A girl named Slue

Melody Time (1948)

Rated: G

Runtime: 75 minutes

Princess/Heroine: horse/squirrel/bird, Slue-Foot Sue

Prince/Hero: Johnny Appleseed, Little Toot, Pecos Bill

Sidekicks: Donald Duck, Jose Carioca, Widowmaker

Villain: none

Music: “Blame it on the Samba”, “Blue Shadows on the Trail”, “Bumble Boogie”, “Little Toot”, “Lord is Good to Me”, “Melody Time”, “Once Upon a Wintertime”, “Pecos Bill”, “Trees”

Rating—out of 5 Mickey Mouse ears: 3 ½ ears. 1 for horse/squirrel/bird/Slue-Foot Sue, 1 for Johnny Appleseed/Little Toot/Pecos Bill, ½ for Widowmaker, 1 for the music.

This movie is another collection of shorts. I am enjoying them, but I miss the full length movies. The female horse/squirrel/bird were the heroines of the film and Slue-Foot Sue was good as well. Johnny Appleseed, Little Toot, and Pecos Bill were heroes in their own way. Donald Duck, Jose Carioca, and Widowmaker as sidekicks did their job. Unfortunately, no villain. The music has something for everyone; “Bumble Boogie” was a lot of fun, “Little Toot” made me laugh, “Once Upon a Wintertime” was pretty.

Me. Need. Princesses. And villains. Once Upon a Wintertime might make the Christmas rotation. Bumble Boogie is crazy and Little Toot is cute. In all honesty all these “collections” are starting to jumble together. This movie will probably follow the others out of the bracket early. Only one left to watch and it is one of my favorites ... so onward to Sleepy Hollow!

Someone call Benson and Stabler

Fun and Fancy Free (1947)

Rated: G

Runtime: 73 minutes

Princess/Heroine: none

Prince/Hero: Bongo, Mickey Mouse

Sidekicks: Donald Duck, Goofy, Jiminy Cricket

Villain: Lumpjaw, Willie the Giant

Music: “Fun and Fancy Free”, “Lazy Countryside”, “My Favorite Dream”, “My What a Happy Day”, “Say It With a Slap”, “Too Good to be True”

Rating—out of 5 Mickey Mouse ears: 1 ½ ears. 1 for Bongo/Mickey, ½ for Donald Duck/Goofy/Jiminy Cricket, 1 for Lumpjaw/Willie the Giant, minus 1 for the party I will talk about later.

This movie is 2 short movies; Bongo is a circus bear that does a pretty good job beating up a big bear and gets the girl; Mickey Mouse is a giant killer and pulls off a Doc Brown move to rescue the golden harp. Donald Duck, Goofy, and Jiminy Cricket are ok in their roles. Lumpjaw is ok as the mean bear; Willie the Giant plays basketball so that is pretty awesome. The music is ok, pretty much forgettable.

I thought I had seen the Mickey and the Beanstalk segment before, but what I actually saw as a kid was Brave Little Tailor ... another movie in which Mickey Mouse battles a giant. The movie loses points for its absolutely CREEPY ventriloquist/dummies/old man/little girl/alcohol party. I can’t get this one out of the bracket quick enough!

Before Sunrise...with hats!

Make Mine Music (1946)

Rated: G

Runtime: 75 minutes

Princess/Heroine: none

Prince/Hero: Peter, Willy the Whale

Sidekicks: Ivan the Cat, Sasha the Bird, Sonia the Duck

Villain: Casey, The Wolf

Music: “After You’ve Gone”, “All the Cats Join In”, “Blue Bayou”, “Casey at the Bat”, “Johnny Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet”, “Make Mine Music”, “The Martins and the Coys”, “Two Silhouettes”, “The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met”, “Without You”

Rating—out of 5 Mickey Mouse ears: 3 ½ ears. 1 for Peter/Willy the Whale, ½ for Ivan the Cat/Sasha the Bird/Sonia the Duck, 1 for Casey/The Wolf, 1 for the music.

No princess, but two pretty good heroes in Peter and Willy the Whale. There were fun sidekicks for Peter: Ivan, Sasha, and Sonia, and two good and different villains: Casey and The Wolf. There were many songs (you would expect this from a movie called Make Mine Music); the most memorable were the fun “After You’ve Gone”, the naughty “All the Cats Join In”, the pretty “Blue Bayou”, and the sweet “Johnny Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet”.

The Martins and the Coys wasn’t as “controversial” as I had heard it to be, Casey at the Bat was a lot of fun, Peter and the Wolf was fantastic, Johnny Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet was a great love story, and The Whale Who Wanted to Sing was heartbreaking. Not sure how it will do in the bracket, but it’s worth watching.