"Melody Time: Little Toot" - Note From Author's Daughter

A short time ago, I posted two items (Storyboard 1 and Storyboard 2) from "Little Toot." In those postings, I noted that the story reminded me of my own struggle to win the attention of my father.

Recently, I received this unexpected email:

Hi there, Bob,

Loved finding your blog with the pastel design sketches from "Melody Time" and "Little Toot".

My dad was Hardie Gramatky and I know he would have loved that the story of a child (tug) trying to please his dad resonated with you too.

Linda Gramatky Smith

I really had not done too much research into the background of Little Toot and I was amazed at what I found! While Little Toot was a large part of Gramatky's work, his artwork is fascinating.

(Copies of Gramatky's artwork are from the California Waltercolor website.)

What struck me, as I looked at the paintings, was that the images look like the digital images I take when I over-expose to pull out shadow detail. An extremely interesting and identifiable style...


I would strong suggest that you take a moment to check out the Gramatky web site written by his daughter Linda. I found the site well designed and Linda mentioned that her son deserves all the credit.

And you should check out Jeff Pepper's post 2719 Hyperion on Gramatky...

By the way, last year a new version of "Little Toot" was released featuring restored artwork. I've put in my order for five copies.

Here is an example of Gramatky's nautical art from the 1930's that shows some of the elements that were later found in Little Toot...


Linda's note was yet another wonderful, an unexpected, benefit I've encountered after starting this "blog." I wanted to use this space to personally thank her for taking the time to look at some of the items on this site and in sending me a note...

"Melody Time" (1948) [1/16] - Introduction To Series

[Poster image from Nordic Posters]

OK. Now, let me try another approach to a series of images from a film...

Background to "Melody Time"

Let's see what the Internet has to say about this film...

Jeff Pepper's "2719 Hyperion" has two good postings on the film. To start with, Jeff has a good overview of the film and its segments that was written May 27, 2008. In addition, there is another great look into the character of Pecos Bill -- and some good examples of how Bill's cigarette was removed to make the film more Politically Correct.

Here's Wikipedia's entry on "Melody Time"...

Melody Time (first released on May 27, 1948) is an animated feature produced by Walt Disney and released to theatres by RKO Radio Pictures. Made up of several sequences set to popular music and folk music, the film is, like Make Mine Music before it, the contemporary version of Fantasia, an ambitious film that proved to be a commercial disappointment upon its original theatrical release. Melody Time, while not meeting the artistic accomplishments of Fantasia, was a mildly successful film in its own right. It is the tenth animated feature in the Disney animated features canon.

Film segments

This particular film has seven segments:

1 "Once Upon a Wintertime" features Frances Langford singing the title song about two romantic young lovers in December. The boy shows off for his girl, and near-tragedy and a timely rescue ensue. This short was also featured in a Disney Sing-Along video as a background movie for the song Jingle Bells.

2 "Bumble Boogie" is a surrealistic nightmare for a solitary bee trying to escape from a visual and musical frenzy. The music is courtesy of Freddy Martin and his orchestra (with Jack Fina playing the piano) and is a swing-jazz variation of Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee, which was one of the many pieces considered for inclusion in Fantasia.

3 "The Legend of Johnny Appleseed" is a retelling of the story of John Chapman, who spent most of his life roaming America and planting apple trees, thus earning his famous nickname. Dennis Day narrates and provides all the voices.

4 "Little Toot" is based on the poem by Hardie Gramatky, in which the title protagonist, a small tugboat, wants to be just like his father but can't seem to stay out of trouble. The Andrews Sisters provide the vocals. Out of all the musical segments, this one is the most famous.

5 "Trees" is a reciting of the famous Alfred Joyce Kilmer poem by Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians with the lyrical setting seen through the seasons.

6 "Blame It On the Samba" has Donald Duck and José Carioca meeting with the Aracuan Bird who introduces them to the pleasures of the samba. The Dinning Sisters provide the vocals while organist Ethel Smith plays the organ.

