DVDizzy Forum

Well I finally got my "Melody Time" DVD today (Ichabod and Mr Toad didn't arrive though ) so I thought I'd type up a quike review for it.

I'd never seen this movie (bar the "Little Toot" section) but from the era it comes from I wasn't expecting much. I was gladly wrong. It's not a classic Disney movie but the neglect it has recieved from disney over the years doesn't suit it. The animation I feel is quite like the shorts disney was producing at the time but some sections are a lot better animation wise (Once Upon a Wintertime, Trees).

The picture quality can be divided into two halfs, great and poor. For the first 6 sections the quality is really good, everything is as clear as if the movie was made now-a-days. But from "Blame It On The Samba" onwards the picture quality really dips. For the sections up to "Pecos Bill" this doesn't really make sense but Luckly Pecos Bill is uncut and so the reason the picture quality is so poor is understandable. Even though the could have done something with it because there are many moments when you can see scratch's and marks on the film, but I'd rather have this section uncut than good picture quality.

The special features are nothing to scream home about but the three shorts are good choices just because their all good.

The cover art is one of the (if not the) nicest disney has produced for a single disc release they care little about. BUT the chapter insert is rubbish, its a flimsy piece of paper than I'm bound to either rip or lose eventually.

All in all some things made me pleased about this release (good picture quality for the most, uncut Pecos Bill, nice cover art and the movie was more entertaining than I'd except), and a few things weren't so good (crappy chapter insert and bad picture quality on last three sections).

I'm happy

Mine hasn't been in the player yet. So it's UNCUT (I suppose the editing on the R1 release was to remove a cigerette?).

This bodes well for Make Mine Music. I keep scanning the BBFC site for signs of a re-certification but to no luck so far.

I will post on here the new running time for any Make Mine Music on the BBFC as soon as it is publised on the website.

I did however re-watch The Three Caballeros a couple of nights ago. Strange that they should edit Goofy smoking out of Saludos Amigos, but keep Jose Carioca smoking a cigar throughout Melody Time and the Three Caballeros.

Good to hear it's uncut. I wonder what the thinking behind this move is, whether it's just an oversight, or if it's a new policy of not censoring things, as Roy supposedly wants.

Great news that this is uncut...
Have an excuse to order it now!

It probably is just an oversight, but let us hope that we see the Martins and the Coys segment in MMM eventually. Never understood the smoking editing myself. It seemed so arbitrary.

Thanks for the review, Matty.

Now I have to spend MORE money
Especially since I found out that the Herbie Box is in fact largely in widescreen. See my post here: http://www.ultimatedisney.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=619

Wow, this is great news endeed! I hope they release this film uncut everywhere else too!

You said the cover art is very nice, can you post it?

Haven't picked up "Melody Time" yet, but i'm glad I didn't.

Looks like i'll be r2'ing it. Thanks for the info Matty-Mouse .

That's the same as R1's Gold Classic Collection release. Much better than the cover of the old Masterpiece Collection VHS. Reminds me of the cover for Fantasia's first release on VHS (remember the one with Sorcerer Mickey standing on a sheet of music? with the black clamshell packaging?). Very good.

A question I've got ....
How is the scene where Bill rools himself a cigarette and then lights it with a lightning bolt edited out of the region 1 version? They sing about whats he's doing in the song, doesn't it make the music go off?

Were shorts like Once Upon A Wintertime and Casey At The Bat, etc.. produced intentionally for these releases (Melody Time, Make Mine Music, etc) or were they made as theatrical shorts first and soon after compiled into the feature lengths?

I think they were made as theatrical featurettes first, because Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Wind in the Willlows were made seperate first, and then made into Ichabod and Mr. Toad, as were Mickey and the Beanstalk and Bongo. And segments like Johnny Appleseed and Pecos Bill are available in numerous other places (special features, compilation videos etc.)

I'm sure they were MADE seperate, but are you sure they were RELEASED as featurettes before the full-length films?

^ Thats what I figured also because Ive seen the segregated versions of Mickey & The Beanstalk (without the live action narration), Sleepy Hollow, Once Upon A Wintertime, etc...


*edit* This was meant to go above Sulley's post.

STASHONE wrote:Were shorts like Once Upon A Wintertime and Casey At The Bat, etc.. produced intentionally for these releases (Melody Time, Make Mine Music, etc) or were they made as theatrical shorts first and soon after compiled into the feature lengths?

They were produced intentionally for the movies.

Okay, I got my answer...

"Once Upon A Wintertime" was originally released on Sept 17, 1954... "Melody Time" was released in 1948.

Thanks Dacp.

ughhh...I REALLY need to get a region-free DVD player

Matty-Mouse wrote:A question I've got ....
How is the scene where Bill rools himself a cigarette and then lights it with a lightning bolt edited out of the region 1 version? They sing about whats he's doing in the song, doesn't it make the music go off?

Anyone got an answer to this, as I was wondering the same thing after watching my (r2) copy...

yeah first the movies Make Mine Music, Melody Time, Fun and Fancy Free, and Ichabod and Mr. Toad were released then the shorts were released seperate.