Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Perfectly captures fun moment
Cons: A bit simple overall; tilts
The Bottom Line:
Spotlight on the rare
Poetry loving dragon
Great moment captured
The Reluctant Dragon is Excited to be on Your Tree
The Storybook Classics Collection has been wonderful for
shining the light on some of Disney’s all but forgotten characters from the
1930’s and 1940’s. One such character is
The Reluctant Dragon, the subject of the March ornament.
Actually, The
Reluctant Dragon was the title of a feature released in 1941 in an attempt
to get some much needed cash into the company.
However, this wasn’t a typical feature.
It mostly featured a behind the scenes tour of hour The Walt Disney
Company created their cartoons. It ended
in the almost 20 minute title story.
Considering the entire feature was about an hour and fifteen minutes,
this really was only a part of it.
The story itself? It
tells of a dragon who lives, not for pillaging or roasting knights, but for
poetry and music. However, when the
nearby villagers discover him, they go into panic mode. It’s up to a boy who considers himself an
expert in dragons as well as a knight who also loves poetry to figure out how
to save the day. The cartoon is actually
pretty hilarious, and if you’ve missed it I recommend you find a way to watch
it.
The ornament captures our dragon friend is a classic pose
from the short. He’s been reciting one
of the poems for the boy, and as he ends, he strikes this pose. He’s balanced up on one leg with his arms up
under his chin with his mouth open. The
look on his face is almost hopeful – he wants to hear just how much the boy
loved his poem.
That look is what makes it so hard for me to say that I
don’t love this ornament. Don’t get me
wrong, I like it just fine. That moment
in the short is very funny, and I’m thrilled the ornament captured it. It looks just like the character. However, it is just the character. There is no background or anything else to
the ornament, which makes it seem a little plain. This is especially true after all the detail
we got last month with The Ugly Duckling. It’s in comparison to some of the previous
entries in the series that this one suffers.
However, if you love this character and this short, you will absolutely
love it.
The only thing beside the dragon in this ornament is the
circular base of grass he is standing on.
It’s a bit small, but it is enough to hold up the ornament is you want
to set it out to display.
Or you can hang the ornament by the red ribbon attached
through the loop in the dragon’s back.
Unfortunately, because of the pose, the ornament tips noticeably forward
and a little to the left. I don’t think
there really was an option that would allow the ornament to balance perfectly
and capture this moment, however.
It’s wonderful to see The Reluctant Dragon get some love
from Disney. While it might not be the
best the Storybook Classics Collection has to offer, fans of the character will
not be disappointed at all.
For other rare characters, check out the rest of the Storybook Classics Collection.
For other rare characters, check out the rest of the Storybook Classics Collection.
Original Price: $19.95
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