7 "Pecos Bill" is the finale about the famous hero from Texas, the biggest and best cowboy that ever lived, his horse Widowmaker, and how he was brought back down to earth by a woman named Slue-Foot Sue. This retelling of the story is courtesy of Roy Rogers, Bob Nolan, and the Sons of the Pioneers to Bobby Driscoll and Luana Patten. This segment was later edited on the film's NTSC video release [2000] (but not the PAL release) to remove all scenes of Bill smoking a cigarette. The entire scene with Bill rolling the smoke and lighting it with a lightning bolt was cut and all other shots of the offending cigarette hanging from his lips were digitally removed.

Images

There are a couple of items I'd like to point out in the following postings...

Mary Blair pastels. A nice set of pastel concepts attributed to Mary Blair.

Scrapbook items. Some time ago, I picked up a scrapbook that was compiled by an unknown Disney employee. The cels were just taped into the book and a brief description was written. I've included a shot of the original and shots of the same cel but with a background added.

Pecos Bill. A number of folks like Pecos Bill himself. But I happen to like Slue Foot Sue... I thought she was a fairly independent and self-reliant character for the late 1940's -- much as Ariel and the other current female leads in Disney films.

Hope you enjoy them...
Bob

"Melody Time: 1 Once Upon A Wintertime" (1948) [2/16] - Mary Blair Pastel Concepts

Here is a fantastic set of 15 pastel concepts (15"W x 12"H). The pastels are attributed to Mary Blair, but there are no specific notations that would verify that fact... I decided to put them in one huge 80"W x 41"H frame.

Mary Blair Pastel Concepts

----- DATABASE NOTES -----

From “Melody Time: Once Upon A Wintertime” (1948). A very unusual series of pastel concept (story board) elements to the "Once Upon A Wintertime" program believed to have been drawn by Mary Blair. Very good and fresh. Total of 15 images. [Image: 15 sections (3 rows of 5).15-3/8"W x 12-3/8"H. Frame: 80"W x 41"H] Acquired 1993. SeqID-0097 8/4/2005

"Melody Time: 1 Once Upon A Wintertime" (1948) [3/16] - Cel of Joe & Jenny 1

There were two cels of Joe & Jenny ice skating. Both were great.

Here's the original scan of the scrapbook followed by the final framing that used a background from an unknown 1940's Disney production. Anyone know what film it's from?

Cel of Joe & Jenny

----- DATABASE NOTES -----

From “Melody Time: Once Upon A Wintertime” (1948). Cel from a scrapbook compiled by an unknown Disney employee of Joe & Jenny spinning on skates on a 1940’s production background from an unknown Disney film. [5.5"W x 6"H] Acquired 2003. SeqID-1437 8/4/2005

"Melody Time: 1 Once Upon A Wintertime" (1948) [4/16] - Cel of Joe & Jenny 2

Here's another great cel of Joe & Jenny ice skating. This one features Joe and an excellent expression! Again, the original scan of the scrapbook followed by the final framed image using a background from an unknown Disney film of the 1940's.

Cel of Joe & Jenny

----- DATABASE NOTES -----

From “Melody Time: Once Upon A Wintertime” (1948). Cel from a scrapbook compiled by an unknown Disney employee of Joe & Jenny spinning on skates on a 1940’s production background from an unknown Disney film. [5.75"W x 6"H] Acquired 2003. SeqID-1438

"Melody Time: 1 Once Upon A Wintertime" (1948) [5/16] - Cel of Horses on Paul Terry Background

A nice cel of the horses, chipmunks and blue birds. The Disney employee that put together the scrapbook used chalk on the construction paper to indicate the feet in the snow. The final framing used a background from a 1940's Paul Terry film

Cel of Woodland Creatures

----- DATABASE NOTES -----

From “Melody Time: Once Upon A Wintertime” (1948). Cel from a scrapbook compiled by an unknown Disney employee of the horses, a blue bird and chipmunks on a winter production background from a 1940’s Paul Terry film. [5.5"W x 6"H] Acquired 2003. SeqID-1439 8/4/2005

"Melody Time: 1 Once Upon A Wintertime" (1942) [6/13] - Cel of Rabbits & Blue Birds On Fleischer Background

This cel has some nice sized images of the rabbits and blue birds. We used a background from a 1940's Fleischer/Paramount film -- one of the first backgrounds drawn by Davey Binus for Paul Terry.

