Interesteg What makes it different from others?

Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Matylda Swan It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Dalbert Pringle I don't know about you - But (for me) - When it comes to pre-CGI cartoons - It's the "Golden Age" of animation (Hollywood 1940s & 50s) that absolutely fascinates me with the incredible work and attention to detail that went into many of these Technicolour gems.Of course, it was the innovative animators at Disney Studios who were the ones at the absolute top-of-the-line in their field. And, this "Melody Time" DVD proves that beyond a shadow of a doubt.Featuring the vocal talents of such performers as Roy Rogers, The Andrews Sisters, and Bob Nolan (to name but a few) - 1948's "Melody Time" is a superb collection of 7 enjoyable, animated shorts whose stories are all told through song.Even though some of the story-lines of these cartoons may not appeal to some people - There can be no denying the absolute wonder and marvel of the fantastic animation-techniques that went into these works.3 of my favourites here are - Little Toot, Casey Bats Again, and Pecos Bill.

Anssi Vartiainen Disney made a whole lot of these short film collections after the war years as a way to bide time until they got an actual feature film together. They're a mixed pack, but this one is arguably the best, if only because it contains the smallest amount of bad or boring segments.Though there certainly are a few of those here as well. Once again the segments are a gamut of musical segments mixed with actual stories. And once again the musical segments are usually the weaker ones. Like Bumble Boogie and Trees, which are mainly mood pieces. The music and poetry is nice in both, but they're as good as Fantasia's similar pieces and are there mainly for padding.Not that the story segments are all great either. Little Toot, the story about a tugboat child, is just as predictable and pandering as the story about an airplane child in Saludos Amigos. And speaking of Saludos Amigos, we get reacquainted with José in Blame It on the Samba, which is all of the worst parts of Saludos Amigos done with slightly different songs and images.But luckily we have Once Upon a Wintertime, the opening segment, a nice, soothing winter pastoral with nice animation style, cute characters and good use of music.And of course we have both The Legend of Johnny Appleseed and Pecos Bill, two of the most famous short films Disney has ever made. And they've both earned their legend. They're animated perfectly, the characters are amazing, the humour topnotch and as a whole they're just immensely entertaining.And that's Melody Time. Most segments are at the very least average, with some of them earning the moniker of classic. If you want to check out Disney's early package films, see at least this one.

bkoganbing Melody Time a successor to Walt Disney's Make Mine Music didn't quite reach the standards of the previous film, but it still has a lot to recommend it. As in the previous film, some of the segments of Melody Time are better than others.Buddy Clark who died the following year provides the overall narration and the animation effects of the paint brush. Clark was one of the best singers of the Thirties and Forties, his was a great law to American popular music.Pecos Bill the final segment proved so popular that it got issued as a short subject feature. But I like Dennis Day in the Johnny Appleseed segment. Also Donald Duck and Jose Carioca doing the Blame It On The Samba dancing to the music the Andrews Sisters sing and that Ethel Smith plays on the Organ. Ethel is the only other participating artist who is actually seen other than the Pecos Bill segment.Melody Time is a good cartoon anthology still holding up well for today's audience.

Incredible_Brightness Arguably, the most obscure of Disney's feature-length films to be released on VHS and DVD, Melody Time is pretty much a 3rd installment in the Fantasia series, but if not, than you can definitely count it as a twin of-or part II to Make Mine Music (1946). It's virtually the same. But with one exception. Now, almost all 7 segments are longer than those from Make Mine Music. And this time, the selection of shorts are much more eclectic in variety. We have 2 American folk tales, a visual poem with words, a visual story without words, and much more.Technically, Melody Time is superior to Make Mine Music. But- not where you might expect it to be. For instance, the longer segments are, obviously, "Johnny Appleseed" and "Pecos Bill." Of these two, "Pecos" is definitely better. But, even for Disney, and in the 1940's - this is just too silly to be that entertaining most of the time. You would have to be the least intelligent, most childlike person out there to find this mostly "humorous" segment to be that amusing. But, it has the right look and feel for Western-themed Disney animation. Then, "Johnny" is more serious but... there's something odd about this one, to say the least. I guess it's Disney's complete rejection of actual historical events during a sequence where the pioneers and The Indians (yep, complete with Red-faces and all) dance and eat apple bakings together. It may be "pleasant" if you don't want to see violent history, but it's still stupid. Then, this may not bother anyone else either, but there are a few too many references to God's work, which is too much to think about in a family-oriented cartoon. "Prayin's for church," as they say.Next, is "Little Toot," which for some reason doesn't strike me as that great a story. I believe it's become a favorite showing on the Disney channel between shows / movies (or, at least that's how it used to be before their new millennium Tw'een programming took over). I don't know why. It may be based entirely on the song. It's a pleasant song, but strictly for fans of old radio / big band / 1940's music.All the other segments, though, are practically perfect for what they are. The first, "Once Upon a Wintertime," has some of the most magnificent colors I've ever seen in a Disney movie in a long time. For 1948, this is just pure visual delight - the blues and reds are just beyond vibrant. The tale is perhaps a little generic, but then so is most of what Disney puts to film. But that magic is there in full force on this segment. The second, is "Bumble Boogie." It's short and for what it is, it's good. Not very memorable, at all. But, if you don't mind alternate versions (what we today call the "Remix") of popular / famous pieces of music, you might enjoy it (I certainly did).The fifth segment is "Trees," and this is one of the most beautiful scenes I've ever witnessed in any Disney movie. It is basically the fill-in for the Interpretive segments from Make Mine Music, only the colors are so beautiful - especially the greens, yellows, and oranges. Parts of the poem itself are a little hard to hear, but the singing mixed with these visuals is just a sight to behold. Then, the sixth, "Blame It on the Samba," mostly goes for the cuteness of that trouble making bird from The Three Caballeros, the Araquan. The pitch of his voice / giggle have changed and it's now much squeakier and mousier. The animation is good, but the song is great and it's great to see Donald and his green parrot buddy return. Also returning is a live-action person added to the mix who may be a sister to the Cookie Woman from Caballeros. There's some funny chaos later on in this one.This is the first of these musical package features from Disney (post Fantasia) to have few weak parts, for which each of those have their positive attributes too. "Johnny Appleseed" may not be told very well, but the colors again are unbelievable in several scenes, that it makes moments of the segment uplifting. And then, "Pecos Bill" has so many songs for one of these segments, that one of them is likely to end up getting a little stuck in your head. My favorite is "Blue Shadows on the Trail."