View source for Melody Time

{{pp|small=yes}}
{{short description|1948 animated film by Walt Disney}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Melody Time
| image          = melodyposter.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Clyde Geronimi]]<br />[[Wilfred Jackson]]<br />[[Hamilton Luske]]<br />[[Jack Kinney]]
| producer       = [[Walt Disney]]<br>[[Ben Sharpsteen]]
| story         = [[Winston Hibler]]<br />[[Erdman Penner]]<br />Harry Reeves<br />[[Homer Brightman]]<br />[[Ken Anderson (animator)|Ken Anderson]]<br />[[Ted Sears]]<br />Joe Rinaldi<br />Bill Cottrell<br />Art Scott<br />[[Jesse Marsh]]<br />Bob Moore<br />John Walbridge
| music          = [[Eliot Daniel]]<br />[[Paul Smith (composer)|Paul J. Smith]]<br />[[Ken Darby]]
| cinematography = [[Winton Hoch]]
| editing        = Donald Halliday<br />Thomas Scott
| narrator       = [[Bob Nolan]] (''Pecos Bill'')
| starring       = {{Plainlist| <!--Per poster-->
* [[Roy Rogers]]
* [[Dennis Day]]
* [[The Andrews Sisters]]
* [[Frances Langford]]
* [[Freddy Martin]]
* [[Ethel Smith (organist)|Ethel Smith]]
* [[Buddy Clark]]
* [[Fred Waring|Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians]]
* [[Sons of the Pioneers]]
* [[The Dinning Sisters]]
* [[Jack Fina]]
* [[Luana Patten]]
* [[Bobby Driscoll]]
}}
| studio         = [[Walt Disney Productions]]
| distributor    = [[RKO Radio Pictures]]
| released       = {{Film date|1948|5|27}}
| country        = United States
| runtime        = 75 minutes
| language       = English
| budget         = $1.5 million<ref>{{cite web|work=Variety|title=109 Million Techni Sked|url=https://archive.org/stream/variety169-1948-02#page/n133/mode/1up|page=14|date=February 18, 1948}}</ref>
| gross          = $2.56 million (worldwide rentals)<ref name="Jewell">{{cite news | title=Richard B. Jewell's RKO film grosses, 1929–51: The C. J. Trevlin Ledger: A comment. | work=[[Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television]] |volume=14 |issue=1 |date=1994}}</ref>
}}

'''''Melody Time''''' is a 1948 American live-action and animated [[musical film|musical]] [[anthology film]] produced by [[Walt Disney]]. It was released to theatres by [[RKO Radio Pictures]] on May 27, 1948. Made up of seven segments set to [[popular music]] and [[folk music]], the film is, like ''[[Make Mine Music]]'' before it, the popular music version of ''[[Fantasia (1940 film)|Fantasia]]''. ''Melody Time'', while not meeting the artistic accomplishments of ''Fantasia'', was mildly successful.

==Vignettes==
According to Disney, the film's plot is as follows: "In the grand tradition of Disney's greatest musical classics, such as FANTASIA, MELODY TIME features seven classic stories, each enhanced with high-spirited music and unforgettable characters...[A] feast for the eyes and ears [full of] wit and charm... a delightful Disney classic with something for everyone".<ref name="disneydvd.disney">{{cite web|url=http://disneydvd.disney.go.com/melody-time.html |title=Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment: Melody Time |access-date=January 10, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121203194516/http://disneydvd.disney.go.com/melody-time.html |archive-date=December 3, 2012 }}</ref> Rose Pelswick, in a 1948 review for ''The News-Sentinel'', described the film as an "adventure into the intriguing make-believe world peopled by Walt Disney's Cartoon characters". It also explains that "with the off-screen voice of Buddy Clark doing the introductions, the... episodes include fantasy, folklore, South American rhythms, poetry, and slapstick".<ref name="news.google">{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kipjAAAAIBAJ&pg=3448,628931&dq=melody-time+disney&hl=en | title=Walt Disney's 'Melody Time' Better Than Ever | work=[[The News-Sentinel]] | date=July 20, 1948 | access-date=January 12, 2013 | author=Pelswick, Rose}}</ref> A 1948 review by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette described it as a "mixture of fantasy, abstraction, parable, music, color, and movement".<ref name="news.google_a">{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=TuYMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3155,5097171&dq=melody-time+disney&hl=en | title=Melody Time | work=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] | date=July 26, 1948 | access-date=January 12, 2013 | author=E. F. J.}}</ref>

The seven "mini-musical"<ref name="books.google_c" /> stories outlined:

===''Once Upon a Wintertime''===
This "Mansley" segment features [[Frances Langford]] singing the title song about two romantic young lovers on a winter day in December, during the late 19th century. The couple are Jenny and Joe (unlike most Disney cartoons, Jenny and Joe lack spoken dialogue). Joe shows off on the ice for Jenny, and near-tragedy and a timely rescue ensues. This is intertwined with a similar rabbit couple.

