Now I know that I said I was going to put A Look at Disney on hiatus until July 7th but I really wanted to get this review and just go ahead and ignore the part where I say over the next few weeks but this will resume when I return from trip.
Hey guys, over the next few weeks, you'll be seeing a new weekly series of reviews from me where I focus on the old Disney shorts. Now these aren't Silly Symphonies or even the ones starring Mickey and the gang. No these are shorts that were made for the package films when Disney Studios was making a lot of those. So enjoy, the first entry in Classic Shorts Showcase, where I'll be taking a look at The Reluctant Dragon. Now while the film release of The Reluctant Dragon involved tours of the studio, I won't be talking about those as I'd rather focus on just the short.
The Plot
The Reluctant Dragon is the story of a dragon who would rather recite poetry than take part in a fight. A Boy with his book warns the Dragon, that a dragon killer is coming to slay him. The Dargon still wishes not to fight. The Boy has to find a way to trick the Dragon into fighting otherwise he is a gonner.
The Characters
In this short, there are 3 main characters and seeing at it is a short, there really aren't any supporting characters save for The Boy's father who appears at the beginning of the short but that's it. Because of that, I'll only be focusing on the 3 main characters.
The Dragon voiced by Barnett Parker
As stated before The Dragon does not care for the idea of fighting. He would much rather spend his days reciting poetry, signing with the birds or having a picnic. He doesn't want to fight as he doesn't believe fighting doesn't solve anything. I'm all for that but I have to say for majority of the short up until until the final fight I actually found The Dragon to come off as a bit obnoxious. I think it was his mannerisms as he walked daintly and the way he talked was also rather annoying. He wasn't a bad character but he did get on my nerves every now and then.
The Boy voiced by Billy Lee
First off, I apologize for the picture but this is the only one I could find with The Boy on it. The Boy is the driving force of this short. He is the one that informs The Dragon of the Dragon Killer's arrival and he is the one that teaches The Dragon how to get mad. As The Dragon had never been mad before. The Boy always lugs around a book with him that appears to be a encyclopedia as it has information on almost everything. The Boy is the one that is able to get The Dragon mad by saying that he isn't a real dragon. Now this is just a pet peeve but does anyone else find it annoying when they don't give names to the chracters and just refer to them as Dragon or Boy? I guess you could make the arguement that they want young boys to picture themselves in the role of The Boy but still I would have perfered it if he had a name.
Sir Giles voiced by Claud Allister
Sir Giles is the Dragon Killer. Now his introduction was great at first we see him ride with all of his armor on and you don't see his face. Your expecting a dashing young knight but isntead you get this older gentlemen. Sir Giles is perhaps the best character from this short as you see, while he knows he is expected to fight The Dragon, he wants to respect The Dragon's wishes of not fighting. So, they have a fake fight. Which is perhaps the best part of this whole short I was laughing very hard at the fight between these two. Like The Dragon, Giles is also into poetry and if I udnerstoond correctly, it sounded as though he was just as famous for his poetry as he was for being a dragon killer. That actually made the character quite complex. He was both a dragon killer and poet. He shows that you can be both and don't have to one or the other. As stated before, he didn't want to disprect The Dragon and in my eyes that makes him out to be quite the gentleman.
The Poems
Now unlike most of the movies that I have covered on A Look at Disney, where music played an important part. Poetry took the front seat in this short and there are two poems that come one after another in this short that I wish to cover.
Upside Down Cake - The Dragon
It's a simple poem about an upside down cake and how the top and bottom are the same. Nothing too fancy but I wouldn't expect anything that would make people think too hard in a short such as this. Not bad and I do like the music that accompanies The Dragon's recital.
Radish So Red - Sir Giles
I love the lead into this with The Boy wanting Sir Giles to tell The Dragon that he is the dragon killer. Here again, we have another poem about food. Makes me wonder if the writers were hungry when they came up with these scenes. Then again, pehaps they were following the book but I wouldn't be able to tell you as I have never read the book. Anyways, not bad but I think The Dragon's poem was better. Sure, he was describing the food as well but his description wasn't so obvious.
My Final Thoughts
The Reluctant Dragon was an okay short at best. I wouldn't say it's for everyone but if your a Disney fan who likes tracking down pieces of Disney history such as myself, you might like it and I think some kids might get a kick out of it as well. Now as you know, my belief is that age shouldn't matter and if you want to see it, then go ahead. It's not bad but I can't exactly say that it is good either. It's somewhere in between.
Join me next week for the second installment of Classic Shorts Showcase where I'll look at...
