him. And even though Kenai isn’t always kind to Koda, he does care for Koda a lot, enough to revert back to being a bear of his own free will. They fight, but brothers do fight and that’s ok.

American actor Jeremy Suarez voices Koda. Suarez began his acting career by appearing as Tyson Tidwell, son of Cuba Gooding Jr.’s character, in Jerry Maguire (1996). Suarez also featured in The Bernie Mac Show (2001-06) as Jordan Thomkins. For both his performances in The Bernie Mac Show and Brother Bear, Suarez was nominated for awards. For his voice acting role as Koda, Suarez was nominated for the Outstanding Achievement for Voice Acting award at the Annie Awards, but lost to Ellen DeGeneres, who had just voiced Dory in Pixar’s Finding Nemo (2003). Jeremy Suarez gives a confident performance as Koda, and the team at Disney liked how he was easily capable of providing them numerous different takes and points of view. At one point, when Joaquin Phoenix and Suarez were recording together, Phoenix referred to Koda’s friend as “Binky” instead of “Bucky”; Suarez quickly improvised a funny response and this was kept in the movie. I particularly like this scene.

Then there is the big grizzly bear, Tug. He might seem like he’d be aggressive, but he is a gentle giant, and a friend to all the bears, big and small. Tug only features during the salmon run scene, but Tug was going to be a bear called Grizz, who would have accompanied Kenai on his journey to the spirits instead of Koda. The partnership was working well, with Grizz being a boisterous, loving character, but it was fiercely debated whether the character should stay or be replaced with a younger, affable kid brother instead. In the end, directors Aaron Blaise and Bob Walker lost this fight, but were determined to keep voice actor Michael Clarke Duncan, who voiced Grizz, involved and wrote the part of Tug for him instead. Michael Clarke Duncan is perhaps best known for his role as John Coffey in The Green Mile (1999), where he was nominated for many awards including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He has performed in various other roles, including numerous voice roles such as in Cats & Dogs (2001), Air Buddies (2006), and Kung Fu Panda (2008). Duncan sadly passed away in 2012.

A couple of other interesting voice actors for two of the bears at the salmon run are Greg Proops, perhaps best known for appearing in both the UK and US versions of the improvisational comedy series Whose Line Is It Anyway? (1989-present); and Estelle Harris, who is the voice of Mrs. Potato Head in the Toy Story franchise (1999-present).

Then there are the two moose, Rutt and Tuke, the comic relief of Brother Bear. Disney thought it would be good if animals had different dialects as humans do, so they thought it would be funny to have two obviously Canadian moose in the movie! Broose Johnson and Tony Stanley animated the characters, and felt that moose were funny-looking animals anyway, with their huge ears, big hoovers and antlers, large noses etc., so they had ample choice of how to animate the characters in a comedic manner, but also keep them realistic. The moose ended up being more dumb than they’d originally planned, but I find Rutt and Tuke funny, with some of their lines being my favourites in the film[1]. Their brotherly arguments are hilarious at times, and I feel the movie needs this comic relief, even if others felt the two were irritating. Disney had originally only designed the characters to be pure comedy, however, they found that them being brothers was actually very important to the overall message of the movie, with the two’s arguing convincing Koda that he does need Kenai as his brother, and goes to save him from Denahi at the end of the film.

Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas, both Canadian actors and comedians, voice Rutt and Tuke. They based their performances of the moose on their personas of Bob and Doug MacKenzie that they had used in SCTV, a Canadian sketch comedy show, in sketches in the 1980s[2]. The duo would be revived in the late 2000s. Moranis has appeared in movies such as Little Shop of Horrors (1986) as Seymour Kreiborn, and as Wayne Szalinski in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) and its sequel Honey, I Blew Up the Kid (1992). Thomas has performed in various roles in television and film, including The Simpsons from 1997 to 2006 and the comedy film Rat Race (2001).

MUSIC

After Phil Collins’ success and enjoyment writing the songs for Disney’s Tarzan (1999), when Disney approached Collins to ask if he would like to work with them again on Brother Bear, he agreed quickly and got straight to work on the music. It was a slightly different process to that of working on Tarzan though, as the storyline for Tarzan was based on the novel, whereas Brother Bear was an original story idea, so although songs may have been written for certain scenes, these scenes could be rewritten or removed entirely, leading to different material being needed. But Collins was flexible and found that this made the process all the more collaborative.

