Melody (Adventures in Music)

Melody is an educational Adventures in Music animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions, and originally released to theaters by RKO Radio Pictures on May 28, 1953. It features Professor Owl teaching his music class (full of birds) about melody and its importance to the world of music. It's all around in nature. Only birds and man can sing; man "sings" even when he speaks. We see a quick survey of the stages of life, as captured by songs: the Alphabet Song for primary school, "Here Comes the Bride," "The Old Gray Mare," etc. Some inspirations for song are outlined in song (such as love, sailing, trains, the West and motherhood), but "we never sing about brains." Finally, an example is shown of how a simple melody can be expanded into a symphony: an elaborate version of the simple tune which opened the lesson. Despite Disney's claims implying that this was the first 3-D cartoon, it was actually just Disney's first attempt at three-dimensional animation.