Melody (1953 film)

1953 American film

Melody

Directed by| Ward Kimball
Charles A. Nichols
Story by| Dick Huemer
Produced by| Walt Disney
Starring| Bill Thompson
Loulie Jean Norman
Harry Stanton
Gloria Wood
Music by| Joseph Dubin (music)
Sonny Burke
Paul Webster (songs)
Animation by| Ward Kimball
Julius Svendsen
Marc Davis
Harvey Toombs
Hal Ambro
Marvin Woodward
Color process| Technicolor

Production
company

Walt Disney Productions

Distributed by| RKO Radio Pictures

Release date

* May 28, 1953 (1953-05-28)

Running time

| 10 minutes (one reel)
Country| United States
Language| English

Melody is an American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and directed by Ward Kimball and Charles A. Nichols. Originally released on May 28, 1953,[1] this film was the first in a proposed series of animated cartoon shorts teaching the principles of music, called Adventures in Music. Only one other entry in the series was produced, Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom, which was released later that same year, winning an Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons) the following year.

Walt Disney was always a fan of music, and it shows in all of his films. He said: "There's a terrific power to music. You can run any of these pictures and they'd be dragging and boring, but the minute you put music behind them, they have life and validity they don't get any other way".[2]

## Plot

[edit]

Professor Owl instructs his class of birds on how to find melody around them. Professor Owl demonstrates how melodies are assembled by playing a tune on a small piano. Following this, the class flies off to discover the many melodic sounds of nature. The chorus sings about the sounds of nature ("The Bird and the Cricket and the Willow Tree"). Professor Owl notes that the only two creatures that can sing are birds and humans.

The next scene uses melody to illustrate the various stages of a person's life, beginning with "Rock-a-bye Baby" for birth, followed by "The Alphabet Song" for school; "Far Above Cayuga's Waters" for college; "Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes" for courtship, followed by "Here Comes the Bride (and there goes the groom)". The later stages of life are represented by "Home! Sweet Home!", "Happy Birthday to You", "Silver Threads Among the Gold", "The Old Gray Mare", "Auld Lang Syne" and "Oh, Dem Golden Slippers".

Finally, an example is shown on how a simple melody can be expanded into a symphony: an elaborate version of the simple tune which opened the lesson. The cartoon ends with a reprise of "The Bird and the Cricket and the Willow Tree".

## Cast

[edit]

* Bill Thompson – Professor Owl / Bertie Birdbrain
* Gloria Wood – Suzy Sparrow
* Harry Stanton – Bass Singer in Canoe and Ship
* Loulie Jean Norman – Penelope Pinfeather
* Judd Conlon Chorus - Students

## Releases

[edit]

The first world showing of Melody in public was shown in two Los Angeles theaters on its release day, including the Paramount Theatre.

It was also shown as part of the Disneyland 3D Jamboree at the Fantasyland Theatre hosted by the Mouseketeers from the Mickey Mouse Club from 1956 to 1964. It was shown alongside fellow 3D short Working for Peanuts with Donald Duck and Chip 'n' Dale.[3]

It was released on DVD twice: once on Fantasia 2000 and then on Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts, 1920s–1960s.

It was also shown on television twice: once on Mickey's Mouse Tracks episode 27 and on Donald's Quack Attack episode 4.[4]

## Soundtrack

[edit]

Melody soundtrack was released in 1953. One of the songs of the official soundtrack includes "The Bird and the Cricket and the Willow Tree" by Sonny Burke. It was sung by the Disney Studio Chorus over a sequence showing animated birds chirping, crickets rubbing their legs together, and wind blowing through a willow tree. The song has a pleasant tune and lyrics that are simply a list of these musical nature sounds.[5][6]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. p. 153\. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7.
2. ^ Hischack, Thomas. The Disney Song Encyclopedia, Preface
3. ^ D23. "3D Jamboree (film)". D23. Retrieved September 18, 2021.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
4. ^ "Melody – the Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts". Archived from the original on April 13, 2014. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
5. ^ "Melody (1953) Soundtrack".
6. ^ Hischack, Thomas. The Disney Song Encyclopedia, page 20

