John Henry

I read about this film being made and that it would be released to theaters to play in front of Disney films released during the year. Well I never did see it and had forgotten about it when I saw that it would be included on a special DVD with several of the other Disney Tall Tale classics, Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed and Casey Jones.

John Henry is an excellent short and it deserves a much higher rating. As mentioned the animation is made to look unfinished and rough. This only adds to the charm of the film. The music is also outstanding and the story is touching. I hope more people will check out John Henry as well as the other shorts on the DVD.

A late addition to the Disney folklore shorts, this short film more than holds its own. The slightly-unfinished style helps it feel right at home with the earlier films and also establishes a legendary aura to the story. You almost sense you are watching an animated story book. Early images of a woman quilting even hint that this is meant to be seen like a story told through quilted squares. Vocal performances are great and the addition of new characters builds a deeper sense of emotional connection to the old legend. The real strength comes from the music. True to the legends of John Henry, singing saturates and propels the story forward. Strong, Gospel-style numbers lift the film above a standard children's feature to something truly moving. The well-known conclusion hits all-the harder as a result. I watched this countless times growing up and now my kids love it too.

Considering this was just a project to keep animators occupied, it is a pretty darn impressive film. Disney's take on the tall tale is nothing new, but the style and look of this short is fantastic. The characters were made to look like animation before "clean-up" which is very interesting to watch, and also a brave move on Disney's part! Great backgrounds, too. Let's hope the Mouse takes more chances like this one!

This is another amazing animation from Disney. The unfinished look the cartoon has is very appealing, and the character design is very Disney. John Henry is a man who was once a slave, until the Emancipation Proclamation freed him and his love, who immediately get married. They go to strike it out and John Henry famously works on the railroad to get his wife and himself some land so they can be independent.

The short is fairly emotional and tackles some heavier themes for Disney (slavery, death), but does it nicely, in such a way that I could see young children be able to watch it without a qualm from parents. The music is very flavorful, being in the style of black gospel singers or backup singers. I could listen to this music for a while and not get tired of it. It's nice and fun for the kiddies to see, with some good messages about determination.

"John Henry" is one of a string of animated shorts that Walt Disney's studios have made over the years. This is a fairly late comer among this comic book style of short films. Several of these are about legendary characters in America's past. John Henry is an American folk hero of African descent, who had been a slave. As "The Ballad of John Henry" says, he was a steel-driving man.

Just as Paul Bunyan was the giant among lumber jacks, John Henry was a giant among steel drivers who built the American railroads. This 10-minutte short is on a DVD of Disney's American Legends. There's a large statue of John Henry in John Henry Historical Park near Talcott, West Virginia. It's located near the entrance to the abandoned railroad Big Bend tunnel.