Storyline

Humorist Robert Benchley attempts to find Walt Disney to ask him to adapt a short story about a gentle dragon who would rather recite poetry than be ferocious. Along the way, he is given a tour of Walt Disney Studios, and learns about the animation process.—Anonymous

Plot Keywords

based on novel, castle thunder, knight, picnic, cave, fire breathing dragon, whispering, poet, cheering, dancing, stereotype, behind the scenes, cow, filmmaking, self referential, elephant, artist, train, movie studio, part live action

Short Review

80 years old and this is one of the most overlooked entries in the Disney canon combining live-action and traditional hand-drawn animation In this film Robert Benchley pitches an idea to Walt Disney to adapt a children's book into a feature film Instead he's taken on a tour of how the moviemaking process is created Everything from pencil drawings to sound effects to music composition Even get to see original voice actor Clarence Nash speak as Donald DuckThis was during a labor union strike of 1941 it turns out and Walt himself was producing WWII propaganda to keep things flowing As you can see a lot of this was met with big controversy with negative depictions of culture and ethnicities It impacted the future of the studio as well as the workforce with everyone demanding better wages The movie itself;There's really nice animated segments, it cleverly shifts from black-and-white to full technicolor, it's amazing to witness the animation process from characters to backgrounds in frames and cells True the film failed commercially since it came out 3 weeks after a picketing strike and there's some uncomfortable negative depictions of other communities; not to mention the dragon himself doesn't show up until the last 25 min but it remains a paean to the art of hand-drawn animation and its craftsmen, from ink and paint to camera techniques It's short yet a compelling and charming window into a very specific and important period of Disney history The animated dragon portion is the funniest bit even if it's only the last part

Trailer

Streaming Service

1. Amazon Video : Rent from $1.99, Or $0.00 with a Prime membership

2. Vudu : [SD - Buy: 17.99, Rent: 3.99] [HDX - Buy: 17.99, Rent: 3.99]