The Reluctant Dragon (1941)

The Reluctant Dragon (1941) *** 1/2 (out of 4)Robert Benchley and his wife are sitting around their pool when she suggests he pays Walt Disney a visit and talk him into making an animated short out of The Reluctant Dragon story. At first Benchley doesn't want to but after she forces him he finds himself on the Disnet lot where he gets a behind-the-scenes look at the company while trying to find Walt Disney.Those walking into this expecting a full-length Disney movie might be a tad bit disappointed but I think adults and fans of the company will really enjoy this part-documentary, part-animated short. What we've basically got here is a tour of the Walt Disney Studios with Benchley given access to various things that most common people wouldn't get to see. Along the way he interacts with Donald Duck, Goofy and a few other characters as well as getting to view the HOW TO RIDE A HORSE short (which would be released on its own in 1950).What I enjoyed the most about this documentary is the fact that you really get to learn how an animated movie is made. This might be more common knowledge today but back in 1941 I'm sure most people didn't know everything and this film does a great job at explaining it. Even better is the fact that we get to meet some of the actual people who worked on the films as either animators or even those doing sound effects or working around the office.The animation sequences are perhaps the least entertaining thing in the film. The Goofy short is good but it certainly isn't one of the studios best films. The Reluctant Dragon is mildly entertaining but it's certainly far from classic Disney. For his part in the film Benchley is good, warm and isn't as annoying as he was in some of his own personal shorts. I'm not sure kids will enjoy this but adults are bound to have a great time with this behind-the-scenes look at Disney and we even get a nice sequence with the man himself.

The film stars Robert Benchley as a man whose wife encourages him to pitch an idea to Walt Disney about adapting a children's book into a movie. So Benchley goes to the Disney Studios, where he wanders around and gets a behind-the-scenes look at the animation process. He's treated to a brief bit of Donald Duck, Bambi, and the storyboarding of a cartoon in production called Baby Weems. He also gets to watch a new Goofy cartoon, How to Ride a Horse. Then he meets Walt Disney and gets to see a 20-minute cartoon based on the book Benchley wanted to be adapted, The Reluctant Dragon.The first 20 minutes or so of the live-action part of the movie is in black & white then it changes to beautiful Technicolor. It's a nice time capsule that shows us the goings-on at the Disney Studios back in the day and how they made cartoons. I found a lot of this fascinating. I absolutely loved the "paint mill" part! Robert Benchley is always funny. Walt Disney himself appears (wearing a groovy suit). Alan Ladd, Frances Gifford, and Frank Faylen all play Disney employees. The two major cartoons are the Goofy short and The Reluctant Dragon itself. The Goofy short is amusing. The Dragon cartoon, which is I imagine why most people went to see this, is about a boy who befriends a shy, poetry-spouting dragon that doesn't like to fight. Well, for some reason, the boy is intent on getting the dragon to fight elderly knight, Sir Giles. Even after Sir Giles and the dragon meet and realize they both have a love of poetry in common, the boy still pushes for the fight. Finally the fight takes place, sort of, with Sir Giles and the dragon putting on a show for the villagers. I have to admit I didn't get the point of most of this. Why was the boy so intent on getting the dragon, whom he seemed to genuinely like, to fight? Once Sir Giles proposes the idea of faking the fight, he seems okay with it. So what was the point of pushing for the fight in the first place? Just let the dragon be! I know I'm probably looking too closely at it but it just seemed weird to me. Anyway, it's easy to see why this story wasn't enough for its own feature. It's animated nicely and has a sweet charm and humor about it, but the story needed reworking for sure. The dragon is impossible to dislike. Love his "Ode to Upside-Down Cake." This movie was a flop at the time of its release, which is understandable. It was a very different kind of movie for Disney. Still, it's a joy to watch if you like little glimpses back in time as well as great old Technicolor and some nice cartoons. There are no hidden Pinocchios here or anything but they are pleasant with lovely animation. Robert Benchley is great fun. This probably isn't for everybody, and will especially turn off people expecting it to be a feature-length cartoon, but I liked it.

As she reads her husband the story of the reluctant dragon, Mrs Benchley has the idea of selling the idea to Walt Disney to make into a film. Reluctantly Robert Benchley goes to Disney studios to see Walt but tries to delay on the way. As he wanders around the studio he meets various cast and crew behind the Disney films and gets to see some of the techniques that make the film.Although I am not a real fan of Disney films from this period, I decided to give this film a try as the basic plot sounded quite interesting. I'm glad I did as this film is not only quite interesting but also an amusing mix of life action and animation. The basic plot is no more than a tour of the Disney process but done in a rather amusing way as Benchley slips from one room to another in an attempt to evade a very boring tour guide. This element of the film is quite enjoyable; the process is interesting (if not really valid anymore - it's all in Korea isn't it?!) and it is delivered by gentle wit that both kids and adults will like.The 100% animated strands of the film are mixed and will depend whether or not you are a Disney fan or not (I'm not - I prefer Loony Tunes). The Goofy section is very good but the storyboard telling of Baby Weems is pretty poor and the actual story of the Reluctant Dragon is a bit too cute and lacking teeth (if you know what I mean). The bits where Benchley is shown the animation process and the characters come to life are well handled and pretty cool - Daffy gives him a bit of a mouthful and is funny.The people in the film are rather airbrushed but still OK; the women are a bit too polished and wholesome, leaving the better roles for the men. Walt himself is OK and his presence adds to the value of the film, but it is Benchley that makes this such an enjoyable film. He died a few years after making this and he can't have been much more than fifty when he passed. His mocking humour is good and he isn't afraid to clown it up for the cameras.Overall this is a very enjoyable little film. For Disney fans it is almost a must-see as it goes around the basic stages of creating a cartoon within the studio. The animated sections are not as good (to me) and I was left wanting more of Benchley and the unofficial tour rather than the title story, but it was quite enjoyable in a rather fresh and amusing fashion.

I can see why the public was less than amused with this movie by Walt Disney (yeah, I can see people thinking they were cheated out of their movie ticket). It has very poor animation, and lots of corny live-action stuff.BUT... when watched along the rest of the tin DVD box (Behind the Studios), the movie becomes a joy to behold. The whole animation process is shown as a nice overview of what people had to go through just to get a 10 minute short ready. Absolutely amazing!