{"id":66116,"date":"2018-10-16T08:00:43","date_gmt":"2018-10-16T12:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/?p=66116"},"modified":"2022-02-05T23:09:47","modified_gmt":"2022-02-06T04:09:47","slug":"movie-review-the-reluctant-dragon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/movie-review-the-reluctant-dragon\/","title":{"rendered":"Movie Review: The Reluctant Dragon"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Image Copyright Disney<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Based in part on Kenneth Grahame\u2019s 1898 short story of the same name, Disney\u2019s The Reluctant Dragon <\/em>was theatrically released on June 20, 1941. The live action-animation hybrid, which uses a tour of Disney\u2019s newly-opened studio complex in Burbank, California as a thread between disparate animated segments, is seventy-four minutes in length.<\/p>\n

Plot Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Reluctant Dragon<\/em>\u2019s plot is an excuse to justify the studio tour and related cartoons: humorist Robert Benchley, portraying himself, is forced by his wife (Nana Bryant) to bring their nephew\u2019s copy of The Reluctant Dragon<\/em> to the Disney Studio to convince Walt Disney to use said story in a future film project. After Mrs. Benchley drops her husband off at the studio gate, Mr. Benchley wanders around Disney\u2019s Burbank campus while trying to elude a pesky tour guide, Humphrey (Buddy Pepper). Benchley\u2019s persona and the contents of the cartoon segments facilitate an often-hilarious, if not especially creative, effort.<\/p>\n

Hybridity<\/strong><\/p>\n

Like Song of the South<\/em> (1946) and So Dear to My Heart<\/em> (1949), and unlike Saludos Amigos<\/em> (1942) and The Three Caballeros<\/em> (1944), The Reluctant Dragon<\/em> is not considered among Disney\u2019s, as of 2018, fifty-six full length animated features, spanning Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs<\/em> (1937) to Moana<\/em> (2016). When I wrote to Disney Chief Archivist Emeritus Dave Smith several years back asking \u201cWhy was Saludos Amigos<\/em> counted as one of Disney\u2019s animated features when The Reluctant Dragon<\/em> was not?,\u201d Mr. Smith replied, \u201cThe Reluctant Dragon<\/em> has always been considered as primarily a live-action film. Saludos Amigos<\/em> has a much larger percentage of animation.\u201d (1)<\/p>\n

A Studio Tour<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Reluctant Dragon<\/em> affords viewers a glimpse of the general workings of the Disney Studio, though the on-screen demonstrations and personnel are not wholly authentic. Along the way, viewers encounter maquette-makers, ink and painters, voice actors, and even some of Disney\u2019s top animators. Regarding the last category, Ward Kimball, Fred Moore, and Norm Ferguson, who were named Disney Legends in 1989, 1995, and 1999, respectively, all appear in the film. Kimball was among Walt Disney\u2019s \u201cnine old men,\u201d the group of nine animators that advised Disney on a variety of matters, including hiring, promotion, and project development, after the move to the Burbank studio. (2) For their part, Moore and Ferguson were arguably the most important Disney animators of the 1930s, Moore perfecting the drawing of the modern Mickey Mouse; Ferguson creating Mickey\u2019s dog, Pluto; and both men contributing to the personalities of various characters and willingly sharing their talents and perspectives with their colleagues. (3)<\/p>\n

In addition to great animators, The Reluctant Dragon <\/em>also features great voice actors, most notably Clarence Nash, the voice of Donald Duck, and Florence Gill, the voice of Clara Cluck. Nash was named a Disney Legend in 1993.<\/p>\n

As Dumbo <\/em>was concurrently in production, The Reluctant Dragon <\/em>features animators working in front of an actual elephant in the studio. Bringing animals, live or otherwise, indoors was not a one-off occurrence at Disney. For example, when production commenced on Bambi <\/em>(1942), the noted artist Rico Lebrun brought a dead fawn into the studio for a week-long dissection. By the end of this process, the animators had greater appreciation for both animal anatomy and for the ability of carcasses to emit horrible smells. (4)<\/p>\n

In addition to Dumbo<\/em>, elements from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs<\/em>, Fantasia<\/em> (1940), Bambi<\/em>, Peter Pan <\/em>(1953), and Lady and the Tramp <\/em>(1955) are seen during the studio tour; the production of the latter two films, along with that of future classics Cinderella <\/em>(1950) and Alice in Wonderland <\/em>(1951), was suspended in mid-1941 because of economic pressures resulting from World War II in Europe. (5)<\/p>\n