Cel of Rabbits & Blue Birds, then on Fleischer Background

----- DATABASE NOTES -----

From “Melody Time: Once Upon A Wintertime” (1948). Cel from a scrapbook compiled by an unknown Disney employee of the rabbit couple and blue birds on a cabin exterior production background from a 1940’s Fleischer/Paramount film (one of the first backgrounds drawn by Davey Binus for Paul Terry). [6.25"W x 6"H] Acquired 2003. SeqID-1440 8/4/2005

"Melody Time: 2 Bumble Boogie" (1948) [7/16] - Cel of Bee

A wonderful image of the Bee -- large, with a confused look. Mounted the cel with a background from an unknown 1970's Disney film.

Bewildered Bee

----- DATABASE NOTES -----

From "Melody Time: Bumble Boogie" (1948). Cel from a scrapbook compiled by an unknown Disney employee of the Bee and moths on 1970’s production background from an unknown Disney Film. [6.25"W x 6"H] Acquired 2003. SeqID-1436 8/4/2005

"Melody Time: 3 Johnny Appleseed" (1948) [8/16] - Cel of Johnny With Apples

A great cel of Johnny holding apples -- a nice moment that speaks to his name! Put the cel over a background from a 1940's Disney film.

Johnny And His Apples

----- DATABASE NOTES -----

From "Melody Time: Johnny Appleseed Sequence" (1948). Cel from a scrapbook compiled by an unknown Disney employee of Johnny Appleseed & wagon train on a production background from an unknown 1940’s Disney film. [5"W x 6"H] Acquired 2003. SeqID-1428

"Melody Time: 3 Johnny Appleseed" (1948) [9/16] - Cel of Johnny and Animals

This is a younger Johnny. As you can see from the animals, everyone thought he was crazy. However, I'm not sure if the focus point is the concept of planting apples or wearing the pot on his head... The cel was framed over an unknown 1940's Disney background.

Johnny As A Pot Head

----- DATABASE NOTES -----

From "Melody Time: Johnny Appleseed Sequence" (1948). Cel from a scrapbook compiled by an unknown Disney employee of Johnny Appleseed planting with the forest creatures watching on a production background from an unknown 1940’s Disney film. [5.5"W x 6"H] Acquired 2003. SeqID-1429

"Melody Time: 3 Johnny Appleseed" (1948) [10/16] - Cel of Johnny's Angel

"The voices made me do it!" I guess we can chalk all of this up to Johnny's Angel! A big cel framed over an unknown 1940's Disney background.

Johnny's Angel

----- DATABASE NOTES -----

From "Melody Time: Johnny Appleseed Sequence" (1948). Cel from a scrapbook compiled by an unknown Disney employee of Johnny's Angel on a production background from an unknown 1940’s Disney film. [5.5"W x 6"H] Acquired 2003. SeqID-1430

"Melody Time: 4 Little Toot" (1948) [11/16] - 10 Pastel Concepts

I heard the story of Little Toot before ever seeing the movie. But I don't recall very many cartoons showing in the small theater in Altoona, Iowa. Here are ten pastel concepts.

Maybe the reason why this story hit home was that I felt I was a little like Little Toot -- trying to make Dad proud, but it never quite worked out the way I wanted...

Pastel Concepts from Little Toot

----- DATABASE NOTES -----

From “Melody Time: Little Toot” (1948; 1954). An extraordinary set of 1948 pastel story concepts on Little Toot. Very close to the final version. Released in 1948 as a segment of Melody Time. Re-released on August 13, 1954 as a short. Some individual items and some in precise sequence. Sequence where he is playing and doing figure-8's. [Image: 10 sections of 8-3/16"W x 5-7/8"H. Total art area: 41-13/16"W x 12"H. Frame: 49-11/16"W x 19-13/16"H.] Acquired 1993. SeqID-0067 8/3/2005