One example of this is at the salmon run scene. Originally, Phil Collins wrote a song called “Fishing Song” or “Eat, Swim, Fish, Play”, as he had been given the concept that this was to be a frat party-like atmosphere at the salmon run, so he wrote a song to match that. However, Disney decided that they did not feel this song fit in with the scene correctly, and wanted it to be rewritten. Phil Collins called producer Chuck Williams’ house at one point, and his wife answered, telling him she was sorry to hear his song had been cut. Collins had no idea at the time of the call, but he wasn’t too disappointed and wrote “Welcome” instead over the summer. It became a soulful song with a strong message about family. Co-composer of Brother Bear’s score, Mark Mancina, who had also scored Tarzan (1999) and went on to work on Moana (2016), felt that the lyrics in “Welcome” were some of Collins’ best in the film. I do like “Welcome” as a song and think it fits in much better than the “Fishing Song” would have done, in terms of matching the overall message of the movie[3].

Another song that was rewritten was “On My Way”, which started out as a song called “This Can be My Destiny”, sung from Kenai’s perspective. It was deemed to be too gloomy and negative, so instead “On My Way” was written for the journeying scene to become an optimistic, joyful song instead, showing Koda and Kenai becoming friends. “On My Way” is not my favourite of the Brother Bear songs, but it works.

“Transformation” was apparently a difficult song for Collins to write as it was different to anything he’d done before, and it had to fit a beautiful and grand scene, which started off as being designed to be kind of scary, but then morphed into a positive and spiritual experience, so Collins had to match this mood. Obviously, it was first written to have English lyrics; this version, sung by Collins, does appear on the Brother Bear soundtrack, however Mancina thought it would be a good opportunity to bring in the Bulgarian Women’s Choir, who their vocal arranger and conductor Eddie Johnson had worked with before. The lyrics were translated into Inuit by a native speaker and then performed by the choir. It is a much more powerful song, this version that is in the film, and it is my favourite piece of music in the whole soundtrack, and probably my favourite scene too.

Though Phil Collins had sung every song in Tarzan (1999), because he was meant to be recounting Tarzan’s inner thoughts and feelings through the songs, it was decided that that was not the right approach for Brother Bear, and that a mixture of voices might be better. For the song “Great Spirits”, which features towards the beginning of the film to introduce the tribe and its spiritual connections, then-CEO Michael Eisner wanted a woman to sing the track. Tina Turner was approached and she was very happy to sing it for the movie. That is another great song in the film, and it starts the film off with a bang.

Though Collins sings in “Welcome”, it was decided that it would be good to have the group The Blind Boys of Alabama feature as the backing singers, to basically provide a voice for all the other bears at the salmon run. The Blind Boys of Alabama were founded in 1939 and the gospel group is still going today. Disney felt that the group provided a purity and soulfulness to the piece, which I definitely agree with it. There are two different versions of “Welcome” on the soundtrack, one that includes The Blind Boys of Alabama, which is featured in the film, and another that is Phil Collins’ cover of it.

The other songs that Phil Collins wrote are the End Credits song, which was also the film’s first single and had a music video filmed, called “Look Through My Eyes; and “No Way Out”, which has only one version in the film, but two on the soundtrack. “Look Through My Eyes” sums up the whole message of the movie, and for that reason it is good, but because it doesn’t feature in the movie at all, I don’t personally have any emotional attachment to it and can’t link it to any character, so it’s not one of my favourites.

“No Way Out” is very much the opposite, as this song is featured during the confession scene, where Koda is being told by Kenai that his mother was killed, by him. This scene was fully recorded and mostly animated and was going to be played as it was, without the song, which would feature in a separate scene. It was then decided to combine the two for the film[4]. Some have said that they would have rather seen the confession fully, without the “distraction” of Collins’ song, but I disagree. It’s a very powerful song, and to have just snippets of the conversation playing on top of the song makes me feel even more sad than just hearing Kenai say his piece in silence. The shorter version of “No Way Out” is the one that is heard in the movie, and is quieter and calmer, compared to the more upbeat, rock version, which is the longer version and features as the second End Credits song.

As part of Collins’ agreement to write the songs for Brother Bear, he also wanted to write the score, something that he had been close to during his work on Tarzan. Collins and Mancina therefore worked quite closely together on the score, with Mancina not afraid to tell Collins that what he had come up with wasn’t right!

The directors had said that they wanted the score to be completely true to the Inuit culture and the time period of the film, however, Mancina, Collins and the rest of the music team said it greatly limited their musical and instrumental choices, as it would have just primarily involved drums and the older versions of that instrument didn’t always necessarily sound great! Instead, they came up with hybrid sounds by mixing the sounds of many instruments, using them in a complimentary manner to the usual orchestral sounds[5].

