Own it:
|
With: Roy Rogers, Trigger, Dennis Day, The Andrews Sisters, Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians, Freddy Martin, Ethel Smith, Frances Langford, Buddy Clark, Bob Nolan, Sons of the Pioneers, The Dinning Sisters, Bobby Driscoll, Luana Patten
|
Written by: Winston Hibler, Erdman Penner, Harry Reeves, Homer Brightman, Ken Anderson, Ted Sears, Joe Rinaldi, William Cottrell, Art Scott, Jesse Marsh, Bob Moore, John Walbridge, Hardie Gramatky
|
Directed by: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, Hamilton Luske
|
MPAA Rating: NR
|
Running Time: 75
|
|
Date: 05/27/1948
|
|
|
|
Apple Blossoms
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
This was another anthology film put together by Walt Disney while his company was struggling because of WWII and other factors. It's no Fantasia, but it's far lovelier and more coherent than its predecessor Fun and Fancy Free. It contains seven stories, some of them so slight they're like sonnets, or dandelion tufts flying away in the breeze. First is Once Upon a Wintertime, following a couple of young lovers as they frolic on a frozen lake (accompanied by a pair of rabbits). Bumble Boogie is amazing, perhaps good enough to have been in Fantasia if it weren't so fleetingly short. Third is the familiar The Legend Johnny Appleseed, followed by Little Toot, the story of a tugboat narrated (and sung) by the Andrews Sisters. Trees is based on Joyce Kilmer's poem, and is a lovely impressionistic piece. Blame It on the Samba features Donald Duck and José Carioca, being cheered up by rhythm and dancing. Finally, there's the longest one, the tall tale of Pecos Bill, narrated by Roy Rogers, which is loony fun, but perhaps might have been better placed somewhere in the middle. (Apparently, images of Pecos Bill smoking have been restored on the streaming service Disney+ but have been edited out of all video releases.) Next up from Disney was one more combo film, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, and then Cinderella finally put him back in the saddle.
|
