Mickey Mouse Works: "Donald's Failed Fourth"

Premiered March 1, 1999.

July 4th has arrived and Donald Duck (Tony Anselmo) is excited about watching fireworks.  His girlfriend Daisy (Diane Michelle) tasks him with finding a spot for watching the fireworks and setting up their picnic.  As Daisy steps away, she tells Donald to make sure he sets up "a perfect view for the night sky."

Donald finds what appears to be the ideal spot for the picnic blanket and lays it on the ground.  However, the blanket comes to life and attacks Donald!  

He resorts to drastic measures in order to get the blanket to lay flat. 

The scenario seems to improve when Daisy returns to drop off some folding chairs, then she steps away.  Unfortunately, the chairs also prove to be uncooperative.  

The same can be said of the picnic basket, which spits out its contents and locks Donald inside it!  All of this causes Donald to throw one of his patented temper tantrums!

Can Donald Duck convince his picnic supplies to cooperate?  Or will his plans for a romantic 4th of July celebration with Daisy be ruined?

J.A. Morris says: 

This is a very short, slight cartoon, but it's a lot of fun.  And as we've said here before, there aren't a lot of specials, movies or episodes built around the 4th of July.  So we're always glad to discover programming that celebrates holidays other than Christmas, Halloween and Thanksgiving.  

"Donald's Failed Fourth" is very much in the tradition of classic Donald Duck theatrical cartoons that were released in the 1930s through the 50s.  Donald would frequently get angry in those shorts and launch into squawking fits.  That's exactly what happens here when his blanket, chairs and basket seem determined to ruin his Independence Day picnic with Daisy.  

"Donald's Failed Fourth" is a cute cartoon set at 4th of July that will be enjoyed by Disney fans of all ages, but it's brief running time prevents me from giving it a higher rating.  

J.A. Morris' rating:
.5

2 and a half American flags.

RigbyMel says: 

I have always been a Donald Duck fan and generally enjoy animated shorts featuring the irascible duck.   "Donald's Failed Fourth" is an enjoyable, if featherweight (pun intended) 4th of July short.  

That being said, I do feel like some of the gags in this short feel repetitive, especially in a very short animated short.  

"Donald's Failed Fourth" is worth taking a look at for fans of Disney in general and Donald Duck in particular, but maybe not a "classic".  

RigbyMel's rating:

.5

2 and a half American flags.

Popeye The Sailor: "Patriotic Popeye"

Premiered May 10, 1957.

"Fireworks is  too dangerous!  I'm gonna see that you haves a safe and sane 4th of July!"
-Popeye

On Independence Day, Popeye the sailor (Jack Mercer) is tending his garden.  His nephews (also voiced by Mercer) are excited about celebrating the occasion by setting off firecrackers.

Popeye forbids this says it's too dangerous and locks the fireworks up in a shed.  The nephews accuse their uncle of spoiling their 4th of July.

Popeye is determined that they have a "safe and sane" 4th of July and suggests some alternate ways for the boys to celebrate, like playing baseball, grilling hot dogs and going for a drive in the country.  However, every time Popeye turns his back, the nephews attempt to get the fireworks out of the shed.

The boys eventually get the fireworks and predictable pyrotechnic chaos ensues.   The nephews' actions place them and their surroundings in danger.  Can Popeye save his nephews?

J.A. Morris says:
As we've said here before, there isn't a lot of 4th of July-themed programming out there, so it's always nice to find stuff like "Patriotic Popeye."

Popeye says he wants the boys to have a "safe and sane 4th of July."  This is a reference to a movement that started in Cleveland in 1908 in the wake of several fireworks-related accidents that caused injuries and deaths.  Cleveland passed laws that made it a "safe and sane" city  which prohibited firework use and their ordinances served as a model for other cities.  So you might say "Patriotic Popeye" is PSA about fireworks safety.

Popeye certainly comes off as a killjoy here, but the nephews' antics ultimately prove him right.  This short contains some nice animation, such as this bit where a swarm of hornets forms an eye:

Like most Popeye cartoons, "Patriotic Popeye" does feature (SPOILER ALERT!) some spinach-enhanced heroics from the sailor man.

A note about the nephews:
Popeye's four nephews first appeared in a 1942 cartoon called "Pip-eye, Pup-eye, Poop-eye an' Peep-eye," which were the nephews names.  "Patriotic Popeye" only features two of these four and doesn't name them.  I'm not sure what happened to the other two.

"Patriotic Popeye" isn't the best Popeye short ever but it's fun and filled with fireworks, roman candles and hot dogs, it's full of 4th of July imagery.  It's worth watching, especially recommended for hardcore fans of Popeye the sailor.

J.A. Morris' rating:

.5

2 and a half American Flag.

RigbyMel says: 

"Patriotic Popeye" is an amusing, if not a "classic" animated short.   I appreciated the safety message about fireworks,  even if the humorous action of the short kind of undercuts it a little bit.

I find it interesting that since this is a short made during the 1950s,  we see a large bottle rocket labeled the "Atomic Sky Rocket" -- a reference very much of the time and of the "space race" period of U.S. history.