The score doesn’t detract from any of the action on screen and compliments it. I particularly like the moments in the score where it links to the Spirits, such as reusing some elements of “Transformation”, or when it involves the Inuit ceremonies. But for me personally, the songs speak more to me and give me more of an emotional connection to the story than the score does in this particular Disney feature.

PRODUCTION

Brother Bear is an original story idea from the Disney Studios. After The Lion King was released in 1994, Michael Eisner, then-CEO of Disney, asked if anyone had any more ideas for “animal films”. He himself liked the concept of a movie about bears that would be set in North America. Co-director Blaise was very interested in drawing bears, and had been to Alaska, and loved the area, so he used this as inspiration to develop the story. The other director, Bob Walker, come into the team about a year into development, with him, Blaise and producer Chuck Williams, developing the plot together. Walker had grown up around animals and was interested in how they think and feel.

The team were asked to look at legends and myths involving bears, especially those based in Native American teachings. They found that many of these stories involved transformations of humans into animals to teach them important life lessons, with many legends being about bears. Some such stories included one around the origin of bears, where a boy decides to separate from his tribe and live in the woods. He tells them that if they fast for a week, they can join him. The tribe members complete this task and walk into the forest, where their bodies start to grow hair. This is how bears came to be. Another story is of a boy rescued by animals when he is trapped in a cave by his uncle. The boy is then taken in by bears and raised with them. The uncle soon comes across his nephew while hunting, and asks for forgiveness. Providing the uncle promises to be kind to the bears who saved his life, he does forgive his uncle. One further story is that four hunters and a dog were pursuing a vicious bear, and chased it all the way up a mountain and straight into the sky, where they became stars. The constellation they became is “The Big Dipper”[6].

As physical transformation works particularly well in animation, with Pinocchio (1940) and Beauty and the Beast (1991) involving some very impressive transformation scenes, they decided this was a good direction for the story to go, especially as every main character of any good movie starts off flawed and then has to learn something about themselves and others. This works even better if the main character has to become something else to be taught something important.

For research into the locations, the team went to many areas of North America, including Alaska, Canada, Wyoming and Californian National Parks, such as Yosemite. From all these locations, they wanted to create one overall picture of North America for the movie, meaning that Brother Bear is not solely based in one location. Specifics such as big sequoia trees, ice glaciers from Alaska and geysers from Yellowstone all make it into the movie, with other individual locations also being able to be spotted within the film. They not only looked at the different structures and rock types, but also at the layers of atmosphere in the areas.

The backgrounds on Brother Bear are particularly stunning, with Disney wanting them to have a realism to them, reminiscent of painting outside, en plein air, instead of referencing photographs. For some inspiration, they did also look back at Bambi (1942) to get an idea of how Bambi’s backgrounds made the viewers feel like they were actually in the forest. The difference for Brother Bear, though, is that Bambi was set in the concentrated area of the forest, whereas Brother Bear is located in a much larger space. To get a further artistic feel to the backgrounds, the artists looked to the work of landscape artist Albert Bierstadt, who happened to be a favourite of Michael Eisner’s.

Another interesting point that I didn’t realise when watching the movie is that the first part of the movie has a different aspect ratio to the point where Kenai wakes up as a bear. This is to show Kenai’s narrow viewpoint when he is a human, with a small screen, which then widens into CinemaScope with richer colour and sound to show the changes to how Kenai views the world now as a bear.

Disney’s portrayal of Inuit culture is seemingly accurate in terms of their references to ceremonies, music, and the overall transformation story[7]. Disney used photo references of Inuit tattoos, face paintings, and clothing to make design choices for their characters. The team also studied their architecture, where their use of animal bones featuring in their movie, as well as their ceremonies, including the manhood ceremony and funerals[8].

Despite the majority of the movie being hand-drawn animation, some elements of the movie did use computer-generated imagery, such as the scenes of the salmon run and the caribou stampede. For the bears, Disney had live drawing sessions with bear cubs, to capture the true form and behaviour of bears for the movie. They also went to Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground at Walt Disney World in Florida for drawing sessions three times a week for two months. During their research trip in Alaska, the team also took the opportunity to sketch bears in their natural habitat. They flew into Geographic Harbor in Alaska, and saw 20-30 bears from the air, but they had all scattered once the team had landed. They sat for hours, hoping that at least one would come back, and one did; a huge male who walked down to the river just about six feet in front of them. There was also an incident at their campsite when they almost walked into a mother and her cubs one night[9]!

