Yes, I’ve returned! As I had been asked before about where I’ve been, the first thing to state is that I am in good health. My inconsistent writing schedule is in part due to the work I do outside of my queer animation research. For most of this year I was working full-time and only a few months ago did I start a new reference position. While I am mostly silent about my research process on social media, I completed my research goal and viewed over 1,000 animated works from the Golden Age. The majority of these works were from the 1960s, which can feel like an endurance test some days. I am excited to write more articles for Cartoon Research in 2025, and I appreciate all my readers’ patience and support. I now have a Patreon where you can access various lists related to this research, recommended works, and other valuable resources.
For interested readers, all the sheet music mentioned in this article is on my Patreon.
First heard in The Reluctant Dragon, the dragon’s song appears a few times. It acts as a bookend for the film and can be heard in both the opening and closing credits. During the film, keen listeners will know the song plays during the mock fight. This time, the instrumental follows the stylings of a music box, playing during another coded moment when the men waltz together amid the dust clouds. The highlight, though, is earlier in the film, when the dragon is enjoying a picnic by himself. Barnett Parker sings an excerpt from the dragon’s first verse (see lyrics below) before the boy interrupts him. Whether Parker recorded a full version of the song is something I currently do not know. If I had to guess, I’d suspect he did not. This is a shame, as I found Parker’s cover overall delightful. While not the most exceptional singer—Parker relies on his strong enunciation skills throughout the song—his brief rendition is still one to acknowledge within the larger “The Reluctant Dragon” song canon.
Interestingly, the interruption occurs right before one of the more overtly coded lyrics. I’m assuming this was a purposeful decision to avoid any issue from the Hays Code. This occurrence indicates the severity of film regulations during this period, as “whoops” was printed in the sheet music and the reviews for the film, but not uttered within the film itself!
Some basic information about “The Reluctant Dragon”: the music is by Charles Wolcott, and the lyrics are by Ed Penner, T. Hee, and Wolcott. Disney music fans will recognize Wolcott’s name for his various contributions, including his orchestration work with Paul J. Smith in Bambi (1942) and his involvement in The Three Caballeros (1944), where he composed the song “Mexico” and served as a music director with Smith and Edward Plumb. This song was also released as sheet music and served as another way to promote and create merchandise for the film. Interestingly, I recently learned there was an additional musical arrangement sold during this period credited to Jack Mason. He composed arrangements for saxophone, trombone, trumpet, violin, and a vocal trio.
Online, it can be difficult to find a reliable source for the original lyrics of “The Reluctant Dragon.” For ease of reference, I have included below a transcription of the lyrics from the original sheet music distributed by Broadcast Music Inc. To distinguish between characters, I have noted which verse belongs to whom, using N for narrator and D for dragon.
Lyrics:
N1– One fine day, while on my way to Ipswich by the sea
I met a rawther charming chap, who asked me in to tea
It seems he was a Dragon. You know, the kind with wings
Teeth, and tails, and claws, and scales, and all those dragon like details
I admit I jumped a bit when he began to sing:
D1– I’m THE RELUCTANT DRAGON. What ho! Quite so!
The very reluctant Dragon
Oh veddy, veddy, don’t you know!
They call me the timid Dragon
What rot! I’m not!
I just won’t fight; I’d rather play. I know I shan’t get hurt that way
Here we go gathering nuts in May. Whoops! I’m reluctant.
N2– After we had sipped our tea, a thought popped in my head
A Dragon here? By jove! That’s queer. He really should be dead!
I said, “I say, look here!” I said, “Aren’t you a bit extinct?”
Then the blighter gave a cry, and heaved his bosom with a sigh
Wiped a teardrop from his eye, then blushed and coyly winked:
D2– I’m THE RELUCTANT DRAGON. What ho! Quite so!
The very reluctant Dragon
Oh veddy, veddy, don’t you know!
They call me the timid Dragon
What rot! I’m not!
When others fight, I run away
It’s just because I’m built that way
I’m to be Queen of the May today
Whoops! I’m reluctant.