Animation<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Reluctant Dragon <\/em>incorporates five animated shorts: \u201cCasey Jr.,\u201d \u201cFarmer Donald Duck,\u201d \u201cBaby Weems,\u201d \u201cHow to Ride a Horse,\u201d and \u201cThe Reluctant Dragon.\u201d The first two of these efforts work well to demonstrate aspects of the animation process but are otherwise unremarkable; the last three shorts are excellent in terms of story, character, and humor.<\/p>\n

The Casey Jr. short is a brief segment starring the circus train from Dumbo <\/em>in the studio\u2019s sound lab. Here, Benchley and viewers at home learn how sound effects, including the \u201cCasey Jr.\u201d tune, a conductor\u2019s voice, train chugging, steam emissions, bubbling water, noises uttered by animals, inclement weather, and a collapsing bridge, are added to cartoons.<\/p>\n

The Donald Duck short uses farmer Donald to demonstrate how animated characters achieve motion.<\/p>\n

The \u201cBaby Weems\u201d short tells a humorous tale about a remarkable, talking, baby. As this segment is based off a storyboard, the cartoon lacks final color and movement, but the effort is uproarious. Along the way, the baby corrects one of Albert Einstein\u2019s theories, is awarded numerous honorary degrees, starts new fashion and sleeping trends, presents his own composition at New York\u2019s Carnegie Hall, and is recommended by Franklin Roosevelt as the greatest hope for solving the country\u2019s problems. Although Baby Weems falls seriously ill immediately prior to his scheduled radio appearance to offer crucial advice to his fellow Americans, he miraculously recovers and indeed offers some insights: \u201cgoo-goo, gah-gah!\u201d Uh, oh; the fever killed the fad, though not the child.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow to Ride a Horse\u201d is one of Disney\u2019s typically humorous Goofy cartoons, though I prefer its counterpart, \u201cEl Gaucho Goofy,\u201d from Saludos Amigos<\/em> because that short reminds me how to do something important in my everyday life, namely how to eat a tough steak: \u201cA one, a two, a bite, cut, chew!\u201d In any event, in \u201cHow to Ride a Horse,\u201d Goofy forgets to remove the price tag from his riding coat, the narrator insults the steed following a grandiose introduction, Goofy struggles to offer the horse a carrot, the narrator offers a crucial dissertation on the \u201cright\u201d and wrong sides from which to mount a horse, and the short\u2019s motion and direction are altered to show a distorted perspective on horseback riding.<\/p>\n

The film\u2019s title short runs for the final twenty or so minutes of the overall package, developing an ironic relationship as it progresses: a curious young boy teaches a timid dragon, one who prefers poetry and classical music to destruction, how to be tough and defend himself against an aroused human village. Like the Baby Weems and Goofy shorts, this effort will make you laugh.<\/p>\n

Let There Be Light!<\/strong><\/p>\n

The abrupt shift of The Reluctant Dragon<\/em>\u2019s presentation from black-and-white to color essentially symbolizes the evolution of Disney productions in general. Walt Disney was an innovator, expanding his portfolio from animated shorts to full-length animated films to live action films to television programs to theme parks. Important to this evolution was Disney\u2019s ability to showcase his productions in color, a strength gained through the negotiation of an exclusive deal with Technicolor in 1932. (6) Color presentation quickly contributed to the success of Disney\u2019s Academy Award-winning Silly Symphony shorts \u201cFlowers and Trees\u201d (1932) and \u201cThree Little Pigs\u201d (1933), and three decades later, Disney would move his weekly television show from ABC-TV to NBC-TV because of the latter network\u2019s greater interest in color programming. (7)<\/p>\n

Strike<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although Disney\u2019s new Burbank studio was undoubtedly more luxurious than its predecessor at 2719 Hyperion Avenue in Hollywood, many Disney animators, including Ward Kimball and Ollie Johnston, deemed the new studio impersonal. (8) Indeed, by the early 1940s, the Disney operation, following a period of expansion and bureaucratization, had largely lost its tight-knit feel, and employees\u2014most notably Art Babbitt, the creator of Goofy, who was named a Disney Legend in 2007\u2014who desired either more money or more notoriety voiced their complaints by partaking in a strike that lasted from May 28 to September 15, 1941. (9) The Reluctant Dragon <\/em>was released during the strike, and some participants openly mocked Disney\u2019s newest feature. For example, \u201ca group of strikers formed a long dragon shape with a caricatured mask of Walt\u2019s face at its head, and the creature snaked around as the \u201cReluctant Disney\u201d on the street.\u201d (10) Protests were also seen at the opening of The Reluctant Dragon <\/em>in New York City on July 24; here, demonstrators marched in front of Manhattan\u2019s Palace Theater with placards containing slogans such as \u201cDon\u2019t Rat on Mickey Mouse.\u201d (11) Walt Disney was both infuriated and emotionally hurt by the strike and thereafter exuded a more cynical worldview. (12)<\/p>\n