Like other segments of these package films, ''Once Upon a Wintertime'' was later released theatrically as an individual short, in this case on September 17, 1954.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lenburg |first1=Jeff |title=The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons |date=1999 |publisher=Checkmark Books |isbn=0-8160-3831-7 |page=153}}</ref>

===''Bumble Boogie''===
This segment presents a surrealistic battle for a solitary bumblebee as he tries to ward off a visual and musical frenzy. The music, courtesy of [[Freddy Martin]] and His Orchestra (with [[Jack Fina]] playing the piano), is a swing-jazz variation of [[Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov|Rimsky-Korsakov]]'s ''[[Flight of the Bumblebee]]'', which was one of the many pieces considered for inclusion in ''[[Fantasia (1940 film)|Fantasia]]''.

===''The Legend of Johnny Appleseed''===
{{main|Johnny Appleseed (film)}}
A retelling of the story of [[Johnny Appleseed|John Chapman]], who spent most of his life roaming the [[Midwestern United States]] (mainly Ohio and Indiana) in the pioneer days, and planting apple trees, thus earning his famous nickname. He also spread Christianity. [[Dennis Day]] narrates (as an "old settler who knew Johnny well") and provides the voices of both Johnny and his [[guardian angel]].

The segment was released independently on December 25, 1955, as ''Johnny Appleseed''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://affichesdisney.canalblog.com/archives/johnny_pepin_de_pomme/index.html|title=Johnny Appleseed|access-date=2010-12-03|language=fr}}</ref> The piece has a running time of "17 minutes [making it] the film's second-longest piece".<ref name="dvdizzy"/> Before being adapted for ''Melody Time'', the story of Johnny Appleseed was "first immortalized around campfires", then later turned into "storybook form".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G_g4MfaemmQC&q=%22Melody+Time%22+disney&pg=PA118|title=The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World Planner|year=2012|access-date=January 12, 2013|author=Susan Veness and Simon Veness|page=118|publisher=Adams Media |isbn=9781440528101}}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

===''Little Toot''===
The story of ''[[Little Toot]]'' by [[Hardie Gramatky]], in which the title protagonist, a small [[tugboat]] in [[New York City]], wanted to be just like his father Big Toot, but could not seem to stay out of trouble.

[[The Andrews Sisters]] provide vocals. A clip features briefly in the "Friendship" song on ''Disney Sing Along Songs'' volume ''Friend Like Me''. It was also featured in ''[[Sing Me a Story with Belle]]''. This segment is later served as an inspiration for [[Tugs (TV series)|TUGS]].

===''Trees''===
A recitation of the 1913 poem [[Trees (poem)|"Trees"]] by [[Joyce Kilmer]], featuring music by [[Oscar Rasbach]] and performed by [[Fred Waring|Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians]]. The lyrical setting accompanies animation of bucolic scenes seen through the changing of the seasons, with an extended break between the sixth and seventh lines of the poem to accommodate a storm scene.

To preserve the look of the original story sketches, layout artist Ken O'Connor came up with the idea of using frosted cels and rendering the pastel images right onto the cel. Before being photographed each cel was laminated in clear lacquer to protect the pastel. The result was a look that had never been seen in animation before.<ref>[https://www.mouseplanet.com/11595/Disney_Legend_Ken_OConnor Disney Legend Ken O'Connor]</ref>

===''Blame It on the Samba''===
[[Donald Duck]] and [[José Carioca]] meet the [[Aracuan Bird]], who introduces them to the pleasures of the [[samba]]. The accompanying music is the 1914 polka ''Apanhei-te, Cavaquinho'' by [[Ernesto Nazareth]], fitted with English lyrics.

The Dinning Sisters provide vocals while organist [[Ethel Smith (organist)|Ethel Smith]] appears in a live-action role.<ref name="books.google_b">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fTI1yeZd-tkC&q=%22Melody+Time%22+disney&pg=PA165|title=The Animated Movie Guide|year=2005|access-date=January 12, 2013|author=Beck, Jerry|pages=165–6|publisher=Chicago Review Press |isbn=9781569762226}}</ref>

===''Pecos Bill''===
The finale follows about [[Texas]]' famous hero [[Pecos Bill]]. Raised by coyotes, he became the biggest and best cowboys that ever lived. It also features his horse Widowmaker, who he saved from vultures that tried to eat him. He then goes on to become the most famous cowboy in folklore. It recounts the ill-fated romance between Bill and a beautiful cowgirl named Slue Foot Sue, [[Love at first sight|with whom he fell in love at first sight]], which made Widowmaker so jealous of Sue that he caused her to get literally stranded on the moon on their wedding day. Heartbroken, Bill leaves civilization and rejoins the coyotes who now howl at the moon in honor of Bill's loss.