RECEPTION

Brother Bear was released on 1^st November 2003 in the United States, becoming Disney’s 44^th animated feature. It did well at the box office, bringing in a total of $250 million at the box office, however, the reviews were mixed. Brother Bear was compared unfavourably to The Lion King, Disney’s best “animal film” to many audiences. The Lion King Platinum Edition DVD was released a month earlier, in October. Disney probably thought the two releases would compliment each other, not realising that one may overshadow the other. On top of that, Pixar’s Finding Nemo, which had been released in May 2003, brought in over $900 million at the box office, showing that again Pixar were “beating” Disney[10].

In terms of critical reviews, some felt that Brother Bear may resonant with some viewers, calling it “sweet”, with a strong message about tolerance and understanding. Others liked the visual animation, but stated that the story was not strong enough and lacked originality. Many enjoyed the music in Brother Bear, but the comedic elements were a bit hit or miss, with some liking them and others hating them! One reviewer in the Los Angeles Times even stated that Disney have to try harder, and compared the movie unfavourably to Disney’s earlier hit of Lilo & Stitch (2002). Little did they know that things wouldn’t get much better for Disney until around 2010, even after they ditched their 2-D animation style[11]…

Brother Bear was nominated for Best Animated Film at multiple awards ceremonies in 2004, including the Academy Awards, the Critics Choice Awards, and the Annie Awards, where it was also nominated for other animation awards, however, it did not win any award, and lost out to – you guessed it – Finding Nemo…

When Brother Bear was released on DVD in 2004, some versions included the brilliant 45-minute-long documentary “Paths of Discovery: The Making of Brother Bear”, which is a very interesting look at the production process. But it did also include some strange additions, such as “outtakes”, in a similar style to those that Pixar had done on some of their earlier films such as A Bug’s Life (1998) and Toy Story 2 (1999). The outtakes were not particularly funny, unlike the Pixar ones, though Stitch did make an appearance in one. Another strange addition was a full commentary of the movie being provided by Rutt and Tuke. Not the voice actors, but the actual moose characters…

LEGACY

Despite Brother Bear’s lacklustre critical reception, it did receive the direct-to-video sequel treatment, with Brother Bear 2, which was released in 2006. It follows on a few months after the events of the first film, and details Kenai’s relationship with his childhood sweetheart from his past, and her impending marriage to someone else. Jeremy Suarez, Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas and Michael Clarke Duncan all returned to reprise their roles, however, Patrick Dempsey replaced Joaquin Phoenix as Kenai. Mandy Moore, who would later voice Rapunzel for Disney’s Tangled (2010), voices Nita, Kenai’s love interest.

There was some discussion around a television series based on Brother Bear being developed at one point, which would have revolved around Koda and Kenai adopting other orphaned animals into their family. The series was not picked up by Disney Channel executives. There was also talk of a spin-off involving Rutt and Tuke, the moose, but this never happened either[12].

At the Disney theme parks, Brother Bear is rarely featured in attractions, meet-and-greets, and even merchandise, due to the film’s lack of popularity, especially in comparison to other Disney animated movies. However, Koda and Kenai have appeared at Disneyland, Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney World. Most recently, the two bears appeared on a flotilla at Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort for Earth Day and the 25^th anniversary on 22nd April 2023. They appeared again for Earth Day in 2024. The two have not appeared at Disneyland and Disneyland Paris as recently, seeming to be more likely to appear at Animal Kingdom, however, they may appear at special events.

I didn’t think there was any attraction at any Disney theme park that was related to Brother Bear, but I actually found two, both at Disneyland California Adventure Park. The Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, a children’s play area, first opened at the park in 2001, and received a Brother Bear-themed overlay in 2003. Kenai and Koda did use to have a meet-and-greet location here at that point too. Most of the Brother Bear theming was removed when the area was rethemed to Pixar’s Up (2011) in 2011, however, one element does still remain and that is Kenai’s Spirit Cave, where you can put your hand on a monitor and it will tell you what your spirit animal is. Also in the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, The Magic of Brother Bear Totem Ceremony used to be performed. It was a 20-minute show, based outside, with a costumed Kenai and Koda, two moose totem poles that spoke, meant to be Rutt and Tuke, and a Cast Member leading the ceremony, where a totem was given by the Spirits. This show ran from 2003 until apparently the winter of 2009, however, I didn’t find anything official to confirm the end date of the show.

The only other thing related to both Disney theme parks and Brother Bear is The Magic of Disney Animation pavilion at Disney’s MGM Studios – now Disney’s Hollywood Studios – at Walt Disney World. The Disney Feature Animation Florida Studio was first set up in 1989, and was considered an annex to the official Disney studio in Burbank. It was originally based in trailers roughly where Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster is today, with just 40 artists. In 1998, the studio was moved into its own $70 million building, located just behind The Magic of Disney Animation pavilion. The number of artists was expanded to around 400. The Florida Studio was responsible for primarily making Mulan (1998), Lilo & Stitch (2002), and Brother Bear, though the artists did do pieces for many of the other Disney features released during the Florida studio’s lifetime. The Florida studio closed in January 2004, meaning that Brother Bear was the third and final animated film to have been made there[13].

