In His Own Words: Walt Disney on the Package Features
Here is an essay from a British annual, Film Review, on Walt’s thoughts about Melody Time and his compilation films.
Here is an essay from a British annual, Film Review, on Walt’s thoughts about Melody Time and his compilation films.
Of course, as any good movie of the day must, Melody Time had a main title theme song. This was a very pleasant ballad, and it actually got several covers.
Roy Rogers was not the only artist to sing of Pecos Bill – but, thanks to Walt Disney, the legendary western character and the “King of the Cowboys” will be forever linked.
Even though the song “Pecos Bill” did not make the charts at “Billboard”, it sees to have gotten”covered” more widely than any other song from Melody Time.
“Blue Shadows On The Trail” was also all over the airwaves during the spring and summer of 1948. Decca released a version of this tune, as sung by Bing Crosby.
Both “The Legend of Johnny Appleseed” and “Little Toot” had songs attached to them. The reaction of Tin Pan Alley was interesting–and, perhaps, notable.
Another piece used in Melody Time that the Disney people did not “own” was Bumble Boogie. In fact, most people already knew of it as the Rimsky-Korsakov composition “Flight of the Bumblebee”.
Joyce Kilmer had written a short poem around 1913. Nine years later, it was set to music by Oscar Rasbach. “Trees” was already a well-known standard by the time Melody Time was being planned.
A look at several records that were released over three decades that were inspired by the final segment of the 1948 package feature.