This retelling features [[Roy Rogers]], [[Bob Nolan]], the former's horse [[Trigger (horse)|Trigger]], and the [[Sons of the Pioneers]] telling the story to [[Bobby Driscoll]] and [[Luana Patten]], all in a live-acted introduction set against animated backdrops before seguing into the animated story. The segment was later edited on the film's [[NTSC]] video release (sans the [[PAL]] release) to remove all shots with Bill smoking a cigarette and almost the entire tornado scene with Bill rolling his cigarette and lighting it with a lightning bolt.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ultimatedisney.com/melodytime.html |title=Melody Time DVD Review |publisher=Ultimatedisney.com |access-date=2014-04-13}}</ref> Both the cigarette and tornado scenes were restored when the film was released on [[Disney+]]. With a total running time of "22 minutes, [it] is the lengthiest piece".<ref name="dvdizzy"/>

==Cast==
The cast is listed below:<ref name="disneydvd.disney"/>
* [[Roy Rogers]] – Himself; Narrator; Singer (''Pecos Bill'')
* [[Trigger (horse)|Trigger]], the Smartest Horse in the Movies – Himself
* [[Dennis Day]] – Narrator; Singer; Characters (''Johnny Appleseed'')
* [[The Andrews Sisters]] – Singers (''Little Toot'')<ref name="books.google_a" />
* [[Fred Waring|Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians]] – Singers (''Trees'')
* [[Freddy Martin]] – Music composer (''Bumble Boogie'')
* [[Ethel Smith (organist)|Ethel Smith]] – Organist (''Blame It On the Samba'')
* [[Frances Langford]] – Singer (''Once Upon a Wintertime'')
* [[Buddy Clark]] – Singer; Narrator
* [[Bob Nolan]] – Himself; Singer; Narrator (''Pecos Bill'')
* [[Sons of the Pioneers]] – Themselves; Singers; Narrators (''Pecos Bill'')
* [[The Dinning Sisters]] – Singers (''Blame It On the Samba'')
* [[Bobby Driscoll]] – Himself (''Pecos Bill'')
* [[Luana Patten]] – Herself (''Pecos Bill'')

{| class="wikitable"
|+Cast
!Once Upon a Wintertime
!Bumble Boogie
!Johnny Appleseed
!Little Toot
!Trees
!Blame It On the Samba
!Pecos Bill
|-
|[[Frances Langford]] (Singer)
|[[Freddy Martin]] (Music composer)
|[[Dennis Day]]
|[[The Andrews Sisters]] (Singers)
|[[Fred Waring|Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians]] (Singers)
|[[The Dinning Sisters|Ethel Smith and the Dinning Sisters]] (Singers)
|[[Roy Rogers]] (Singer), Sons of Pioneers (Singers), [[Bob Nolan]] (Singer)
|}

==Songs==
The songs in ''Melody Time'' were all "largely based around (then) contemporary music and musical performances".<ref name="empireonline">{{cite web|url=http://www.empireonline.com/features/50-disney-films/default.asp?film=10|title=Your Guide To Disney's 50 Animated Features: Melody Time|publisher=Empire Online|access-date=January 11, 2013}}</ref> "Blue Shadows on the Trail" was chosen by the [[Western Writers of America]] as one of the top 100 Western Songs of all time.<ref name="Top100">{{Cite web|title=The Top 100 Western Songs |author=Western Writers of America |year=2010 |author-link=Western Writers of America |publisher=American Cowboy |url=http://www.americancowboy.com/culture/top-100-western-songs |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101019002745/http://americancowboy.com/culture/top-100-western-songs |archive-date=19 October 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

{{Track listing
| all_writing     = 
| all_lyrics      = 
| all_music       = 
| extra_column    = Performer(s)

| title1          = Melody Time
| writer1         = [[George David Weiss]] & [[Bennie Benjamin]]
| extra1          = [[Buddy Clark]]

| title2          = Once Upon a Wintertime
| writer2         = [[Bobby Worth]] & [[Ray Gilbert]]
| extra2          = [[Frances Langford]]

| title3          = Bumble Boogie
| writer3         = [[Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov]] (writer), [[Jack Fina]] (arranger)
| extra3          = [[Freddy Martin|Freddy Martin and His Orchestra]] & [[Jack Fina]] (piano)

| title4          = Johnny Appleseed
| writer4         = [[Kim Gannon]] & [[Walter Kent]]
| extra4          = [[Dennis Day]]

| title5          = Little Toot
| writer5         = [[Allie Wrubel]]
| extra5          = [[The Andrews Sisters]]

| title6          = Trees
| writer6         = [[Joyce Kilmer]] (poem) & [[Oscar Rasbach]] (music)
| extra6          = [[Fred Waring|Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians]]

| title7          = Blame It on the Samba
| writer7         = [[Ernesto Nazareth]] & [[Ray Gilbert]]
| extra7          = [[Ethel Smith (organist)|Ethel Smith]] & [[The Dinning Sisters]]

| title8          = Pecos Bill
| writer8         = [[Eliot Daniel]] & [[Johnny Lange]]
| extra8          = [[Roy Rogers]] & [[Sons of the Pioneers|The Sons of the Pioneers]]

| title9          = Blue Shadows on the Trail
| writer9         = [[Eliot Daniel]] & [[Johnny Lange]]
| extra9          = [[Roy Rogers]] & [[Sons of the Pioneers|The Sons of the Pioneers]]
}}

