Johnny Appleseed (film)
| Johnny Appleseed | |
|---|---|
 Johnny Appleseed in Disney's American Legends |
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| Directed by | Wilfred Jackson |
| Produced by | Walt Disney |
| Written by | Winston Hibler Joe Rinaldi Erdman Penner Jesse Marsh |
| Starring | Dennis Day |
| Music by | Paul J. Smith |
| Cinematography | Hal Ambro & Harvey Toombs (animators) |
| Release date(s) | May 27, 1948 |
| Running time | 19 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | language |
Johnny Appleseed is a bio-fiction animated feature from Walt Disney, using the nickname of Johnny Appleseed, a real-life American frontiersman born as John Chapman.
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[edit] Synopsis
In the movie, Johnny Appleseed is a farmer, watching others go west, and wishing he could, too. In real life, Johnny Appleseed was apprenticed as a teenager to an orchardist, but he's footloose and fancy-free; he heads for the frontier, and his parents and siblings follow later. In the movie, Johnny Appleseed is inspired by an angel to abandon his farm, go west, and plant apple seeds everywhere he goes. In real life, Johnny Appleseed's angel was a young man he befriended and supported financially, who he caught romancing another man. In reality, Johnny was a commercial nurseryman, planting nurseries where he believes families will settle in a year or two, so that he would have young trees available for sale when the settlers arrive. The angel tells Johnny that he has all that he needs to go out West: a bag of seeds to plant, a Bible, and a pot that he can use for a hat. In the movie, Johnny Appleseed befriends a skunk, and thereafter, all animals instinctively trust him. In truth, Johnny Appleseed is known to have been attacked by bears and snakes. In the movie, Johnny is clean, and walks easily through a well-manicured parklike frontier in beautiful weather. However, the reality was that he was often barefoot and wore rags in blizzards, and braved disease-ridden swamps.
In the end, after walking hundreds of miles and planting apple trees all along the way, Johnny finally rests for the last time under a tree; his angel appears before him, and tells Johnny that it's time to go. Johnny gets up, scared at first upon realizing he's dead, but refuses to go to his final resting place, believing that his work is not done yet. However, the angel tells him that, where they're headed, they're low on apple trees, so Johnny picks up his seed bag and happily agrees to go with him.
[edit] Prior release
The film was originally a sequence in Disney's Melody Time. It was originally released May 27, 1948. It was re-released in Disney's American Legends, on February 12, 2002.
[edit] Cast
Dennis Day performed all roles.
[edit] Further reading
- Brode, Douglas (1 June 2004). From Walt to Woodstock: how Disney created the counterculture. University of Texas Press. p. 199ff. ISBN 978-0-292-70273-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=jxdip1iKLkQC&pg=PA199. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
- Brode, Douglas (2005). Multiculturalism and the Mouse: race and sex in Disney entertainment. University of Texas Press. p. 201ff. ISBN 978-0-292-70960-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=E8Pj3FtAoAQC&pg=PA201. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
- Means, Howard (12 April 2011). Johnny Appleseed: The Man, the Myth, the American Story. Simon and Schuster. p. 255ff. ISBN 978-1-4391-7825-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=WTqrKgAimSkC&pg=PT255. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
- Pinsky, Mark I. (July 2004). The Gospel according to Disney: faith, trust, and pixie dust. Westminster John Knox Press. p. 113ff. ISBN 978-0-664-22591-9. http://books.google.com/books?id=YGtbYTyulb4C&pg=PA113. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
- Price, Nelson (1 March 2001). Legendary Hoosiers: Famous Folks from the State of Indiana. Emmis Books. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-57860-097-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=ZZysyYgk5EoC&pg=PA4. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
- Watts, Steven (27 June 2002). The Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney and the American Way of Life. University of Missouri Press. p. 264. ISBN 978-0-8262-1379-2. http://books.google.com/books?id=NgARIndAbjAC&pg=PA264. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