Also, my 200th blog is fast approaching and while the 100th blog was a big event, I don't want to anything like that. I'd rather keep it simple and do a interview. Just have someone conduct an interview with me. You can ask any questions about Disney, or how I got into blogging. If your intrested send me a private message or e-mail at legoland2007@yahoo.com
Hey guys, over the next few weeks, you'll be seeing a new weekly series of reviews from me where I focus on the old Disney shorts. Now these aren't Silly Symphonies or even the ones starring Mickey and the gang. No these are shorts that were made for the package films when Disney Studios was making a lot of those. So enjoy, the first entry in Classic Shorts Showcase, where I'll be taking a look at The Reluctant Dragon. Now while the film release of The Reluctant Dragon involved tours of the studio, I won't be talking about those as I'd rather focus on just the short.
The Plot
The Reluctant Dragon is the story of a dragon who would rather recite poetry than take part in a fight. A Boy with his book warns the Dragon, that a dragon killer is coming to slay him. The Dargon still wishes not to fight. The Boy has to find a way to trick the Dragon into fighting otherwise he is a gonner.
The Characters
In this short, there are 3 main characters and seeing at it is a short, there really aren't any supporting characters save for The Boy's father who appears at the beginning of the short but that's it. Because of that, I'll only be focusing on the 3 main characters.
The Dragon voiced by Barnett Parker
As stated before The Dragon does not care for the idea of fighting. He would much rather spend his days reciting poetry, signing with the birds or having a picnic. He doesn't want to fight as he doesn't believe fighting doesn't solve anything. I'm all for that but I have to say for majority of the short up until until the final fight I actually found The Dragon to come off as a bit obnoxious. I think it was his mannerisms as he walked daintly and the way he talked was also rather annoying. He wasn't a bad character but he did get on my nerves every now and then.
The Boy voiced by Billy Lee
First off, I apologize for the picture but this is the only one I could find with The Boy on it. The Boy is the driving force of this short. He is the one that informs The Dragon of the Dragon Killer's arrival and he is the one that teaches The Dragon how to get mad. As The Dragon had never been mad before. The Boy always lugs around a book with him that appears to be a encyclopedia as it has information on almost everything. The Boy is the one that is able to get The Dragon mad by saying that he isn't a real dragon. Now this is just a pet peeve but does anyone else find it annoying when they don't give names to the chracters and just refer to them as Dragon or Boy? I guess you could make the arguement that they want young boys to picture themselves in the role of The Boy but still I would have perfered it if he had a name.
Sir Giles voiced by Claud Allister
Sir Giles is the Dragon Killer. Now his introduction was great at first we see him ride with all of his armor on and you don't see his face. Your expecting a dashing young knight but isntead you get this older gentlemen. Sir Giles is perhaps the best character from this short as you see, while he knows he is expected to fight The Dragon, he wants to respect The Dragon's wishes of not fighting. So, they have a fake fight. Which is perhaps the best part of this whole short I was laughing very hard at the fight between these two. Like The Dragon, Giles is also into poetry and if I udnerstoond correctly, it sounded as though he was just as famous for his poetry as he was for being a dragon killer. That actually made the character quite complex. He was both a dragon killer and poet. He shows that you can be both and don't have to one or the other. As stated before, he didn't want to disprect The Dragon and in my eyes that makes him out to be quite the gentleman.
The Poems
Now unlike most of the movies that I have covered on A Look at Disney, where music played an important part. Poetry took the front seat in this short and there are two poems that come one after another in this short that I wish to cover.
Upside Down Cake - The Dragon
It's a simple poem about an upside down cake and how the top and bottom are the same. Nothing too fancy but I wouldn't expect anything that would make people think too hard in a short such as this. Not bad and I do like the music that accompanies The Dragon's recital.
Radish So Red - Sir Giles
I love the lead into this with The Boy wanting Sir Giles to tell The Dragon that he is the dragon killer. Here again, we have another poem about food. Makes me wonder if the writers were hungry when they came up with these scenes. Then again, pehaps they were following the book but I wouldn't be able to tell you as I have never read the book. Anyways, not bad but I think The Dragon's poem was better. Sure, he was describing the food as well but his description wasn't so obvious.
My Final Thoughts
The Reluctant Dragon was an okay short at best. I wouldn't say it's for everyone but if your a Disney fan who likes tracking down pieces of Disney history such as myself, you might like it and I think some kids might get a kick out of it as well. Now as you know, my belief is that age shouldn't matter and if you want to see it, then go ahead. It's not bad but I can't exactly say that it is good either. It's somewhere in between.
Join me next week for the second installment of Classic Shorts Showcase where I'll look at...
Ferdinand The Bull
Also, my 200th blog is fast approaching and while the 100th blog was a big event, I don't want to anything like that. I'd rather keep it simple and do a interview. Just have someone conduct an interview with me. You can ask any questions about Disney, or how I got into blogging. If your intrested send me a private message or e-mail at legoland2007@yahoo.com
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