N3– Then he told of knights of old. It seems they were the bunk
They barged about in suits of tin and other sundry junk
The maidens fair with flaxen hair just littered up the place
When they asked him in to tea, which happened jolly frequently
He would sigh reproachfully and put them in their place
D3– I’m THE RELUCTANT DRAGON. What ho! Quite so!
The very reluctant Dragon
Oh veddy, veddy, don’t you know!
They call me the timid Dragon
What rot! I’m not!
I’m much too shy to bill and coo,
So you chase me and I’ll chase you
Roses are red and violets blue. Whoops! I’m reluctant.
N4– Night wore on; we talked till dawn of many, many things
Of fish and chips, and cricket bats, and kidney pie and kings
At break of day I slipped away for Ipswich by the sea
And no matter where I am, in Piccadilly or Siam
When I have my tea and jam this song comes back to me.
D4– Reprise of D1
One will quickly notice that the lyrics don’t particularly relate to the events in the film, or for that matter even the original story. I go back and forth on whether I would have preferred a more faithful song adaptation. The lack of faithfulness does allow for a different narrator—I personally find the boy a particularly dull character in the original short. Changing him to an independent adult I feel benefits the song rather than hinders it—and a more overt coding of the dragon. Disney’s song—of the same name—for their short Ferdinand the Bull (1938), released a few years earlier, demonstrates how the studio balanced faithfulness to the original source material with queer coding a character. Going by the number of covers—both from the United States and internationally—it was a more successful song compared to “The Reluctant Dragon.” However, I don’t believe adaptation loyalty necessarily equates to how successful a work becomes, and perhaps if “The Reluctant Dragon” song had been released a few years earlier like “Ferdinand the Bull,” it would have achieved wider success.
For me though, the dragon’s verses are the most interesting sections of the song. While the film couldn’t even include a navel on the dragon, the song pushes subtlety aside, with the dragon declaring at the end of each of his verses, “whoops! I’m reluctant.” The history of “whoops” and its association with queer men —which I briefly discussed in my Tom and Jerry part 2 (and yes, I will be continuing that series in 2025; I appreciate the patience!)—is relevant here as a simple way of demonstrating how the audience should interpret this character’s sexuality.
In terms of how the song aged, for me, it’s a reflection of its time. In the dragon’s first verse he mentions: “Here we go gathering nuts in May.” Likely implying that the dragon is one of these “nuts” himself. The second verse builds on this May theme, further effeminizing the dragon, as he declares: “For I’m to be Queen of May today.” This line could also serve as a double entendre with “queen” referring to a gay man. The Oxford English Dictionary dates this usage back to 1919, though the website does note this usage may be much older, dating back to the 18th century. Personally, given the lack of subtlety in the rest of the dragon’s verses, I feel “queen” is intended to have this double entendre meaning.
Despite these lyrics in the song, I found one part especially interesting, which also occurs in the second verse:
“When others fight, I run away
It’s just because I’m built that way”
First, these lyrics portray a subtle difference in the dragon’s character. In the film, the dragon’s approach to conflict resembles something closer to pacifism. While the song portrays him as cowardly—a negative attribute unique to this adaptation—it’s that second lyric, “It’s just because I’m built that way,” that sparks my interest. It’s a rose among thorns situation, as it validates a queer individual’s identity as something inherently a part of them. Additionally, the dragon is happy living his life. Even though the song overall encourages one to laugh at the dragon, it does not send the message that the character should change his habits.
Though the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) wasn’t published yet, narratives focusing on turmoil connected with homosexuality were written prior to this film. Mae West’s play The Drag: A Homosexual Comedy in Three Acts (1927) serves as an earlier example. Though not widely available due to its limited run, the play became known for its controversial subject matter. The Drag includes the character Dr. James Richmond, a physician who serves as the medical “voice” on homosexuality. During the conversation with Judge Robert Kingsbury about homosexuality, Dr. Richmond mentions that there is distinction between those who are “born homosexual” and those who “acquire” it:
“But still you endeavor by law to force a man born with inverted sexual desires… to become something which his soul will not permit him to become. I’m not discussing those who are deliberately depraved or who have acquired the habit of this nameless vice through bad associations and environment. I am talking about the born homosexual…” (148-149)
Dr. Richmond then delves into the consequences and hardships these men experience due to homophobia:
“Or are we going to force them into secrecy and shame, for being what they cannot help being, by branding them as criminals and so lead them into the depths of misery and suicide?” (149-150)
Despite Dr. Richmond’s generally tolerant views towards homosexuality, when Judge Kingsbury compares it to “cancer,” Dr. Richmond responds with, “There is a cure for this thing.” (150) Indicating that conversion, rather than acceptance and support, is the preferred path.
