Yes, time to take a quick look at the next 5 Disney films in our mission to watch every Disney film ever made. The films covered in today’s post go from 1946 – 1949, which brings us even closer to where we are with the rewatch. We started watching these with the Disney+ Through the Decades collection, which was incredibly useful as it contained the shorts along with everything else. Unfortunately the collection was removed, so we’re using this list from D23 instead. I’ll be noting the films we haven’t seen, too.
1946: Song of the South
Of course, this infamous film isn’t available anywhere to watch, and even if it was, I don’t think I’d want to, really.
1947: Fun and Fancy Free
This had very vague memories of once we sat down to watch it, but I don’t think it was one I was ever able to watch repeatedly. It’s a nice setup; the film starts with Jiminy Cricket, and he plays a record that draws us into the story of Bongo, a circus bear. After this, there’s a bit about Jiminy getting invited to a party, at the house of a ventriloquist. The dolls were, admittedly, a little creepy, but we’re soon in the story of Mickey and the Beanstalk, and it was great to see Mickey, Donald and Goofy in this fairy tale.
1948: Melody Time
This one I had never sat down and watched, but I had seen a number of the shorts that make up Melody Time in different versions. There are seven shorts that make up Melody Time, including “Once Upon a Wintertime”, which I have very fond memories of from my childhood, thanks to a VHS of A Walt Disney Christmas my nan had, and I watched pretty much year-round. The rest are entertaining in their own right, and again I have some vague memories of some of them. Definitely a fun one.
1949: So Dear to My Heart
Another one we can’t actually watch because it’s not (yet – hopefully yet!) available on Disney+. Which is a shame because it really does sound cute and I would like to see it!
1949: The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad
And closing out the 40s (and this part!) is a very famous early Disney film, one which pairs – oddly – Sleepy Hollow with The Wind in the Willows, and somehow it works? They’re kind of pitted as an almost UK vs US thing, with Basil Rathbone telling the story of Mr Toad, and Bing Crosby relating The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Lots of fun, fairly dark, and I know I must have seen ‘Mr Toad’ countess times as a kid (at one point I think I’d seen most versions of The Wind in the Willows!) but if I’d seen The Adventures of Ichabod it must have only been once or twice.
And there we have it – fifteen films so far, and we’re entering the 50s now, which means not long to go before I catch up with myself! Next time is a couple of animated along with some live action, and lots of familiar names for any Disney fan.
Unwrapping Words 