==Production==
In late 1947, Disney announced he would be releasing a "regrouping of various cartoons at his studio under two titles, ''Melody Time'' and ''Two Fabulous Characters''", to be released in August 1948 and 1949, respectively.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1947/11/17/archives/disney-announces-two-new-projects-melody-time-to-be-released-in.html | title=DISNEY ANNOUNCES TWO NEW PROJECTS; ' Melody Time' to Be Released in August and Two Fabulous Characters' in 1949 | newspaper=The New York Times | date=17 November 1947 | access-date=January 12, 2013}}</ref> ''Melody Time'' ended up being released a few months earlier than planned, in May.

''Melody Time'' is considered to be the last anthology feature made by Walt Disney Productions (the next film to be released was ''[[The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad]]'', which featured two stories). These package features were "little-known short-film compilations that Disney produced and released as feature films during World War II". They were "financially (and artistically) lightweight productions meant to bring in profits [to allow the studio to] return to fairy tale single-narrative feature form", an endeavour which they successfully completed two years later with ''Cinderella''. While the shorts "contrast in length, form, and style", a common thread throughout is that each "is accompanied by song[s] from musicians and vocalists of the '40s"<ref name="dvdizzy">{{cite web |url=http://www.dvdizzy.com/melodytime.html | title=Melody Time | publisher=DVDizzy | access-date=January 11, 2013}}</ref> – both popular and folk music.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YjbR9EXABPEC&q=%22Melody+Time%22+disney&pg=PA163 | title=World War II and the Postwar Years in America: Volume 1 | access-date=January 12, 2013 | page=276| isbn=9780313356537 | author1=William H Young JR | last2=Young | first2=Nancy K. | date=17 September 2010 | publisher=Abc-Clio }}</ref> This sets it apart from the similarly structured ''Fantasia'', whose segments were set to classical music instead.<ref name="books.google">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qE7kN8OvJD8C&q=%22Melody+Time%22+disney&pg=PA171|title=Warman's Disney Collectibles Field Guide: Values and Identification|publisher=Kreuse Publications|year=2006|access-date=January 12, 2013|last=Farrell|first=Ken|pages=171–3|isbn=9781440228339}}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> As opposed to ''Fun and Fancy Free'', whose story was bound to the tales of ''Bongo'' and ''Mickey and the Beanstalk'', in this film "Walt Disney has let his animators and his color magicians have free rein".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1948/05/28/archives/disneys-newest-cartoon-array-melody-time-opens-at-astor-seven.html | title=Disney's Newest Cartoon Array, 'Melody Time,' Opens at Astor -- Seven Scenes Featured | newspaper=The New York Times | date=May 28, 1948 | access-date=January 12, 2013 | last=Crowther | first=Bosley | author-link=Bosley Crowther}}</ref>

''Melody Time'' was the last film The Andrews Sisters took part in. They sang throughout the 10-minute segment known as ''Little Toot''. Andrews Sisters member Maxine said: "It was quite an experience. On the wall at the studio they had the whole story in picture form. Two songwriters played the score and Walt Disney explained it to us. It was a new thing for Disney. We sang the narrative. It was very exciting to work with Disney-he was such a gentleman".<ref name="books.google_a">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9mE2-RxDyZsC&q=%22Melody+Time%22+disney&pg=PA251|title=The Andrews Sisters: A Biography and Career Record|year=2004|access-date=January 12, 2013|last=Nimmo|first=H. Arlo|pages=150–1|publisher=McFarland |isbn=9780786432608}}</ref>

Favorite Disney juvenile actors [[Bobby Driscoll]] and [[Luana Patten]], who also starred in ''[[Song of the South]]'' and ''[[So Dear to My Heart]]'', appear in the last sequence as the two children who hear the story of Pecos Bill.<ref name="books.google_c">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ax6PzlpRgNkC&q=%22Melody+Time%22+disney&pg=PA46 | title=From Screen to Theme | year=2010 | access-date=January 12, 2013 | last=Dodge | first=Brent | pages=46–9| publisher=Dog Ear | isbn=9781608444083 }}</ref>

''Melody Time'' was the last feature film to include Donald Duck and José Carioca until the 1988 [[Touchstone Pictures]] film ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit]]''.<ref name="books.google_c" />

==Release==
The film was originally released in USA, Brazil, and Argentina in 1948, in 1949 in Australia and in 1950 in Mexico and Uruguay. From December 1948 (UK) to 15 September 1954 (Denmark) the film was released across Europe. The film was known by a variety of names including ''Време за музика'' in Bulgaria, ''Mélodie cocktail'' in France, ''Musik, Tanz und Rhythmus'' in Germany, and ''Säveltuokio'' in Finland.