The Magic of Disney Animation pavilion opened in 1989 and guests could see real Disney animators working on actual Disney animated features. There were also character meet-and-greets, shows about the workings of hand-drawn animation and Disney animation history, and an opportunity to learn how to draw some of the most popular Disney characters yourself at The Animation Academy. I had many a meltdown as a child coming out of those, because my drawings were not as good as my sister’s – I’m not much of an artist! The Magic of Disney Animation outran the lifetime of the Florida Studio, therefore, the chance to actually see artists at work was not as prominent or marketed after 2004. The Magic of Disney Animation pavilion closed in July 2015, where it became Star Wars Launch Bay, which still exists today, mostly as an exhibition area and meet-and-greet location for characters like BB-8, Chewbacca and Darth Vader.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Brother Bear is, for me, an underrated movie. I’m not sure enough people have given it a chance over the years, and I’m thinking more should go back and watch this one, especially now that Disney+ makes viewing all these Disney animated features so easy to do. I like the humour in it, though I know some people claim it’s a bit “too much” or too forced, and I love the music. The story is moving for me, especially the Transformation scenes, both the first and the last one, with the themes of forgiveness, understanding, and brotherhood being very prominent. It’s a simple message, but one that is too often forgotten – that we are all the same inside, even though our outsides are different, and that understanding other people’s points of view can make for a much more peaceful world.

I would encourage anyone who has not seen Brother Bear for a few years, or since they were a child, to go back to it and see if it has a different effect on you. I know it did for me. Even the less popular Disney animated features deserve to be remembered.

On a final note, I wanted to take a moment to remember Disney historian and writer, Jim Korkis, who sadly passed away on 28^th July 2023.

I have been a fan of his work since The Vault of Walt, first published in 2010, which I bought as a present for my mum, before stealing it and taking it for myself, and making my way through the other ten books! I have featured sections from many of Jim’s articles and books in my pieces, as anyone who sees the list of credits may have noticed.

I found multiple articles that Jim wrote about Brother Bear this week, whilst researching, and it seemed to be a film that he felt was underrated. Jim stated how he used to teach classes to interns at Disney Feature Animation Florida, where he was able to attend some special presentations about Brother Bear. Jim expressed his disappointment at the fact that many Disney fans of today seem to ignore many of the Disney animated features that are not considered “iconic”, something that I have made sure not to do myself by re-watching all of them and trying to find something good in each of them.

I will never be as good a writer as Jim, and certainly not as good a researcher, but by crediting his work in my own pieces, I hope that shows my respect and admiration for his work, and how he has inspired me to write. Luckily, I still have more of Jim’s books to read, and therefore plenty more to learn.

Rest in peace, Jim. You’ll be missed.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Disney, “Paths of Discovery: The Making of Brother Bear”, from Brother Bear (2003) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2004).

[2] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘In Their Own Words: The Directors of “Brother Bear”, CartoonResearch.com, 30^th April 2021.

[3] Credit: Disney, “Deleted Scenes”, from Brother Bear (2003), DVD (2004).

[4] Credit: Disney, “Deleted Scenes”, from Brother Bear (2003), DVD (2004).

[5] Credit: Disney, “Paths of Discovery: The Making of Brother Bear”, from Brother Bear (2003) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2004).

[6] Credit: Disney, “Bear Legends: Native American Tales”, from Brother Bear (2003), DVD (2004).

[7] Credit: Disney, “Paths of Discovery: The Making of Brother Bear”, from Brother Bear (2003) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2004).

[8] Credit: Disney, “Art Review”, from Brother Bear (2003), DVD (2004).

[9] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘In Their Own Words: The Directors of “Brother Bear”’, CartoonResearch.com, 30^th April 2021.

[10] Credit: Mari Ness, ‘The End of an Animated Era: Disney’s Brother Bear’, Tor.com, 3^rd November 2016.

[11] Credit: Kenneth Turan, ‘Old school ‘Brother Bear’’, Los Angeles Times (online), 25^th October 2003.

[12] Credit: John Witiw, ’10 Things You Didn’t Know About Brother Bear’, CBR.com, 30^th March 2021.

[13] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Disney Films Done at Disney Feature Animaton Florida’, YourFirstVisit.net, date unknown.