Note on Plight of the Bumble Bee
In a message that accompanied the animation and the storyboards of the Plight of the Bumble Bee, Jack Kinney himself, the director of the film, wrote this comment on the film he thought was his best:
"The best Mickey ever was never finished. It was called The Plight of the Bumble Bee, and it was all finished in animation. It had an awkward length, but Fred and Sib agreed that it could not be cut, so it was shelved."
In other words, it was shelved because of length, not because of story problems or "substance abuse." So, somebody in charge at Disney, here is your chance to finish it! Just call down to the ARL and tell them that Prod. Nr. 2428 is still in production!
"The best Mickey ever was never finished. It was called The Plight of the Bumble Bee, and it was all finished in animation. It had an awkward length, but Fred and Sib agreed that it could not be cut, so it was shelved."
In other words, it was shelved because of length, not because of story problems or "substance abuse." So, somebody in charge at Disney, here is your chance to finish it! Just call down to the ARL and tell them that Prod. Nr. 2428 is still in production!
Labels: Ponderings
posted by Hans Perk at 3:00 PM
2 Comments:
It's a pity we never got to see what Jack Kinney could do with Mickey in the early '50s, when Kinney was doing some of his best work and Mickey was being moved more and more into the background.
You'll note Didier Ghez' words from a few days ago: "Later on, I was told, Burny Mattinson had filled in the holes in the surviving animation and put it all on reel." This is true. The filmed version has what was recorded of the soundtrack, too.
Contrary to Kinney's recollection, it actually isn't an overlong cartoon (it runs approximately 06:30), so its length is evidently not what led to its demise.
But it's of a piece with DONALD'S DIARY in that it's narrated by a non-cartoony voice (actually, the narrator of many later Goofy cartoons) who purports to represent Mickey. That's right; Mickey doesn't talk like himself, except for a single shout when the bee bayonets him.
The "substance abuse" element could, sadly, really be what torpedoed any recent attempt to complete the short. Hector the bee is clearly drunk and sings "How Dry I Am." I recollect at least one Disney person telling me that this could no longer be marketed as a cartoon for children, thus its rejection. "This isn't the franchise."
At some point I recollect being told music rights may have been an issue, insofar as the bee sings bits of what may be some non-Disney songs.
Other oddities include Mickey, as animated, regaining his three-dimensional ears and acquiring a Donaldlike neck, especially prominent in the earliest scenes.
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