Loveday Writing

Now that I’ve watched and written analysis pieces on the six animated feature films of the Wartime Era: Saludos Amigos, The Three Caballeros, Make Mine Music, Fun and Fancy Free, Melody Time, and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, I’m going to rank them from my least favourite to my favourite.

6 – Fun and Fancy Free

Fun and Fancy Free was the first film in the Wartime Era to only contain two segments to follow, as opposed to four (Saludos Amigos), seven (The Three Caballeros), and ten (Make Mine Music), which I appreciated as it made the film easier to follow. However, I didn’t end up enjoying this one as I felt that the two segments didn’t go well together. Whilst I enjoyed Bongo, I felt Mickey and the Beanstalk was too dark to be paired with it. I also felt that the live action in this film was forced and unnecessary.

5 – The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad

In all honesty, I found it easy to rank my top two favourites and my least favourite films of the Wartime Era, but what wasn’t so easy was deciding on the films that I would rank in the second-last to middle positions.

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad gets fifth position as I personally found it hard to engage with due to my “Wartime Era fatigue” of watching multiple films consisting of multiple segments, as well as my unfamiliarity with the literary works the segments are based on. Admittedly, this is probably a little unfair to the film, but I went with my gut on this one.

However, despite my feelings towards and ranking of this film, I felt it was the right one to end the Era as the live action bookends and transitions between the segments, formatted the film well.

4 – The Three Caballeros

The Three Caballeros gets fourth position for a similar reason to The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad – I found it hard to stay engaged. However, it ranks higher as it was more light-hearted and fun.

The second film of the Era, The Three Caballeros had a more carefree vibe than Saludos Amigos and the combination of live action and animation felt more natural, although the diminished animation quality during these scenes could easily be seen.

3 – Saludos Amigos

Saludos Amigos, the first film of the Wartime Era, gets third position and a higher rank than The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad and The Three Caballeros due to it being well-formatted, introducing the Era, its historical value, and run time.

The historical value of the film in particular is interesting, as it shows the lengths the United States would go to, to prevent South America from becoming a Nazi Germany ally. It’s also received a mixed critical reception throughout the years as it has been seen by critics, film historians and writers in different lights from being an interesting introduction to South America, to a boring travel brochure film, to dispelling negative stereotypes, to propagating them. I believe that the historical value and the way it has been received in the years since its release gives it an edge, but also brings it down a little as it dates easily.

Saludos Amigos also receives a higher ranking due to its short run time – 42 minutes – making it the shortest Disney animated feature film, a record it still holds today.

2 – Melody Time

Melody Time comes in at number two for me due to its charm and variety of mini musical styles and genres across its seven segments.

One thing that brought it down critically, as well as in my personal rankings is the fact that not all of the segments are of equal quality or length. The length varies greatly (and not in a good way), and while I found Once Upon a Wintertime and Little Toot particularly charming and light-hearted, I felt that Bumble Boogie and Blame it on the Samba were better suited to Fantasia and The Three Caballeros respectively. I also felt that the religious undertones and themes present in The Legend of Johnny Appleseed and Trees were out of place, and that Pecos Bill didn’t blend well with the other segments.

1 – Make Mine Music

Make Mine Music was my favourite film in the Wartime Era due to its “night at the theatre” motif, its ability to be cohesive even when consisting of 10 segments (no other Wartime Era film consisted of that many segments), and the wide variety of musical genres and visuals that were on display.

From a rustic ballad with The Martins and the Coys, to a jazz interlude as the visuals are being drawn with All the Cats Join In, to a fairytale with music with Peter and the Wolf, and the bittersweet opera finale of The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met (and many more), Make Mine Music was an entertaining look at the wide variety of musical genres out in the world and the charming stories that can go with them.

Another reason it was my favourite film in the Wartime Era was its ability to set itself apart from the other films, as well as being a good film to mark the halfway point of the Era. This film’s predecessors (Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros) were made as a result of Disney’s goodwill tour to South America and felt like a chore to sit through at times, this doesn’t and also took the Era in another direction by focusing on a variety of musical genres.

This result partially surprised me due to how difficult it was to find a copy of Make Mine Music. This is the only film to not be available on Disney Plus and The Martins and the Coys segment was omitted due to the gun violence, but despite this difficulty, it was definitely worth the effort.

What do you think of my rankings and how would you rank the six films of the Wartime Era? Feel free to let me know by leaving a comment below.