In closing, I want to open a discussion about music censorship during the 1930s and 1940s. This era of music history is not something I’m particularly knowledgeable about, and I am always intrigued by how censorship was enforced during this period—especially given that the dragon’s verses are more explicit compared to the film. If anyone can provide insight or recommend books on music censorship from this period, I’d greatly appreciate it.
The Ferdinand song (“The bull with the delicate ego.” / “The heifers all called him amigo”) is so at odds with the cartoon itself, I originally assumed it was an unauthorized sendup.
The cartoon is very benign, and Ferdinand himself is mellow and passive in contrast to the sociable and excitable dragon. He never understands or even cares why he’s in the bullring. The Ferdinand in the song explicitly flees from fights and otherwise behaves like a stereotyped “sissy”. And in the recurring line “He never learned to fight”, “fight” is accented as an obvious euphemism.
Possible, but vert unlikely, that at one point the cartoon was framed as a Warner-style comedy and a song was written accordingly.
There are many books about music censorship, but most of them begin at “Louie, Louie”. Eric Nuzum’s “Parental Advisory: Music Censorship in America” is a very good one, but as I recall (I read a library copy some twenty years ago), it cited a number of examples from before the rock and roll era, but only just before. I don’t know of any studies on censorship of music in the 1930s and ’40s, but a good place to start might be with the music of Cole Porter, one of the top songwriters of that era, whose penchant for lewd but witty double-entendres must have crossed the line on occasion.
As for how censorship was enforced, probably the same way as it is now. The FCC had the power to revoke the license of any radio station considered to be broadcasting obscenity. The charge didn’t have to be proved in court; one letter of complaint from a single listener would have been sufficient. Since the idea of obscenity is inherently subjective and ambiguous, radio stations would be wary of broadcasting anything that might be considered the least bit off-colour, thus forcing recording artists and their labels into imposing self-censorship in order to avoid being denied airplay. Sheet music publishers were never under the jurisdiction of the FCC, which might explain some of the discrepancies between the published and recorded lyrics of “The Reluctant Dragon”.
I don’t know if record labels released “radio versions” of songs back then, but consider this: The first song ever to become a hit on the radio was Wendell Hall’s “It Ain;t Gonna Rain No Mo'” in 1923. This folk song has many variants; the chorus of the version I learned contains the line “How in the hell can the old folks tell….” However, Hall in his original recording sings: “How in the WORLD can the old folks tell….” This softens the oath but also spoils the line’s internal rhyme. So apparently the recording industry’s practice of bowdlerising song lyrics has been going on right from the get-go.
I think many people in the 1930s and ’40s might not have noticed, or understood, the queer-coding in songs and cartoons of the time. People say it was a more innocent time, but it seems to me rather that society has become simultaneously more prudish and more dirty-minded. When I was young there was a hit song that got played on the radio every hour called “Don’t Pull Your Love Out On Me, Baby”. Nowadays any song with such a title would surely be denounced as outright pornography by our moral arbiters, whether they had heard it or not, but I don’t recall it raising any eyebrows back in the day — and believe me, the early 1970s were anything but an “innocent time.”
I’m glad you’re back, Esther, and looking forward to your future columns!
There are two multi-CD sets of vintage records that were banned from radio by the BBC – often for the most ridiculous reasons.https://www.discogs.com/release/4573635-Various-This-Record-Is-Not-To-Be-Broadcast-75-Records-Banned-By-The-BBC-1931-1957