Popeye's troublemaking nephews strike me as perhaps owing more than a little bit to some similar tropes employed by other animation studios and it's odd that neither Olive Oyl nor Bluto make an appearance in this cartoon.   However, there's plenty of holiday-themed action, so maybe they aren't needed? 

This is a short worth watching even if it's not precisely a classic.

RigbyMel's rating: 

2 American Flags.

1776

Premiered November 17, 1972

"A rebellion is always legal in the first person, such as "our rebellion."  It is only in the third person - "their rebellion" - that it becomes illegal." - Benjamin Franklin

We're going to depart from our normal format here on the presumption that most people have some understanding of the basic events of the American Revolution.

John Adams exhorts members of the Second Congress to "Vote For Independency!"

1776 is a musical film (based upon the 1969 stage musical of the same title) which dramatizes the events leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

The story is framed around the Second Continental Congress with a focus on John Adams (as portrayed by William Daniels), Thomas Jefferson (Ken Howard), and Benjamin Franklin (Howard DaSilva).

Jefferson, Franklin, and Adams contemplating the prospect of a new nation

RigbyMel says:

At first glance, it might seem incongruous to have chosen to treat the subject of the Declaration of Independence in a musical format,  but it works surprisingly well.

The stage version is definitely evident in the way 1776 was filmed.

Portions of the dialogue and some of the song lyrics are taken directly from things said or written by various participants in the Second Continental Congress.  The songs and the way the plot is structured serve to highlight the drama and debate involved in the decision to declare independence from the British crown.

That being said, 1776 should not be read as any sort of documentary film.  There is a lot of artistic license taken.   For instance, since the action takes place entirely in Philadelphia and mostly indoors, we need an antagonist, and John Dickinson of Pennsylvania (portrayed in the film by Donald Madden) becomes the primary villain for dramatic purposes.

John Dickinson vs. John Adams in the film

Dickinson did take a much more cautious approach to independence and abstained from voting to ratify the Declaration, but his objections were much more nuanced than his film portrayal would suggest.

The film incarnation of Dickinson leads the conservatives in singing "Cool, Considerate Men."

What 1776 does exceptionally well is to humanize the Founding Fathers and to unpack some of the major issues of the time.

For example,  we get this exchange between John Adams and Ben Franklin:

Adams:  "Mark me, Franklin ... if we give in on this issue [the question of slavery], posterity will never forgive us."
Franklin: "That's probably true, but we won't hear a thing, we'll be long gone.  Besides, what would posterity think we were?  Demi-gods?  We're men, no more, no less, trying to get a nation started .., First things first, John.  Independence,  America.  If we don't secure that, what difference will the rest make?"

"Virginia abstains." - Jefferson is less than pleased that he hasn't seen his wife in over 6 months. 

We also are shown that the Founders ... gasp! ... missed their wives and families and were separated from them for extended periods of time in service of the new nation.

There are only 2 roles for women in the film --  Adam's wife Abigail (Virginia Vestoff) appears via dramatized versions of the letters the two exchanged,  and Jefferson's wife Martha (Blythe Danner) serves as muse to her husband making a(n entirely fictional) journey to Philadelphia to (*ahem*) encourage him to write.

One of my favorite scenes in the movie involves the Declaration Committee's song "But, Mr. Adams" which involves Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Roger Sherman (Rex Robbins) and Robert Livingston (John Myhers) bickering over who will actually do the writing of the declaration whilst dancing up and down on the staircase of what is now known as "Independence Hall" -- a hilariously preposterous take on a serious subject.

"Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, refuse to use the pen!" 

Don't they look happy to not be the primary authors?

Another scene that is anything but funny but no less powerful is the "Molasses to Rum" song performed by Edward Rutledge of South Carolina (as played by John Cullum), which indicts the hypocrisy inherent in the northerners' opposition to the slave trade at the time since they, too, profited from the Triangle Trade.

If you only know John Cullum's work from Northern Exposure, ER or Mad Men,  it's well worth seeing his performance to hear what an amazing baritone voice he has and why he has been nominated for and won several Tony Awards over the years!

Richard Henry Lee (Ron Holgate) and friend.

From a pop culture history perspective, it is also interesting to note that the fountain that makes an appearance in "The Lees of Old Virginia" (a comedic showcase featuring Richard Henry Lee as played by Ron Holgate) can still be found on the Warner Studios back lot.   You may also recognize this fountain from the opening credits of 1990s TV sitcom favorite Friends!

Does this fountain look familiar? 

The same fountain as it appeared in the opening credits of Friends!

I was introduced to 1776 thanks to showings on cable TV in the mid to late 1980s.  I've geekily re-enacted bits of it on the staircase of Independence Hall and even did a song from it (Martha Jefferson's "He Plays The Violin") for my senior vocal recital in the mid-1990s.

RigbyMel (right) and her little brother doing our own version of a number from 1776 on a visit to the real Independence Hall!

The musical holds a special place in my heart and it continues to be required 4th of July viewing in our house.

Lobby card for the film

RigbyMel's rating:

4 American Flags!