Disney later released a package film entitled ''Music Land'', a nine-segment film which "recycled sequences from both ''Make Mine Music'' and ''Melody Time''". Five selections were from ''Melody Time'' while another was the short ''Two For the Record'', which consisted of two segments produced under Benny Goodman's direction.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5rfRdOMfTqsC&q=%22Melody+Time%22+disney&pg=PA33 | title=The Cartoon Music Book | publisher=A Capella Books | year=2002 | access-date=January 12, 2013 | author=Daniel Goldmark and Yuval Taylor | pages=126–9| isbn=9781569764121 }}</ref>

''Melody Time'' was unusual in that, until 1998 (50 years after its initial release), it remained "one of the handful of Disney's animated features yet to be released on videocassette". Some of the segments "have been re-released as featurettes", and ''Once Upon a Wintertime'' has "been included on other Disney video cartoon compilations".<ref name="pqasb.pqarchiver">{{cite web |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/30116463.html?dids=30116463:30116463&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jun+11%2C+1998&author=Donald+Liebenson.+Special+to+the+Tribune.&pub=Chicago+Tribune&desc=THE+FULL+COMPOSITION+DISNEY%27S+50-YEAR-OLD+%60MELODY+TIME%27+FINALLY+RELEASED+IN+WHOLE+ON+VIDEO&pqatl=google | title=The Full Composition Disney's 50-Year-Old 'Melody Time' Finally Released in Whole On Video | work=Chicago Tribune | date=June 11, 1998 | access-date=January 12, 2013 | author=Liebenson, Donald}}{{dead link|date=July 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

===Home media===
''Melody Time'' was first released on January 25, 1987, in Japan, on [[Laserdisc]], and then on [[VHS]] on June 2, 1998, under the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection title.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=LB&p_theme=lb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAE92495BCD6794&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM | title=NEW DISNEY VIDEO IN STORES TUESDAY | access-date=January 12, 2013}}</ref> This [[THX]] certified VHS was the first American home video release of the film itself, premiering in time for its 50th anniversary.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bossave |first=Roy |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-miami-herald-beat-the-heat-by-watchi/98855157/ |title=Beat the heat by watching old summer films
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240829172623/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-miami-herald-beat-the-heat-by-watchi/98855157/ |date=June 23, 1998 |access-date=August 29, 2024 |archive-date=August 29, 2024 |page=112 |work=Herald Staff Writer |publisher=[[The Miami Herald]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |url-status=live}} {{Open access}}</ref>

Prior to its 1998 home video debut in the US, in part of the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection, ''Once Upon A Wintertime'' was featured on the VHS, A Walt Disney Christmas, ''Little Toot'' on Storybook Classics, ''Blame It On The Samba'' on The Wonderful World of Disney: Music for Everybody and ''Pecos Bill'' on the American Heroes VHS paired with ''[[Paul Bunyan (film)|Paul Bunyan]]''.

On June 6, 2000, ''Melody Time'' was released on VHS and [[DVD]] as part of the ''Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection''. However, in the Region 1 DVD release all scenes of smoking were digitally removed in the ''Pecos Bill'' segment while the Region 2 release in Europe leaves those scenes unaltered. The movie was left uncut, with smoking scenes intact, when it was included on the [[Disney+]] streaming service. It was released on Blu-Ray, exclusive to the Disney Movie Club, on November 2, 2021, also uncut and unaltered.

===Marketing===
The various taglines of the film were: "For Your All-Time Good Time!", "7 Hit Songs! 11 Musical Stars!", and "Walt Disney's Great New Musical Comedy".

Collectible items for the film include books, figures, and posters.<ref name="books.google"/>

==Reception==
===Critical reception===
====Contemporary reviews====
At the time of its release, the film received "generally unfavorable reviews".<ref name="books.google_d">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WPXZl1lcR30C&q=%22Melody+Time%22+disney&pg=PA11 | title=Disney Discourse: Producing the Magic Kingdom | publisher=Routledge | year=1994 | access-date=January 12, 2013 | last=Smoodin | first=Eric Loren | page=11| isbn=9780415906166 }}</ref> However, ''Disney Discourse: Producing the Magic Kingdom'' notes that an article in ''Time'' Magazine around that time "celebrated the global scope of the Disney product",<ref name="books.google_d" /> and a 1948 review for ''[[The News-Sentinel]]'' said the "charm and skill" that one had to expect from Disney is "delightful entertainment" for all children.<ref name="news.google" /> A 1948 review of the film for the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' said the "acts" ''Johnny Appleseed'' and ''Pecos Bill'', which the "new variety show from Walt Disney [gave] special attention to" are "'human' sagas" and as a result "more endearing" than the rest of the segments.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/416715191.html?dids=416715191:416715191&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Jul+30%2C+1948&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Disney%27s+%27Melody+Time%27+Diverting+Show&pqatl=google | title=Disney's 'Melody Time' Diverting Show | work=The Los Angeles Times | date=July 30, 1948 | access-date=January 12, 2013 | last=Scheuer | first=Philip K. | archive-date=March 6, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306230319/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/doc/165837247.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS%3AAI&type=historic&date=Jul%2030%2C%201948&author=&pub=Los%20Angeles%20Times&edition=&startpage=&desc=Disney%27s%20%27Melody%20Time%27%20Diverting%20Show | url-status=dead }}</ref> ''The Andrews Sisters: A Biography and Career Record'' notes that "the public liked the film and it was a box-office success".<ref name="books.google_a" />

