"We'll go for a jolly ride!"

Film: "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad"

Release Date: 5 October 1949

Director: Jack Kinney, Clyde Geronimi, James Alger

History: One of the hallmark of great Disney Animation has always been to take classic literary fiction or fable characters and "Disney-ise" them. "Snow White," "Pinocchio," "Dumbo," and "Bambi" all did this is the earliest days of Disney, as well as "Bongo" and "Mickey and the Beanstalk," the two shorts that make up "Fun and Fancy Free." "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad" was a return to this, taking on two of the greatest and most popular literary characters in fiction, J. Thaddeus Toad from the British story "The Wind and the Willows," and Ichabod Crane from the old American story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow."

Walt would cast and use the voice talents of J. Pat O'Malley (in his first of many Disney roles), Basil Rathbone (of "Sherlock Holmes" fame, and the inspiration for the name of the main character from 1986's "The Great Mouse Detective), and Bing Crosby. Many of Walt's famed "Nine Old Men" would be animation directors for this film, and film and animation fans that look closely will note that the style of animation in the segment in the "Mr. Toad" part of the film where Mr. Toad and friends are being chased by Mr. Winky and the weasels, was re-used in "The Jungle Book." This is becuase on "Mr. Toad," Wolfgang Reitherman worked on this part of the film and later was the director for "The Jungle Book," which he directed, and loved re-using his work when the chance would come. The film earned a Golden Globe in 1950 for best use of color.

The film's two parts would later be re-released as long shorts independently with "Sleepy Hollow" being re-released as "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" in 1958 and "Mr. Toad" being re-released as "The Madcap Adventures of Mr. Toad" in 1978. The Headless Horseman scenes would alter be used in many different Disney Halloween themed specials. Many of the characters from "Mr. Toad" would be re-used in 1983's "Mickey's Christmas Carrol," as well as cameos in 1988's "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and on tv in 2000's "House of Mouse."

My Reaction: This has always been my favorite of the "package films." Both stories feature characters that are full of life, with stories that are filled with lots of action and a few touching moments. You really get a feeling that Mr. Toad's friends care about him. Then on the excitement side of things, that bit at the end where the headless horseman lobs his pumpkin head right at the screen! I remember getting goose bums as a kid when that was on. But as an adult, I take away from "Mr. Toad" the values of responsibility and friendship/ loyalty, and the lesson from "Sleepy Hollow" that one should never be too proud a mighty of one's self. That you get reckless when you start down that path. Also, don't go walking through woods where headless horsemen ride.

I think either story could easily have been stretched out and stand on it's own as a single feature-film. And it is really too bad that that didn't happen. That said, I do think that "Mr. Toad" was the stronger story told here in this film. Walt however, was still recovering monetary losses from World War II at that point and wasn't ready just yet to get back to single stories for his film. Thankfully, his next film, 'Cinderella," would be that proper return that his audience was waiting for.

My Wife's Reaction: She really enjoyed it as a kid, but as an adult, it was annoying to her.

My Final Grade: (B+) To me, this has always been and always will be the best of the "package film" era. I'm actually sad that neither story ended up it's own, full-length feature, as either could hold it's own well enough.

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"Here's a tall tale straight from the chuck wagon, just the way the old-timers used to tell it."

Film: "Melody Time"

Release Date: 27 May 1948

Director: Jack Kinney, Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, Wilfred Jackson

History: Walt Disney, still recovering from the lack of revenue for the studio as a result of World War II, was still stuck with "package films" to try and recover costs as of 1948. So, he tried the the same formula he had used on "Fantasia," and especially "Make Mine Music" once last time. "Melody Time," was more like "Make Mine Music," as it was "a concert feature" of popular music at the time. Unlike the latter, it worked a lot better, and despite not a very good original box office run, critics years later give it a lot more praise.

This time, Disney brought in such popular musical talent such as Buddy Clark, The Andrew Sister (back again in a Disney Animated Classic), Dennis Day, Freedy Martin, and maybe the most famous of the bunch, Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers. Many of the segments have been shown on their own in places like Disney Channel, and as such, have build up more popularity on their own. In 1998 on VHS, and then again in 2000 on DVD, the "Pecos Bill" segment was edited in the US. All the parts when Pecos is smoking have been cut out. The international versions are still intact however.

My Reaction: This coming November 2010, Walt Disney Animation Studios will release their 50th Animated Classic, "Tangled." But, 40 Disney Animated films before that, there was "Melody Time," Disney's 10th animated film and fifth in the six "package films" of the 1940's. Looking back, this "Melody Time" was a great film for what it was, but what it was was not necessarily Disney's best. But, I personally feel that the shorts found in this film are over all better then the collective of shorts found in "Make Mine Music." My favorites from this film would be "The Legend of Johnny Appleseed," "Once Upon a Wintertime," "Blame It On the Samba," and "Pecos Bill."

