The Reluctant Dragon

Release Date: June 20, 1941

This movie is not your typical full-length film, and that should be made obvious pretty quickly. As soon as the credits end, a message appears on screen that says, "This picture is made in answer to the many requests to show the backstage life of animated cartoons. P.S. Any resemblance to a regular motion picture is purely coincidental." That final comedic line gives you a good clue of what you can expect in the movie. While this film does give a "backlot tour" of the Disney Studio, it is done through the story of a man trying to pitch a story idea to Walt Disney. There are witty one liners and gags all throughout the movie, giving it a classic Disney feel.

Although I had heard of this movie for years and had seen the actual short of The Reluctant Dragon, I had never seen the entire film until I was ready to write this post. I am glad that I found it on Amazon Prime Video so I could finally see the whole thing! To be honest, it felt to me like a forerunner to the television series Walt would later create, where he would give behind the scenes tours of Disneyland, upcoming attractions, and more.

In this film, we walk with Robert Benchley, an actor and humorist in the first half of the 1900's, who is dropped off at the Disney Studios by his wife with the mandate to pitch a cartoon idea to Walt Disney. Rather than going directly to Walt, he meanders around the studio and ends up seeing how cartoons are created. With him, the viewer learns about storyboards, sound effects and voice acting, drawings that become animations, the ink and paint department, types of cameras used, and more! During his time in the studio, we see work being done in preparation for Bambi and Dumbo--two upcoming films, as well as many other projects past and future.

While the movie helped bring some much-needed income to the studio, the movie was not well received by critics and audiences, who wanted another full-length animated feature. On top of that, the infamous strike was going on at the Disney studio, and had been for three weeks when the movie was released. While the film depicted the Disney studio as a pleasant and happy place to work, strikers protested the premiere with a very different attitude.

In the canon of full-length Disney movies, The Reluctant Dragon definitely feels like a black sheep, but I think there is still some incredible value in this film. I love how it forever immortalizes the animation process and gives us a snapshot of what some elements of the Disney studio looked like back in 1941. I think the timing of the release and the format of the release are what hurt this movie the most. When television programs became popular, Walt was justly fascinated with them, and through his Disneyland show in 1954, he found the proper medium for the kind of production The Reluctant Dragon was meant to be.