A 1948 review by the ''[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]'' said the film was a "visual and auditory delight" and added that if Disney were able to reach his audience's other senses, "there's no doubt he'd be able to please them too". It says a "tuneful and functional soundtrack rounds out the Disney art". It said that ''Bumble Boogie'' "reverted back to fantasia-like interpretive technique". It also notes that the abstraction ends after ''Trees'', and the final three shorts are "story-sequences". It says the simple story of Johnny Appleseed is done with "touching perception". It said ''Little Toot'' "is destined to become a fable of our time" and adds "the Andrew Sisters tell the story in lilting song". The review ended with the author saying "deserving accolades will go to [Walt Disney] and his whole production staff, as well as to the staff whose voices he has used as well".<ref name="news.google_a" />

A 1948 review of the film for ''The News-Sentinel'' described ''Pecos Bill'' as the best segment, and said it "caused a stir among the small fry in the audience".

====Retrospective reviews====
Later reviews are more mixed, noting the film's faults, but also praising it for various technical achievements.

DVDizzy notes that in regard to the mix of shorts and 1940s music, "the marriage often does not work, and the melodies are not particularly the film's forte"; however, it adds that this is a modern-day opinion, and that paying audiences at the time the film was released probably "felt better about the music". The site then reviewed each segment in turn, saying: ''Once Upon a Wintertime'' is "physical slapstick" that doesn't match the "dramatic singing by Frances Langford", ''Bumble Boogie'' is "fun but forgettable", ''The Legend of Johnny Appleseed'' is the "most enjoyable" of the segments, ''Little Toot'' is "rather generic", ''Trees'' features "some nice imagery", ''Blame it on the Samba'' "involve[s] Latin dancing and nothing more", and ''Pecos Bill'' has "Disney...go[ing] back and us[ing] today's technology to alter [Bill's smoking,] what admittedly is a minor point in one short of a film that's predominantly going to be watched and purchased by animation enthusiasts/historians". It explains the "video quality is consistently satisfying" and that the "audio has the dated feel of other '40s Disney films".<ref name="dvdizzy"/>

The film received a score of 77.06 out of 100 based on 50 votes, on the site Disney Movies Guide.<ref name="disneymovieslist">{{cite web |url=http://www.disneymovieslist.com/movies/details.asp?mov=melody-time | title=Melody Time | publisher=Disney Movies Guide | access-date=January 10, 2013}}</ref>

In his book ''The Animated Movie Guide'', Jerry Beck gave ''Melody Time'' a rating of 2/5 stars, and described the film as "odds and ends from a studio geared up towards revival". He said that by this time the post-war formula of releasing anthologies had become "tired", with only a few of the segments being interesting, and feeling as if the animators kept "pushing for something more creative to do". He commented that the film, a "vast underachievement" for Disney, felt dated like its predecessor ''Make Mine Music'', and added that he found it hard to believe that the artists who made this film had also made ''Pinocchio'' eight years before. He praised the "exceptional designs and palettes" by stylist [[Mary Blair]], including the "flat styli[s]ed backgrounds" of ''Wintertime'', and the Impressionist painting/folk art look of ''The Legend of Johnny Appleseed''. He highlighted the "slapstick...impressive montage of Bill's impressive feats" as a "true treat". He described the "manic interpretation" of ''Flight of the Bumblebee'' known as ''Bumble Boogie'', in which a bee terrorized by musical instruments and notes "change[s] colors and outlines from one moment to the next as the backgrounds seamlessly dissolve, change or morph around him", as "Disney's best piece of surrealism since the 'Pink Elephant on Parade' sequence in Dumbo". He also spoke about the "stellar special effects" involved in the dynamite exploding Ethel Smith's organ instrument, in the segment ''Blame it on the Samba''. However, he added that the rest of ''Melody Time'' was "sad[ly]...forgettable".<ref name="books.google_b" />

In ''The Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney and the American Way of Life'', Steven Watts explains that while ''Pecos Bill'' "recaptured some of the old magic", the film as a whole, along with the other "halfhearted...pastiche[s] of short subjects", came across as "animated shorts surrounded with considerable filler and stuff into a concocted package". He adds that as a result they "never caught fire" due to their "varying wildly in quality", with moments of creativity being outweighed by the "insipid, mediocre, stale stretches of work".<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NgARIndAbjAC&q=%22Melody+Time%22+disney&pg=PA483 | title=The Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney and the American Way of Life | publisher=First University of Missouri Press | year=1997 | access-date=January 12, 2013 | last=Watts | first=Steven | page=249| isbn=9780826213792 }}</ref>

