The postwar years were not good for Disney and for the most part the studio was stuck in both a creative and financial rut. The studio had been largely taken over by the military during World War 2 and put out some remarkable shorts supporting the war effort. However, once the war was over, the old spirit seems to have been difficult to regain. "Melody Time" was one such effort. It was a "compilation" feature with little thematic unity except for the themes of romance and music. (At least according to the opening theme; it's difficult to find romance in "Little Toot" or "Johnny Appleseed.")
Not that "Melody Time" didn't have it's moments of inspiration. The "Bumble Boogie" sequence is as good as anything in "Fantasia" and was Disney's first real attempt at surrealism. The short may have been party inspired by the failed attempt to wed Disney's animation and Salvador Dali's art in the never produced short "Destino." "Blame It On the Samba" contains one of the most amazing blends of live action and animation as the organ that Ethel Smith is playing explodes and then magically reassembles itself all without her missing a single note. And the "Pecos Bill" segment was imaginative although the animation was a bit pedestrian.
Although "Melody Time" did not do well financially, it is not a bad feature as a whole. One just gets the feeling that the Disney animators were slumming; that they could have done so much more in style and emotion; a feeling that would prove to be true two years later when Disney recaptured the magic with the release of "Cinderella."
This is the complete list of credits for the feature. Note, however, that it is not intended to be the credits for any specific section. Different teams of animators worked on different sections of the complete feature, but were listed all together on the credits list. Specific credits are available for a few of the shorts and are listed with the entry for that short.
| Winston Hibler | Joe Rinaldi | ||
| Erdman Penner | Bill Cotrell | ||
| Harry Reeves | Art Scott | ||
| Homer Brightman | Jesse Marsh | ||
| Ken Anderson | Bob Moore | ||
| Ted Sears | John Walbridge | ||
"Little Toot" by Hardie Gramatky |
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| Eric Larson | Ollie Johnson | ||
| Ward Kimball | John Lounsberry | ||
| Milt Kahl | Les Clark |
| Harvey Toombs | Marvin Woodward | ||
| Ed Aardal | Hal King | ||
| Cliff Nordberg | Don Lusk | ||
| John Sibley | Rudy Larriva | ||
| Ken O'Brien | Bob Cannon | ||
| Judge Whitaker | Hal Ambro |
| George Rowley | John Meador | ||
| Jack Boyd | Dan MacManus |
| Hugh Hennesy | Mac Stewart | ||
| Ken O'Connor | Lance Nolley | ||
| Al Zinnen | Bob Cormack | ||
| Don Griffith | Thor Putnam | ||
Don DaGradi |
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| Art Riley | Brice Mack | ||
| Ralph Hullett | Ray Huffine | ||
| Merle Cox | Dick Anthony |
| Kim Gannon | Walter Kent | ||
| Ray Gilbert | Johnny Lange | ||
| Allie Wrubel | Bobby Worth | ||
| Benny Benjamin | George Weiss |
| Clyde Geronomi | Hamilton Luske | ||
| Wilfred Jackson | Jack Kinney |
Lyrics
George Weiss and Benny Benjamin
Melody Time
Melody Time
Melody Time
It's time to swing along
To a happy world of song
Where love is the thing.
Melody Time
It's time for sweet romance
Won't you give your heart a chance
To join in and sing.
Take a tip from the birds
You don't need words
For music has charms
It's the language of love
When love's in your arms.
Rhythm and rhyme
Sure help a heart along
So come on and sing a song
It's Melody Time.