Make Mine Music

Make Mine Music, made in 1946, is a mesmerizing melange of animation and music that represents the rich fusion of visual art and sound present in the magical world of Disney. Vintage Disney lovers and fans of classic animation will absolutely appreciate this delightful anthology film, complete with ten charmingly musical shorts brought to life by the visually stunning and inventive animation that is signature Disney.

The cast of the movie includes renowned voices of the era featuring the inimitable talents of Nelson Eddy, Dinah Shore, The Andrews Sisters, and many more. Each of these artists does an extraordinary job in giving life to the array of colorful characters we encounter throughout the movie.

Nelson Eddy, acclaimed actor and singer, contributes his many talents as the narrator and voiceover throughout the movie, not only voicing characters but also bringing to life various objects and animals. Dinah Shore, a popular singer and television personality, lends her soothing and beautiful voice to one of the animated shorts, “Two Silhouettes,” creating a serene and enrapturing atmosphere. Additionally, the vivacious voices of The Andrews Sisters (Maxene, Patty, and Laverne), whose harmonious vocal style was iconic to the 1940s, are featured brilliantly in another short, "Johnnie Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet."

The movie, like many of Disney's anthology movies, doesn't contain a singular story thread but instead, takes audiences through ten separate stories, each narrated in song and featuring unforgettable characters and embellished settings. It's less of a traditional narrative movie experience and plays more like a visual album - captivating the audience with its well-composed music while making them marvel at the vibrant and innovative animation.

The shorts are diverse in their themes and tone. They range from the joyfully eccentric “All the Cats Join In,” where an artist's pencil sketches lively adolescent cats dancing to the beat of Benny Goodman's jazz, to the intensely dramatic and semi-operatic “The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met,” about a whale with an extraordinary singing ability but with an unfulfilled dream.

Each piece's animation style is curiously unique and differs noticeably from one to another, appealing to lovers of varied animation styles. For instance, the segment "Blue Bayou" adopts a more impressionistic style, providing a gentle, visual delight in soft-focus pastels and continually shifting colors.

Have you ever wondered about a hat and its exciting adventures? Make Mine Music presents to you the whimsical romance between two hats, Johnnie Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet, sung and narrated by The Andrews Sisters. If you're captivated by storybook-like tales unfolding with magic, "Peter and the Wolf," based on Prokofiev's classical music piece, has a delightful mix of music and narration—with each character represented by a different musical instrument.

Then there are the musical interludes that are there purely for the joy of music - such as "After You've Gone," which depicts a magical journey by three musical instruments dancing and prancing around to the rhythm of The Goodman Quartet's music.

In essence, Make Mine Music is an extraordinarily unique movie—an amalgam of the magic of Disney's animation and the rhythm of popular music from the 1940s. It's a wonderful exploration of the powerful effects of pairing visual storytelling with music. But perhaps more importantly, it's pure, joyful entertainment—a tribute to the power of music to tell stories and evoke emotions, sure to be enjoyed by both children and adults.