Product Description

Share in Walt Disney's extraordinary vision of pairing imaginative stories with spectacular music in Disney's 8th full-length animated classic, available for the first time ever. In the tradition of FANTASIA, MAKE MINE MUSIC is a glorious collection of musically charged animated shorts featuring such fun-filled favorites as "Peter And The Wolf," narrated by the beloved voice behind Winnie The Pooh. In addition, you'll enjoy such classic cartoon hits as "Casey At The Bat," "The Whale Who Wanted To Sing At The Met," and "Johnnie Fedora And Alice Bluebonnet," the whimsical adventure of two hats who fall in love in a department store window. Every member of your family will have a favorite in this musical medley of fun and fantasy from Disney!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5969 in DVD
• Brand: BUENA VISTA HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2000-06-06
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English, Spanish
• Dubbed in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 75 minutes

Amazon.com
Sometimes referred to as "the Poor Man's Fantasia," Make Mine Music (1946) was the first of the "package features" Walt Disney released after World War II. Instead of Bach and Beethoven, the artists illustrated segments set to popular music by Benny Goodman, Dinah Shore, and the Andrews Sisters. Originally set to Debussy's "Claire de Lune," "Blue Bayou" remains an atmospheric evocation of the Everglades. "The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met" is a charming fantasy about a cetacean with an extraordinary voice. "Peter and the Wolf," based on the Prokofiev score, offers brightly colored designs, but the narration by Sterling Holloway seems superfluous. "All the Cats Join In" is an upbeat evocation of the Bobby Sox era, but "Casey at the Bat" and "Johnny Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet" feel self-conscious and unfunny.

"Two Silhouettes" combines rotoscoped images of Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo stars Tatiana Riabouchinska and David Lichine with kitsch cupids, sparkles, and hearts. "The Martins and the Coys," a spoof of a hillbilly feud, has been excised in a bow to modern taste. The supplemental material includes The Band Concert, the first color Mickey Mouse short and one of the character's finest performances, and Music Land, a quirky Silly Symphony about clashing musical styles. --Charles Solomon

Customer Reviews

Disney Has Done It Again
When FANTASIA was released on home video in 1991, there was a clip missing (also from recent theatrical releases) becauses it was deemed offensive to today's audiences. When ALADDIN was released to home video, pressure groups insisted some lyrics of the opening song be changed from the theatrical release (of course they weren't changed on the soundtrack CD which came with the "special edition" video release). When MELODY TIME was first released to home video in 1998, the cigarette dangling from the mouth of the character Pecos Bill was edited out (evidently Disney villains can smoke, but not the hero). When THE LITTLE MERMAID was re-released to home video in 1998, the advertising said Fully Restored - but the closing credits were pushed to one side to make room for a "music video" and the song was not even the original song accompanying those end credits - this is restored?

And now we have MAKE MINE MUSIC - the last of the animated Disney features to be released on home video (some had previously been released on laser disc but not video). It is difficult to believe that anything Disney released to theatres to all audiences in 1946 would be considered objectionable to today's more cynical audiences more than 50 years later - but evidently Disney thinks so. The first of the 10 musical segments that make up this film (the same format as FANTASIA) is missing! The segment is called The Martins and The Coys, performed by The King's Men (whose name has been erased from the opening credits!). This film has played several times - intact - on the Disney channel (thank God for VCRs) for almost 10 years - the last being less than one year ago. But now, evidently for the home video audience, a segment about feuding hillbillies is considered too objectionable.

I like this film, and it is important to me to have it in my Disney animated features video collection. Regardless if it is your cup of tea (old 40s music), or if the DVD has good sound and pictures, I cannot recommend this film. When I buy something on home video, I expect it to be complete - regardless of Disney's devotion to what is considered PC. We can't protect anyone from the past.

Great early Disney with disappointing edits
I am both happy and disappointed with "Make Mine Music." Happy, because it contains some fantastic theatrical-quality short cartoons in DVD quality. "Peter and the Wolf" has always been a favorite of mine since the days of "Wonderful World of Disney." The funny and sad tale of "The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met" is still great (Love that version of Mephisto). "Casey at the Bat" is a familiar classic. My personal favorite for this release is "All the Cats Join In." It has great animation and a swinging tune.

The disappointment comes from Disney's unfortunate editing. They are very busy painting fig leaves, and ultimately it is the fans who suffer. One piece originally included in "Make Mine Music," "Martins & Coys," has been removed entirely due to the comic gunplay which they feared could be confused with reality by children. Significant edits have been made to the actual animation cells of "All the Cats Join In" to make the girls less...buxom.

I hope that an unedited version of "Make Mine Music" is released some day. Until then, it is nice to have some of these great cartoons on DVD.

Just say no to this abridged version
As tacky and unnecessary as putting boxer shorts on the statue of David is Disney's over-zealous insistence on self-censorship. Cutting out segments of classic movies (or refraining from releasing them at all) in an effort to adhere to a perceived standard of "political correctness" is absolutely offensive to this viewer. It paves the way down a slippery slope of censorship. As much as I desire to have the 8th animated feature film produced by Disney in my collection I will refrain until they release the orignal, completely intact movie. Until then Disney should be advised to clearly label all censored movies as "ABRIDGED", to do otherwise is deceitful.