The authors of ''The Cartoon Music Book'' said ''Melody Time'' was "much better" than the other post-''Fantasia'' Disney package films of the era, adding that it was "beautifully designed and scored", paving the way for the "'populuxe' style" of Disney's first renaissance (starting with ''Cinderella'' in 1950). They stated that ''Trees'' and ''Blame it on the Samba'' (which they described as a "psychedelic Latin American sequence") are "charming, if still obscure, entries in the Disney pop song catalog[ue]".<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5rfRdOMfTqsC&q=%22Melody+Time%22+disney&pg=PA33 | title=The Cartoon Music Book | publisher=A Capella Books | year=2002 | access-date=January 12, 2013 | first1=Daniel | last1=Goldmark | first2=Yuval | last2=Taylor | pages=32–3 | isbn=9781569764121 }}</ref>

''The Andrews Sisters: A Biography and Career Record'' author H. Arlo Nimmo said "in general, [the Andrew Sisters-sung] Melody Time holds up well, and the story of 'Little Toot' is as appealing to today as when it originally appeared fifty-some years ago". He described the singing as "unremarkable but narrat[ing] the...story cleverly". He adds ''Variety''{{'s}} quote: "'Little Toot,'...is colorful and engrossing. Andrew Sisters give it popular vocal interpretation", and said that although ''The New York Times'' preferred the film to ''Make Mine Music'' the magazine added "The Andrew Sisters sing the story...not very excitingly". He also included Metronome's indifferent comment: "The Andrew Sisters sing a silly song about a tugboat". The article ''The Walt Disney Classics Collection Gets "Twitterpatted" For Spring'' deemed ''Little Toot'' one of ''Melody Time''{{'s}} highlights.<ref name="laughingplace">{{cite web |url=http://www.laughingplace.com/News-ID10009210.asp | title=The Walt Disney Classics Collection Gets "Twitterpatted" For Spring | access-date=January 12, 2013}}</ref>

In a review of the 2004 Disney film ''[[Home on the Range (2004 film)|Home on the Range]]'', the article "Frisky 'Range' doesn't measure up: Disney delivers fun" said that the "sendup of the Wild West...has some fitful comic vitality and charm - [but] it can't hold a candle to the 'Pecos Bill' segment of the studio's late-'40s anthology, 'Melody Time'".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=WT&p_theme=wt&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=101C758A8454481C&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|title=Frisky 'Range' doesn't measure up: Disney delivers fun, but it won't fulfill fans of old 'Pecos Bill'|access-date=January 12, 2013}}</ref>

Rotten Tomatoes reported that {{RT data|score}} of {{RT data|count}} critics have given the film a positive review, with an average score of {{RT data|average}}.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/melody_time|title=Melody Time|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|publisher=[[Fandango Media|Fandango]]|access-date={{RT data|access date}}}}{{RT data|edit}}</ref> The critical consensus reads, "Melody Time is a charming musical anthology film that's expertly crafted and filled with high-spirited numbers."

A 1998 ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' review of the film, in honor of its VHS release, described the film as a "sweet, old-fashioned delight and one of the few Disney animated films that pre-schoolers can watch alone without danger of being traumatized", but also added that the younger generation might be bored by it, as they are "attuned to the faster, hipper rhythms of the post-'Mermaid' era".<ref name="pqasb.pqarchiver" />

Beck considers the segment "Blame It on the Samba" to be the best "Good Neighbor" Disney film there is, stating that "it blows my mind every time I watch it."<ref>{{cite web|last=Beck|first=Jerry|author-link=Jerry Beck|title=My All-Time Top Ten Favorite Cartoons – Part 1|url=https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/my-all-time-top-ten-favorite-cartoons-part-1/|website=Cartoon Research|access-date=December 1, 2020|date=September 14, 2020}}</ref> Film historian [[J.B. Kaufman]] has noted that the segment is a cult favorite among Disney fans.<ref>{{cite web|last=Kaufman|first=J.B.|author-link=J.B. Kaufman|title=The Duck on the Cutting Room Floor|url=https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/the-duck-on-the-cutting-room-floor/|website=Cartoon Research|access-date=December 1, 2020|date=November 30, 2020}}</ref>

===Box office===
The film returned rentals to RKO by 1951 of $2,560,000 with $1,810,000 being generated in the U.S. and Canada.<ref name="Jewell" />

==Controversy==
Due to the controversy surrounding the smoking in ''Pecos Bill'', the segment was "heavily edited" when the film was released onto VHS in 1998. While the character of Bill is shown "smoking a cigarette in several sequences", the edited version cuts these scenes, "resulting in the removal of almost the entire tornado sequence, and [creating] some odd hand and mouth movements for Bill throughout". In a review at DVDizzy, it is noted that if one has an interest in the shorts, one will "probably be upset to know that Disney has decided to digitally edit out contents of the 50-plus-year-old frames of animation".<ref name="dvdizzy" /> In the ''Melody Time'' section of the ''Your Guide To Disney's 50 Animated Features'' feature at Empire Online, the review said of the editing: "at least, it was [done] for the US releases, but not for the rest of the world. Go figure."<ref name="empireonline" /> The scenes are removed on the ''Gold Collection'' DVD release<ref name="books.google_b" /> although the Japanese laserdisc and the version of the DVD released in the United Kingdom are uncut. For the first time in 80 years, the uncut version with Pecos Bill's cigarette can now be seen on [[Disney+]], alongside a Disney Movie Club exclusive Blu-ray, released on November 2, 2021.

