Review of Wynken, Blynken & Nod

WYNKEN, BLYNKEN AND NOD has the three sleepy boys sailing off in a wooden shoe into a blue sky floating on crystals while some background music gives some exposition with some vocalizing. It's the start of one of Disney's most appealing cartoons from the late '30s at a time when the studio was really getting a good grip on how to create cartoons that had depth, beauty and finely crafted animation. The multiplane camera, which would be used in most of their feature-length films over the next several years, gives fuller dimension to the lush art work.

Pulling Nod from stumbling through a cloud is reminiscent of the stork doing the same to retrieve the sack holding DUMBO from sinking below the clouds. Most of the sight gags involve watching the boys attempt to fish while getting tangled up in their lines and getting resistance from the starfish surrounding their wooden boat. Finally, a friendly storm cloud huffs and puffs to send the wooden ship sailing to earth, whereby we see it returning safely home.

Again, there are elements that were used in later Disney films--especially PETER PAN (with the boys flying home and overhead shots of the land below), and the animation for Wynken, Blynken and Nod will remind viewers of "the lost boys" from that Disney epic.

An enjoyable treat for any Disney fan.