Hello and welcome back to Classic Shorts Showcase, today I'm taking a look a look at The Brave Engineer. Which is based on the true life of engineer, Casey Jones. Though there were some liberties taken with the story. Casey's goal to keep his train on time and avoid all obstacles. Does he make it, you'll find out.
The Plot
Well, I gave you the plot up top and it is a fun little story watching Casey trying to overcome the different obstacles such as train robbers, a damsel in distress and a flood. Everything in this short seems so over the top that it is hard to think that this was a real person but Casey did exist but again as I said there were some liberties taken and the biggest one being after the wreck in real life, Casey didn't survive and ultimately lost his life. Part of me is a little disappointed that they didn't go with this route because Disney hasn't shied away from this before and instead made it a comic short. Is it bad? No but it's a bit a disappointing that they felt the need to make this change.
Narration
Narrators - Jerry Colonna & The King's Men
The narration was a unique case in this short as it seemed to have two narrators being Jerry Colonna and The King's Men. Jerry Colonna seemed to provide the basic narration and give voices to all of the characters while The King's Men would sing about what was happening. It was unique idea but I don't think it panned out all the way and again I'm not a fan of sing-song narration.
Character
Casey Jones
Casey was a fun character and it was neat watching overcome these obstacles just so that the train would arrive on time to it's detestation. Noting was going to deter him from getting to where he needed to go. At times, Casey came off of as oblivious to his surroundings and it was a little annoying. Going back to Disney changing the outcome of what happened, that is the biggest drawback to me because I would've liked to see them tackle this story in a more serious manner a la shorts like John Henry because I'm not saying this short was disrespectful but I feel by changing what happened it lessens the heroics. I don't know if that makes sense but let's go back to John Henry, John Henry died at the end of his short standing up for what he believed was right. What I'm saying here is I think having Casey die protecting the train would've showed how dedicated he is to his job. Maybe I don't know, really that's the only complaint I have about this short. And I've been holding off on making this joke but I gotta do it.
Corny, sure but hey, it's my review.
My Final Thoughts
This is a good short but I do wish Disney had considered being more truthful to the actual events because I feel that it could've made for a stronger short. Instead they decided to tell lighthearted version of this tale. It's not a bad decision and I wouldn't say it's a slap in the face to the real Casey Jones but it just doesn't sit well with me. I'll admit that these shorts should be entertaining first and foremost and on that front, it is. I enjoyed watching it and I think the best way to enjoy it is by separating what happened in the short from the real life events. Ah, well. Join me next week when I take a look at...
The Plot
Well, I gave you the plot up top and it is a fun little story watching Casey trying to overcome the different obstacles such as train robbers, a damsel in distress and a flood. Everything in this short seems so over the top that it is hard to think that this was a real person but Casey did exist but again as I said there were some liberties taken and the biggest one being after the wreck in real life, Casey didn't survive and ultimately lost his life. Part of me is a little disappointed that they didn't go with this route because Disney hasn't shied away from this before and instead made it a comic short. Is it bad? No but it's a bit a disappointing that they felt the need to make this change.
Narration
Narrators - Jerry Colonna & The King's Men
The narration was a unique case in this short as it seemed to have two narrators being Jerry Colonna and The King's Men. Jerry Colonna seemed to provide the basic narration and give voices to all of the characters while The King's Men would sing about what was happening. It was unique idea but I don't think it panned out all the way and again I'm not a fan of sing-song narration.
Character
Casey Jones
Casey was a fun character and it was neat watching overcome these obstacles just so that the train would arrive on time to it's detestation. Noting was going to deter him from getting to where he needed to go. At times, Casey came off of as oblivious to his surroundings and it was a little annoying. Going back to Disney changing the outcome of what happened, that is the biggest drawback to me because I would've liked to see them tackle this story in a more serious manner a la shorts like John Henry because I'm not saying this short was disrespectful but I feel by changing what happened it lessens the heroics. I don't know if that makes sense but let's go back to John Henry, John Henry died at the end of his short standing up for what he believed was right. What I'm saying here is I think having Casey die protecting the train would've showed how dedicated he is to his job. Maybe I don't know, really that's the only complaint I have about this short. And I've been holding off on making this joke but I gotta do it.
Corny, sure but hey, it's my review.
My Final Thoughts
This is a good short but I do wish Disney had considered being more truthful to the actual events because I feel that it could've made for a stronger short. Instead they decided to tell lighthearted version of this tale. It's not a bad decision and I wouldn't say it's a slap in the face to the real Casey Jones but it just doesn't sit well with me. I'll admit that these shorts should be entertaining first and foremost and on that front, it is. I enjoyed watching it and I think the best way to enjoy it is by separating what happened in the short from the real life events. Ah, well. Join me next week when I take a look at...
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