Take A Look at Disney

7/17/13

Classic Shorts Showcase: The Ballad of Nessie

Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney.  Today, I am taking a look at the 2011 short, The Ballad of Nessie.   The Ballad of Nessie premiered in front of Winnie The Pooh (2011).  Now you may be wondering why,   I'm reviewing this short. Well, I feel that it's good enough for a Showcase and oddly enough it came at the right time for me.  Especially with the message that  it's okay to cry.




Look













I love the look of this short as it is just so gorgeous.   According to the Disney Wiki,  the  look inspired by classics such as The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Johnny Appleseed and animators,  Ward Kimball  and Mary Blair.   The last one  is so totally obvious.  Mary Blair, is perhaps best known for work on It's A Small World.  She also worked on greats such as Peter Pan, and Cinderella. And looking at that,  I truly get a Cinderella vibe. I don't know if that makes sense.  But I truly see Mary Blair's influence in this animation style.  Of course, this isn't the only animator tribute as Nessie's first home is named after Glen Keane,  whose credits include being the animator for characters such as Tarzan, Beast, Aladdin, Rapunzel,  Ariel and the leads in last year's Paperman.




The Plot



The plot is simple enough in that it takes the tale of the Loch Ness Monster and puts a cute childlike spin on it and shows that Nessie isn't a monster but rather a friendly creature that was forced out of her home by a man McFroogal who decided to cut down where she lived and build a mini golf course.















Now, it almost seemed like this short could've turned into something shoving an environmental message down our throats but it didn't.  No instead,   the focus stayed the entire time on Nessie and her journey to find a new home.   She is of course sad but she is told to keep her chin up and not to cry. So, she goes on her way to find a new home, she tries a new lake but lambs drink up the water and leave it dry.















She also tries a troth but you can all figure out how well that works and she even tries a fish tank.  This is again, after she gets another reminder not to cry.


 



Nessie can't take it any longer and she just breaks down and cries and cries on end. She lets it all out and according to the short, she was crying for weeks.  And when she finally stopped,  it had created an ocean.















And in the end,  the short's main message is that if you need to cry.   Go ahead and let it all out.  It's okay to cry every once in a while because it might  make you feel better and as the narrator says, sometimes it might help you solve a problem.  I really like this message because not only is it good for kids but also for adults.  Because some people think that crying is a sign of weakness.  I mean Nessie is even told this twice in the short.  But that is  not true.   Just go ahead and let it all out.



Narration


Narrator - Billy Connolly


To keep with the Scottish theme of the story,  Scottish comedian, Billy Connolly narrated the short. And he did a great job. It was a like a very soothing storybook reading.  Which brings me to another touch I adored about this short.














The short opened with a book.  You have no idea, how happy that made me because that really hearkens back to classic Disney.  And now I'm not certain but I believe that Connolly provided the voice for the characters that Nessie came across on her journey to find a new home.




Character


Now, I really only feel the need to cover Nessie.  With that out of the way, let's begin.


Nessie















I loved Nessie, she is such an adorable character.  I really felt for her and I wanted her to find a find a new home. And I thought it was so cute how she had a special friend with her rubber duck, McQuack.   Though now I'm thinking of Launchpad.   Ahem back on topic,  she was a great character because you understood her sadness and her struggle. And when she was happy at the end, you felt happiness for her.    I hope Disney uses her some more in the future because she is such an adorable character that deserves more love.


My Final Thoughts


This is a great short with a very good message that sometimes, you just need to let it all out.  Something, that we all need to be reminded of from time to time.  I highly suggest this short as it is a beautiful piece of work.  So, if you can track this one down.


Now as for the next short,  that is going to be the first ever Facebook page. Trying something different here, I'm letting the A Look at Disney Facebook Followers pick the next short and the choices are between Symphony Hour,  The Spider and the Fly, & Old King Cole.  The way this works, is if you want to choose, you'll see three posts with these shorts on them and the one that gets the most likes will win.  I'll close this out next Wednesday.  Cutting it tight on review time but I've done that before. So, here is a link to the A Look at Disney Facebook Page.   And also,  I'd like to welcome the two new admins to the A Look at Disney Facebook page, BigBlackHatMan, and The Moderately Annoyed Canadian.   And thanks again guys.  Peace!

3 comments:

  1. Jason, I saw your comment and it was accidentally deleted. So please feel free to repost it.

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    Replies
    1. Okay. What I said was basically it's great to see your review on a short film I longed to see.

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    2. It's a great short that comes highly recommended.

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