User Reviews

. . . and conclude anything other than it is a Dizzy Nature excursion into the land of love alike-s, sometimes denoted by the L-word. However, when actually watching this piece, is seems possible that the androgynous kisser NOT wearing a hoop skirt might be intended as a dude. If so, "he" seems doomed to a frigid fortune, as the flighty ice queen alternately smooches him and then showers him with cold shoulders. This wanton wench may be wearing a half dozen skirts, but as she insists upon skating on the thin ice of reckless oblivion her bottom layering is more likely to snuggle her into the river bed than the honeymoon suite.

"Once Upon a Wintertime" is an American 8-minute cartoon from 1948, so this one will have its 70th anniversary next year already. It is a Disney production by Oscar winner Hamilton Luske and apparently this one here is an extract of a full feature film named "Melody Time". It's about a pair of (tiny) humans dancing on the ice and they are joined in here by a whole lot of animals. The looks for this one are pretty good overall and you can see it's from the Golden Age of Animation. Story-wise it is so-so. Cuteness prevails and the more dramatic parts, i.e. the breaking ice, the danger of drowning etc. are not really too memorable. But the music makes up for that I would say. It's not just a good watch, also a good listen. Maybe the kinda lack of a plot kept it from becoming another Oscar nomination for Disney. It's all good though. Quite enjoyable from start to finish I must say. In my opinion, you should see it, preferrable these days during the holidays. Definitely a thumbs-up here.

This is the first short that was used to make up the full-length film from Disney, "Melody Time". Following WWII, Disney Studio was a mess--a terrible strike and the war (where many of the workers were drafted and many more were assigned to wartime animation work) decimated the studio and many of the old animators were gone. As a result, Disney did not get back to making traditional animated feature films for several years. In the meantime, their 'full-length' films were really odd compilations of shorts--and of a rather lackluster quality compared to earlier and later work.

The animation style and quality of this short is hardly reminiscent of classic Disney (such as "Snow White" or "Bambi"). Gone are the lovely detailed backgrounds and fine drawn characters. Instead, splashy solid color backgrounds and super-simplistic drawings filled this cartoon--such that it's hard to recognize it as a Disney product.

As for story, it's only fair--and something that seems intended for older audiences. The film has no dialog and has singing by Frances Langford. The story consists of two young lovers cavorting about--ice skating and enjoying the great frozen outdoors. Later, the simplistically drawn lady nearly falls down a simplistic waterfall and is saved by her simplistically drawn boyfriend--then away they zip through the simplistic countryside on a simplistic sleigh. If you haven't guessed, the word for the day is 'simplistic'--a great description of this fair cartoon that is easy to skip.

I grew up watching this as a part of the 1983 Disney Channel Christmas special. I wasn't born until 1989, but my parents taped it back when it aired, along with several other classic Christmas cartoons, and we watched the tape every Christmas. I always enjoyed this cartoon. It has a charming and old-fashioned Christmas feel with the horse-drawn sleigh, clothing, and music. I also love the interplay of the animals, almost more than the people. While the idea of the females having a temper tantrum and then fainting at the sight of danger is a terrible, tired stereotype, if you understand the context of the times in which this cartoon was made, you can overlook it. Once Upon a Wintertime will always be a Christmas Classic.