According to a source, upon reviewing the music that Ken Darby had composed for ''Johnny Appleseed'', Walt Disney "scorned the music", describing it as "like New Deal music". Darby was "enraged", and said to Disney "THAT is just a cross-section of one man's opinion!". Darby was only employed at The Walt Disney Company for a short while after this supposed incident.

Jerry Beck, in his book ''The Animated Movie Guide'', comments on a risqué joke in ''Pecos Bill'' that somehow made it past the censors, when Bill kisses Sue and his guns rise from their holsters and begin to fire by themselves, simulating ejaculation. He adds jokingly that "perhaps Roy Rogers was covering the eyes of Bobby Driscoll and Luana Patten during this scene".<ref name="books.google_b" />

==Legacy==
Many of the seven segments were later released as shorts, and some of them became "more successful than the original film". ''Bumble Boogie'' was among the few segments to receive huge popularity upon individual release.<ref name="disneymovieslist"/> The article ''The Walt Disney Classics Collection Gets "Twitterpatted" For Spring'' notes that "the ''Little Toot'' segment of the film was so popular that it was re-released on its own as a short cartoon in 1954, and was subsequently featured on Walt Disney's popular weekly television series".<ref name="laughingplace" />

There are many references to the ''Pecos Bill'' segment in the [[Frontierland]] part of [[Magic Kingdom]]: there is a sign of Bill outside the Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe, as well as various images of him, the other characters, and their accessories around the cafe. A pair of gloves with the inscription "To Billy, All My Love, Slue Foot Sue" is located in a glass [[display case]]. In the World of Disney, Jose Carioca from ''Blame it on the Samba'' appears in a mural on the ceiling among many other characters. In a glass case, behind the windows of the All-Star Movies, there is a script for ''Melody Time''.<ref name="books.google_c" />

== See also ==
* [[1948 in film]]
* [[List of American films of 1948]]
* [[List of Walt Disney Pictures films]]
* [[List of Disney theatrical animated features]]
* [[List of animated feature films of the 1940s]]
* [[List of highest-grossing animated films]]
* [[List of package films]]
* ''[[Tall Tale (film)|Tall Tale: The Unbelievable Adventures of Pecos Bill]]'' (1995)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
* {{Official website|http://movies.disney.com/melody-time}}
* {{IMDb title|0040580}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|melody_time}}

{{Disney theatrical animated features}}
{{Walt Disney Animation Studios}}
{{Clyde Geronimi}}
{{Hamilton Luske}}
{{Wilfred Jackson}}
{{Donald Duck in animation}}
{{José Carioca in animation}}

[[Category:1948 films]]
[[Category:1948 animated films]]
[[Category:1940s American animated films]]
[[Category:1948 Western (genre) films]]
[[Category:1940s English-language films]]
[[Category:1948 musical films]]
[[Category:American Western (genre) films]]
[[Category:American children's animated musical films]]
[[Category:American films with live action and animation]]
[[Category:Animated films about insects]]
[[Category:Animated films set in New York City]]
[[Category:Censored films]]
[[Category:Donald Duck films]]
[[Category:Films about angels]]
[[Category:Films about trees]]
[[Category:Films directed by Clyde Geronimi]]
[[Category:Films directed by Wilfred Jackson]]
[[Category:Films directed by Jack Kinney]]
[[Category:Films directed by Hamilton Luske]]
[[Category:Films produced by Walt Disney]]
[[Category:Animated films about rabbits and hares]]
[[Category:Animated films set in Texas]]
[[Category:Animated films set in the 19th century]]
[[Category:Films set on boats]]
[[Category:Animated anthology films]]
[[Category:Walt Disney Animation Studios films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Ken Darby]]
[[Category:Films scored by Paul Smith (composer)]]
[[Category:Western (genre) animated films]]
[[Category:Johnny Appleseed]]
[[Category:Pecos Bill]]
[[Category:American anthology films]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Ken Anderson]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Winston Hibler]]
[[Category:Animated films about bees]]
[[Category:Animated films set in forests]]
[[Category:Animated films about birds]]
[[Category:Animated films about horses]]
[[Category:Animated films set on ships]]
[[Category:English-language Western (genre) films]]
[[Category:English-language musical films]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Erdman Penner]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Harry Reeves]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Homer Brightman]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Ted Sears]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Joe Rinaldi]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by William Cottrell]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Art Scott]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Jesse Marsh]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by John Walbridge]]