## External links

[edit]

* Melody at IMDb
* Melody at Disney A to Z

* v
* t
* e

Ward Kimball

Disney works|

| Animated shorts|

* Melody (1953)
* Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (1953)
* It's Tough to Be a Bird (1969)

|

TV episodes|

* "Man in Space"
* "Man and the Moon"
* "Mars and Beyond"

Other|

* Babes in Toyland
* Bedknobs and Broomsticks
* The Mouse Factory
* World of Motion

Non-Disney works|

* Escalation

Related|

* Walt Disney Animation Studios
* Disney's Nine Old Men
* Firehouse Five Plus Two
* Grizzly Flats Railroad
* TM Books & Video
* Tracks Ahead

* v
* t
* e

Walt Disney Animation Studios short films

Lists by year|

* 1923–1928
* 1928–1939
* 1940–1949
* 1950–1959
* 1960–1985
* 1986–1999
* 2000–present

Mickey Mouse
and friends|

| Short series|

* Mickey Mouse film series (1928–2013)
* Donald Duck film series (1937–2024)
* Pluto film series (1937–51)
* Donald & Goofy film series (1938–47)
* Goofy film series (1939–2007)
* Chip 'n' Dale film series (1951–54)
* Humphrey the Bear film series (1956)
* How to Stay at Home (2021)

|

Stand-alone shorts|

* Donald's Decision (1942)
* All Together (1942)
* Out of the Frying Pan into the Firing Line (1942)
* Morris the Midget Moose (1950)
* Donald and the Wheel (1961)
* Aquamania (1961)
* Donald's Fire Survival Plan (1966)

Additional
short series|

* Laugh-O-Grams (1921–1923)
* Alice Comedies (1923–27)
* Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (1927–28)
* Silly Symphony (1929–39)
* Winnie the Pooh (1966–1983)
* Roger Rabbit (1989–93)
* Prep & Landing (2009–11)
* Short Circuit (2020–22)
* At Home with Olaf (2020)
* Olaf Presents (2021)

Stand-alone
short films|

* Ferdinand the Bull (1938)
* The Thrifty Pig (1941)
* Food Will Win the War (1941)
* Stop That Tank! (1942)
* Chicken Little (1943)
* The Grain That Built a Hemisphere (1943)
* Education for Death (1943)
* Reason and Emotion (1943)
* The Pelican and the Snipe (1944)
* The Brave Engineer (1950)
* Lambert the Sheepish Lion (1952)
* Susie the Little Blue Coupe (1952)
* The Little House (1952)
* Ben and Me (1953)
* Melody (1953)
* Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (1953)
* Football Now and Then (1953)
* Social Lion (1954)
* Pigs Is Pigs (1954)
* A Cowboy Needs a Horse (1956)
* Jack and Old Mac (1956)
* The Truth About Mother Goose (1957)
* The Story of Anyburg U.S.A. (1957)
* Paul Bunyan (1958)
* Noah's Ark (1959)
* Goliath II (1960)
* The Saga of Windwagon Smith (1961)
* It's Tough to Be a Bird (1969)
* The Small One (1978)
* Vincent (1982)
* Fun with Mr. Future (1982)
* Oilspot and Lipstick (1987)
* Off His Rockers (1992)
* John Henry (2000)
* Destino (2003)
* Lorenzo (2004)
* One by One (2004)
* The Little Matchgirl (2006)
* Glago's Guest (2008)
* Tick Tock Tale (2010)
* The Ballad of Nessie (2011)
* Paperman (2012)
* Feast (2014)
* Inner Workings (2016)
* Us Again (2021)
* Far from the Tree (2021)
* Once Upon a Studio (2023)

Based on
feature films|

* 7 Wise Dwarfs (1941)
* Casey Bats Again (1954)
* A Dairy Tale (2004, direct-to-video)
* Super Rhino (2009, direct-to-video)
* Tangled Ever After (2012)
* Frozen Fever (2015)
* Olaf's Frozen Adventure (2017)
* Once Upon a Snowman (2020)

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template