My Wife's Reaction: She really enjoyed the better known segments from this. Pecos Bill may be her favorite though. But for her, she remember these segment on their own, as broadcast on Disney Channel, so it was odd for her to see them in tehir original format in this film.

My Final Grade: (B-) This package film had it's moments of greatness and not so great moments. But, I may be harsher on it after four previous package films in a row before it. But, I liked it as a collection much better then "Make Mine Music."

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"You see, Willie's singing was a miracle, and people aren't used to miracles."

Film: "Make Mine Music"

Release Date: 15 August 1946

Director: Bob Comack, Clyde Geronimi, Joe Grant, Jack Kinney, Hamilton Luske, Josh Meador

History: The first of the package films not related to the South American trip taken by Disney and a team of animators, "Make Mine Music" would hearken back more closely to "Fantasia," only with a bit more zing to it. Putting front and center popular singers of the day, including The Andrew Sister, Benny Goodman, Dinah Shore and The King's Men, "Make Mine Music" is very much a time capsule of sorts for entertainment of the 1940's.

Comprised of 10 segments, "Make Mine Music" would present a plethora of different styled shorts. The first one was called The Martins and Coys, and was a sort of southern/mountain folk spin on the old "Romeo and Juliet" story sung and narrated by The King's Men. Sadly, for Politically Correct reasons, the US DVD and VHS do not include this short, as it has been removed entirely. Some other countries however were given this film on DVD fully intact. The next segment used animation from a short that was originally intended for "Fantasia," but did not make it into that film, called Blue Bayou. Originally, it was to be Clair de Lune, and the surviving animation featured a slightly more dramatic narrative filled with lush blues and images of live around a beautiful bayou at night, sung by the Ken Darby singers. It is more serious and less "cartoony" then other shorts.

Following the first two shorts are the much livelier Benny Goodman piece, All The Cats Join In, followed by Without You, another more dramatic short sung by Andy Russell, and the first of the more popular shorts to come out of this film, Casey at the Bat. Casey at the Bat features a retelling of the famous poem of the same name by Ernest Thayer, and is narrated by Jerry Colonna. After that is the more dramatic Dinah Shore piece, Two Silhouettes, followed by the next of the popular shorts from this film, Peter and the Wolf. The story of a young Russian boy named Peter who goes off to hunt a dangerous wolf with his animal friends, Peter and the Wolf is based on the 1936 musical composition by Sergei Prokofiev, with narration by long time Disney voice actor veteran, Sterling Holloway (Dumbo, Jungle Book, Winnie-the-Pooh). Next is the return of Benny Goodman with the lively short, After You've Gone, about musical interments come to life, and then rounding off the picture is the last two shorts, each also in the popular category, Johnny Fedora and Alice Blue Bonnet, sung by the Andrews Sisters, and The Whale Who Wanted To Sing At the Met, sung and narrated by Nelson Eddy.

Disney, who was hurting from a loss of the European markets thanks to World War II, now had the further difficulties of having many of his staff drafted off to war, and the ones not off to war busy making training and propaganda video for the US Government, who had taken over the studio after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Disney simply wanted to keep afloat during the war years, and turned to making these "package films" in favor of his traditional, single story films he started off making originally. While over the years the ten segments have done well by themselves, some more then others, originally when put together to form this film, it was a critical mess, with many film critics claiming Disney has gone commercial. But Disney was just trying to keep his comapany from going backrupt, and in the case of this film, it payed off as it did well at the box office, with many of the shorts on their own in latter years becoming rather well used by the Walt Disney Company on film, tv, and home entertainment outlets.


My Reaction: Individually, I'm really a big fan of some of the shorts found in this film. My top favorites list would be Johnny Fedora and Alice Blue Bonnet, Casey at the Bat, Peter and the Wolf, The Whale Who Wanted To Sing At the Met, and The Martins and Coys. I've very sad that The Martins and Coys have been removed from the US release of this film on VHS and DVD. I understand why it many may see it as offensive, but I seem to judge cartoons from this era not as harshly as more modern cartoons. That and frankly most of the Looney Tunes shorts made over at Warner Bros. have been more violent and degrading towards hillbillies then this cartoon is. But such is life.

I've always enjoy Johnny Fedora and Alice Blue Bonnet especially. It's a great tale of two souls (who happen to be hats) that are intertwined and made for each other. Outside of these gems by themselves, as a full-length film placed with many of the remaining shorts, it was not one of Walt's best films. That said, it very much is a great time-capsule of sorts for 1940's entertainment.

My Wife's Reaction: She liked it.


My Final Grade: (C+) Not one of Walt's best, but a number of these shorts on their own would easily get "B" grades, if not better.

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