Relationship to Other Disney Films<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Wind in the Willows\u201d portion of The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad <\/em>(1949) was also based on a story by Kenneth Grahame.<\/p>\n

A Goofy short was also included in Saludos Amigos<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Donald Duck was also featured in Saludos Amigos<\/em>, The Three Caballeros<\/em>, Melody Time <\/em>(1948), and Fantasia 2000 <\/em>(1999).<\/p>\n

Dragons were also included in Sleeping Beauty <\/em>(1959) and Pete\u2019s Dragon <\/em>(1977, 2016).<\/p>\n

In the Parks<\/strong><\/p>\n

Guests of all ages can fly aboard Dumbo on the \u201cDumbo the Flying Elephant\u201d attractions at Walt Disney World\u2019s Magic Kingdom and the Disneyland parks in California, Tokyo, Paris, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.<\/p>\n

Guests can view real elephants on the \u201cKilimanjaro Safaris\u201d attraction at the Animal Kingdom.<\/p>\n

Casey Jr. is the star of the \u201cCasey Jr. Circus Train\u201d attractions at the Disneyland parks in California and Paris, and of the \u201cCasey Jr. Splash \u2018n\u2019 Soak Station\u201d at the Magic Kingdom.<\/p>\n

Dragons are featured in the \u201cFantasmic!\u201d nighttime spectaculars at Disneyland Park, Disney\u2019s Hollywood Studios, and Tokyo DisneySea; and in the Magic Kingdom\u2019s afternoon parade, \u201cFestival of Fantasy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Animation classes are offered in the \u201cAnimation Academy\u201d attractions at Disney California Adventure, Walt Disney Studios Park Paris, and Hong Kong Disneyland Park; the \u201cDisney Drawing Class\u201d at Tokyo Disneyland Park; and the \u201cMarvel Comic Academy\u201d at Shanghai Disneyland Park.<\/p>\n

Donald is the protagonist of the \u201cMickey’s PhilharMagic\u201d 3-D shows at the Magic Kingdom and the Disneyland Parks in Tokyo, Paris, and Hong Kong.<\/p>\n

Animation is the theme of the \u201cArt of Animation Resort\u201d at Walt Disney World.<\/p>\n

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Photo Copyright The Mouse for Less<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Animation is the theme of the \u201cAnimator\u2019s Palate\u201d restaurant on Disney Cruise Line. As was the case in The Reluctant Dragon<\/em>, the versions of Animator\u2019s Palate on the Disney Magic and the Disney Wonder include a change from black-and-white to color.<\/p>\n

Overall<\/strong><\/p>\n

Though far from Disney\u2019s most creative movie, The Reluctant Dragon <\/em>is both entertaining and a great historical piece, showcasing some of the studio\u2019s general procedures, productions, and talent. Disney history buffs, in particular, should make a point to watch The Reluctant Dragon<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Notes<\/strong><\/p>\n

1) Dave Smith, \u201cAsk Dave,\u201d D23, accessed October 5, 2018, https:\/\/d23.com\/ask-dave\/andrew-nissequogue-new-york-2\/.<\/p>\n

2) Steven Watts, The Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney and the American Way of Life <\/em>(Columbia, Mo.: University of Missouri Press, 1997), 266-73.<\/p>\n

3) Ibid., 131-40.<\/p>\n

4) Ibid., 177.<\/p>\n

5) Ibid., 259; Dave Smith, Disney Trivia from the Vault: Secrets Revealed and Questions Answered <\/em>(New York: Disney Editions, 2012), 137.<\/p>\n

6) Watts, Walt Disney and the American Way of Life<\/em>, 64-65.<\/p>\n

7) Ibid., 64-65, 368-71<\/p>\n

8) Ibid., 207.<\/p>\n

9) Ibid., 204.<\/p>\n

10) Ibid., 209.<\/p>\n

11) \u201cDisney Film Picketed: California Strike Brings Action by Sympathizers Here,\u201d New York Times<\/em>, July 25, 1941, Amusements-Books sec., accessed October 6, 2018, New York Times Historical (1851-2010).<\/p>\n

12) Watts, Walt Disney and the American Way of Life<\/em>, 220-27.<\/p>\n

What do you think of The Reluctant Dragon? Let me know in the comments!<\/em><\/p>\n

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