The Saga of Windwagon Smith

A Walt Disney Cartoon.

The fanciful plans of a Yankee sea captain to sail the Kansas prairie in a highly modified Conestoga wagon are related in THE SAGA OF WINDWAGON SMITH.

This is an enjoyable little film, which makes good use of the limited animation format. Rex Allen is a fine choice as both narrator and the voice of Smith. The Sons Of The Pioneers back him up with their own special singing talents.

Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a blizzard of doomsayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.

The Saga of Windwagon Smith is quite an unusual Disney cartoon and this is not meant in a bad way regardless of how at times un-Disney-like it is. In fact, The Saga of Windwagon Smith is decent and is worth seeing for any Disney fan or anybody keen on watching the "Disney rarities". Personally wasn't too keen on the animation here, nice colours here and there as well, as some flat ones, but some of the backgrounds did seem too simple at times and the characters are often very choppily drawn. The characters are one-dimensional and a lot of them are lacking in personality(some also may not take kindly to the portrayal of the Kansas townspeople nor to a couple of the stereotypical jokes the cartoon has), the titular character is an exception to the latter. The use of rhyming couplets vary in quality, most come off well but there are a fair few that are a touch lame and sound like they were thought up in a rush. However, The Saga of Windwagon Smith has a catchy music score that bursts with energy and a lushness that doesn't interfere with the story too much. The dialogue is witty and amusing and the story is very unique for Disney, they have certainly not been this unusually surreal. That said, the story is comfortably paced, a lot of fun and has a good degree of charm. Rex Allen does a great job with the narration and the voice work of the titular character. All in all, an interesting change of pace that is mostly decent but could have been great. 7/10 Bethany Cox

This is one of the most un-Disney cartoons I've ever seen from this studio. It simply looks unique--not like any other cartoon I've ever seen. Now this isn't really bad, as Disney's short cartoons from the late 50s and early 60s were pretty poorly animated--with VERY simple drawings and backgrounds. This cartoon is a far cry from them or the older style art of Mickey and Donald. You just have to see it to understand.

The story is a strange tall-tale about a weirdo named Windwagon Smith--a sea captain that has created a combination of a covered wagon and a sailing ship. The locals in Kansas are excited about it and throw money at him to build an even bigger one. What happens next is very odd--and the ending is VERY unusual. I liked it as a change of pace but cannot imagine the average child enjoying this odd cartoon--especially with its eerily animated character, Molly. Genuinely odd but highly original.