Blue Bayou vs. Claire de Lune

Today's post is focused on two versions of a Disney short film. Released as a part of the film Make Mine Music in 1946, Blue Bayou is a short that takes place in a marsh at night with some images of egrets flying and... that's pretty much it. What makes the short work, though, is the backdrop music chosen. Here, it's a popular song (well, back then anyway) named Blue Bayou.

However, another version of it exists. It's the same animation as before, but in tune to Claude Debussy's Claire de Lune. This version was originally intended to be a part of Fantasia, but was cut out of the final movie, probably for time allotment. Six years later, the Disney artists decided to use it in Make Mine Music, but attached the song Blue Bayou to it. This version was lost for a long time until some folks at the studio found an original nitrate of it in 1992 and decided to remaster it. You can find this version in Make Mine Music's DVD features. Which one is better? Well, both are beautiful shorts, but I think Claire de Lune works a lot better.

To give you guys a fair judgement, here's what wound up in Make Mine Music.

Now here's the Fantasia version.


Oh, and FYI, I'm thinking about doing posts starting in January that review every single animated Disney film. If you guys like the idea, give me a shout.