Melody (1953 film)

Melody is a 1953 Walt Disney short animated cartoon film, originally released on May 28, 1953.[1] This film was the first in a proposed series of shorts teaching the principles of music, called Adventures in Music. Only one other film in the series was made, Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom.

Melody
Directed byWard Kimball
Charles A. Nichols
Produced byWalt Disney
Story byDick Huemer
StarringBill Thompson
Loulie Jean Norman
Harry Stanton
Gloria Wood
Music byJoseph Dubin (music)
Sonny Burke
Paul Webster (songs)
Animation byWard Kimball
Julius Svendsen
Marc Davis
Harvey Toombs
Hal Ambro
Marvin Woodward
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Distributed byRKO Radio Pictures
Release date
May 28, 1953
Running time
10 mins (one reel)
LanguageEnglish

Walt Disney was always a fan of music, and it shows in all of his movies and short films. He said: "There's a terrific power to music. You can run any of these pictures and they'd be dragging and boring, but the minute you put music behind them, they have life and validity they don't get any other way."[2]

Plot

The short film shows Professor Owl instructing his class of birds on how to find melody around them.

The short starts with the birds entering the schoolhouse and Professor Owl taking roll call. Following this, Professor Owl discusses that today they will learn about melodies "something we really cannot do without", although Bertie Birdbrain interrupts him with multiple guesses of what the topic of the short is about and what melody means. Professor Owl then plays several notes on the piano to give us a clear demonstration of how melodies are assembled.

Following this, they fly off to discover the many melodic sounds of nature. However, Bertie cannot hear them because his dunce cap is stuck on his head. Professor Owl pulls it off unstuck to make him feel better. Then there is a short music interlude in which the chorus sings about the sounds of nature that are listed. Following this, Professor Owl discusses of how the only two creatures that can sing are birds and humans. After showing the male example, the male caricature asks what he means, and Owl demonstrates by mocking him while playing notes on the saxophone. Then he shows some female examples which are more musical than average males. The female voices overlap causing Owl's ears to get off track. He then demands the females to shut up and be quiet so that he can re-concentrate and continue the lesson.

Then there is a scene that shows the "Steps of life", demonstrating how melody is evident throughout the life of an average man. As we go through time, the overall colors shown for each step changes subtlety, as warm ochre, yellows and reds, suggesting growth and vitality, are for his childhood and school years, up until his marriage. When he gets older, the color scheme subtlety changes from reds to purples to blues, depicting maturity and loss of vitality. There is a quick survey of the stages of life, as captured by songs: "Rock-a-bye Baby" for birth, "The Alphabet Song" for primary school, "Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes" for the 'mating season', "Here Comes the Bride" and there goes the groom for their Wedding Day, "Home! Sweet Home!" on the man's 'prime of life' at the top before the descending begins, "Happy Birthday to You" for the middle aged man who is beginning to regret getting older, "Silver Threads Among the Gold" for getting the first gray hair, "The Old Gray Mare" when the man's body begins to feel his age as he falls down hard on the stairs, "Auld Lang Syne" for the decrepit old man before he gets his 'reward' (while being kicked off by the baby New Year's), and "Oh, Dem Golden Slippers" finishes it off with the man who gave up his ghost and gleefully became one more angel for the Heavenly Band while wearing the Golden Slippers.

Some inspirations for song are outlined in song (such as love), but Penelope Pinfeather in the class states that they never, ever sing about brains.

Finally, an example is shown of how a simple melody can be expanded into a symphony: an elaborate version of the simple tune which opened the lesson.

Cast

Theater releases

The first world showing of Melody in public was shown in 2 Los Angeles theaters on its release day, including the Paramount Theatre.

Home video releases

This cartoon was released on DVD twice: once on Fantasia 2000 and then on Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts, 1920s–1960s.

It was also released on television twice: once on Mickey's Mouse Tracks Episode 27 and on Donald's Quack Attack Episode 4.[3]

Soundtrack

Melody was released in the year 1953, some songs of the official soundtrack are "The Bird and the Cricket and the Willow Tree" by Sonny Burke. It was sung by the Disney Studio Chorus over a sequence showing animated birds chirping, crickets rubbing their legs together, and wind blowing through a willow tree. The song has a pleasant tune and lyrics that are simply a list of these musical nature sounds.[4][5]

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References
  1. Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. p. 153. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7.
  2. Hischack, Thomas. The Disney Song Encyclopedia, Preface
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-04-13. Retrieved 2014-04-12.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "Melody (1953) Soundtrack".
  5. Hischack, Thomas. The Disney Song Encyclopedia, page 20
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