Make Mine Music
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A musical fantasy in ten parts. |
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Released in 1946, Make Mine Music is the 8th film in the Disney Animated Canon
In light of World War II, a large portion of Disney's animators were drafted. In order to keep making movies, Disney had to settle with releasing package films. Make Mine Music is the first of these films (Although Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros can be included too, they were a product of the government wanting to make friends with South America, not because of a lack of animators.)
As the name implies, the movie is a music-based Animated Anthology in a similar vein to Fantasia, divided into 10 separate shorts. As with many of the Disney package films of this period, the segments would occasionally be aired separately as part of various Disney anthology TV shows in the 80s and 90s. The shorts that comprise the film consist of the following:
- The Martins and the Coys "A rustic ballad" about two Feuding Families, the Martins and the Coys, whose feud eventually kills all but one member of each family, Gracie Martin and Henry Coy. The two survivors fall in love.
- Blue Bayou is an unused Fantasia segment, originally set to Claude Debussy's Clair de Lune.
- The unabridged Clair de Lune version was eventually restored as a separate short.
- All the Cats Join In is about a group of teenagers (hep cats, of course) who get together at the local malt shop and dance around. Most of the scenery and characters are drawn by an artist with a pencil, in a similar style to Aquarela do Brasil from Saludos Amigos
- Without You is a song about lost love, with accompanying visuals. The lovers in question are never shown.
- Casey at the Bat is the classic story of the over-confident all-star.
- Two Silhouettes features two live-action silhouettes dancing to ballet music
- Peter and The Wolf is an adaptation of the composition about a young boy who sets out to kill the local wolf.
- After You've Gone is about a set of musical instruments that come to life and begin dancing.
- Johnnie Fedora and Alice Blue Bonnet is the story of two love-struck hats in a department store that become separated when Alice is purchased.
- The Whale Who Wanted To Sing At the Met is about an incredibly gifted whale named Willie, that can not only sing Opera, but sing in three distinct voices at once thanks to his three uvulas. When he hears impresario Tetti-Tatti is searching for him, he eagerly jumps at the call, not realizing that Tetti-Tatti, believing Willie's singing talent is due to him having swallowed an Opera singer, is trying to hunt him.
Tropes used in Make Mine Music include:
- Adaptation Expansion: See Disneyfication below.
- Alcohol Hic: Grandpa Coy.
- Alliterative Name: The title
- Annoying Younger Sibling: In All the Cats Join In, the teenage girl seems to have one.
- Big Badass Wolf: Emphasized by Peter and his friends being rather small.
- Bring My Red Jacket: Peter is dressed entirely in red.
- Bowdlerise: The Martins and the Coys is removed from the Gold Edition release of the movie for excessive gunplay.
- "Blue Bayou" AKA "Clair De Lune" was intended as a full segment for Fantasia, but was ultimately scrapped as a victim of Fantasia being too long as it already was. The version used here is a edited down version. Fortunately, the full uncut version (which was salvaged from an extremely rare workprint) was included as an extra on "The Fantasia Anthology."
- Cats Are Mean: Or, more appropriately, cats are sneaky.
- Cat Up a Tree: Subverted Trope. In this case, Ivan is up the tree not as a Dude in Distress, but so that he can finally capture the wolf.
- Color Coded for Your Convenience: The Martins wear blue and have red hair, while the Coys wear red and have black hair (though Henry is curiously blond).
- Dead Hat Shot: In Peter and the Wolf, the wolf chases the duck into a tree, and comes out with feathers flying, licking its chops. Subverted when the duck turns up alive at the end.
- Again subverted with a literal Dead Hat Shot greeting the three hunters, who immediately assume Peter's been killed.
- Disney Death: Despite being shown Sonia's spirit entering the pearly gates. It's notable as being one of the earliest examples of the trope, following Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs's and Pinocchio's, and possibly the first ever straight example of the trope, as both Snow White and :Pinocchio were more or less dead and revived afterwards, whereas Sonia was alive the whole time.
- Peter also gets this, although it doesn't last as long.
- Disney Acid Sequence: "After You've Gone."
- Disneyfication: The story of Peter and the Wolf is changed around a bit, giving names to the various characters among other things.
- Downer Ending: The last short, The Whale Who Wanted To Sing At the Met ends on one.
- It's more Bittersweet Ending, in this troper's opinion.
- Down to the Last Play: Casey At The Bat, of course.
- Fake-Out Opening: The title card and name of All the Cats Join In suggests the short will be about cats. The artist even starts drawing a cat before abruptly erasing it and drawing a human instead.
- Fan Service: Also in All the Cats Join In, there's a sequence in which a teenage girl strips down and takes a shower, then gets dressed. Although no "naughty bits" appear, the scene is surprisingly explicit for a Disney film.
- Feuding Families: The Martins and the Coys
- Five-Man Band: In Peter and The Wolf, with Peter, Sascha, Sonia, Ivan, and Peter's grandfather.
- Happily Ever After: Played with oddly in The Martins and The Coys where the spirits of the two respective families are initially appalled at the idea of the two families living Happily Ever After. Until it turns out Gracie and Henry's marital life is anything but happy.
- Hit Flash: Happens when Henry runs back into the house, only to run into Gracie's fist.
- Hot-Blooded: Sascha the bird in Peter and the Wolf.
- Indy Hat Roll: Sascha barely escapes being eaten by the wolf, but when he notices his hat is missing, he flies back into the back of his mouth to retrieve it.
- Inspector Javert: Tetti-Tatti.
- Kid Hero: Peter in Peter and the Wolf.
- Leitmotif - As explained at the beginning of Peter and the Wolf:
- Peter: The string quartet
- Sascha: Flute
- Sonia: Oboe
- Ivan: Clarinet
- Grandfather: Bassoon
- Hunters' gunshots: Drums
- Wolf: French horns
- Lighter and Fluffier: This applies to Peter and the Wolf, somewhat.
- Literal Ass-Kicking: Gracie does this to Henry in the end.
- Love At First Sight
- Malt Shop: The setting for All the Cats Join In.
- Mickey Mousing: Of course. Oddly, Peter And The Wolf spends the first two minutes explaining how this works, and which characters are represented by which instruments in case you didn't know, or couldn't figure it out by watching.
- Nerf Arm: Peter's pop-gun.
- Sapient Cetaceans: The segment called "The Whale Who Wanted To Sing At the Met" is about a whale who was able to sing opera - in three different voices! - and whose big wish is to perform on the New York Metropolitan Opera. Unfortunately, he is killed by a misguided opera empresario who thought he was rescuing opera singers in the whale's belly.
- Sexy Silhouette: Not in Two Silhouettes, as one may assume, but in All the Cats Join In, when the teenage girl goes to take a shower and strips down behind the screen door, where we can only see her naked silhouette.
- Solo Duet: Willie can sing in multiple voices.
- Spinning Paper and Extra! Extra! Read All About It! opens The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met as we are told about the discovery of said whale. Worst News Judgment Ever is averted as the stories about Willie begin in small columns at the back of the paper, gradually becoming a front page story as the story gains notoriety.
- Stock Scream: Goofy's scream is used while the Martins were shooting Grandpa Coy.
- Token Evil Teammate: Ivan the Cat in Peter and the Wolf.
- True Companions: In Peter and the Wolf, Peter's party seem to be these.
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Henry and Gracie (though to be fair, Henry is at least attractive compared to the rest of his family).
