The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad (1949)

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad (1949)

[4] This short feature presentation from Disney Animation is really two short stories slammed together. Up first, we have "The Wind in the Willows," narrated by Basil Rathbone. It's a fast-paced story about three stuffy critters -- a badger, a mole, and…
Melody Time (1948)

Melody Time (1948)

[6] For eight years in the 1940s, between Bambi (1942) and Cinderella (1950), Walt Disney Animation stopped making feature-length stories and focused on more budget-conscious 'anthology features' like Saludos Amigos and Fun and Fancy Free. Since anthologies are only as good as…
Fun & Fancy Free (1947)

Fun & Fancy Free (1947)

[3] When the army took over Disney Animation during WWII to make training and propaganda films, old Walt was forced to make a series of 'package films' to keep the studio afloat until he could afford to make another stand-alone feature story.…
Song of the South (1946)

Song of the South (1946)

[4] For its racist stereotypes and sugar-coated depiction of plantation life in the post-Civil War South, Disney has locked away Song of the South from the public since its last re-release in 1986. I don't think the film is any more offensive…
Make Mine Music (1946)

Make Mine Music (1946)

[4] If musical animated shorts had to audition to be part of Disney's Fantasia, then Make Mine Music is a compilation of the rejects. Without an overarching narrative to connect these shorts in any way, the film hinges on the aggregate quality…
The Three Caballeros (1944)

The Three Caballeros (1944)

[3] In an abstract void of color gradation, it's Donald Duck's birthday. He magically receives three strange presents that transform into song-and-dance lessons about Mexico and South America, featuring two other cartoon birds named José Carioca (a parrot) and Panchito (a rooster).…
Saludos Amigos (1942)

Saludos Amigos (1942)

[3] Vying with Nazi Germany to create ties in South American countries during World War II, the U.S. government guaranteed Walt Disney federal loans to produce animated films celebrating South American culture. Saludos Amigos is the first resulting film from this strategic…
Bambi (1942)

Bambi (1942)

[10] With relatively little dialogue and an abundance of montage, Walt Disney's Bambi plays out like a beautiful tone poem on rites of passage, death and rebirth. There's a 'circle of life' undercurrent to the film that makes it especially meaningful for…
Silver River (1948)

Silver River (1948)

[7] Errol Flynn reteams with his Edge of Darkness co-star Ann Sheridan for this western drama directed by the prolific Raoul Walsh (High Sierra, Montana). Flynn plays a wrongly disgraced Union officer who builds a gambling empire that puts Silver River, Nevada,…
Dumbo (1941)

Dumbo (1941)

[9] After Walt Disney released the world's first animated feature film, the wildly successful Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the studio struggled with a couple of ambitious financial failures. Pinocchio and Fantasia were creatively and technologically advanced films, but both bombed…