''Paul Bunyan'' is a 1958 American

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

musical

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

produced by

Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...

. The short was based on the North American

folk hero A folk hero or national hero is a type of hero – real, fictional or mythological – with their name, personality and deeds embedded in the popular consciousness of a people, mentioned frequently in folk songs, folk tales and other folklore; a ...

and lumberjack

Paul Bunyan Paul Bunyan is a giant lumberjack and folk hero in American and Canadian folklore. His exploits revolve around the tall tales of his superhuman labors, and he is customarily accompanied by Babe the Blue Ox. The character originated in the o ...

and was inspired after meeting with Les Kangas of Paul Bunyan Productions, who gave Disney the idea for the film. The film was directed by

Les Clark Leslie James "Les" Clark (November 17, 1907 - September 12, 1979) was an American animator and the first of Disney's Nine Old Men. Joining Disney in 1927, he was the only one to work on the origins of Mickey Mouse with Ub Iwerks. Early life L ...

, a member of

Disney's Nine Old Men Disney's Nine Old Men were Walt Disney Productions' core animators, some of whom later became directors, who created some of Disney's most famous animated cartoons, from ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' (1937) onward to ''The Rescuers'' (1977) ...

of core animators.

Thurl Ravenscroft Thurl Arthur Ravenscroft (; February 6, 1914May 22, 2005) was an American actor and bass singer. He was known as one of the booming voices behind Kellogg's Frosted Flakes animated spokesman Tony the Tiger for more than five decades. He was also ...

starred as the voice of Paul Bunyan. Supporting animators on the project included Lee Hartman. ''Paul Bunyan'' received an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nomination for Best Animated Short of 1958, losing to the '' Looney Tunes'' cartoon '' Knighty Knight Bugs'', starring

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Warner Bros. Cartoons, Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring role ...

and

Yosemite Sam Yosemite Sam ( /joʊˈsɛmɪti/ ''yoh-SEM-ih-tee'') is a cartoon character in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of short films produced by Warner Bros. His name is taken from Yosemite National Park. He is an adversary of Bugs ...

. DTV set clips of the short to Annette Funicello's '' Tall Paul'' and was featured in an episode of '' Sing Me a Story with Belle''.

Plot

Following a violent windstorm on the coast of

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

, lumberjack Cal McNab spots a giant cradle washed up on the beach containing a giant baby boy. The lumbering-town adopts and raises the boy, giving him the name Paul Bunyan. One

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

, the town gives Paul a double-bladed

axe An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has ma ...

to help chop down timber. Paul's work clears open land and allows for the town's expansion of buildings. Unfortunately, Paul is too big for it and decides to move out west. Paul continues to help clear land for farmers in the midwest. During a fierce blizzard, Paul rescues a giant flash-frozen ox that had turned blue from the cold. Paul adopts the ox and names him

Babe Babe or babes may refer to: * Babe, a term of endearment * A newborn baby * An attractive (especially female) person People Nickname * Babe Adams (1882–1968), American Major League Baseball pitcher * Babe Barna (1917–1972), American Maj ...

. During the following spring, Paul and Babe's footprints through the snow filled up with water and became known as the " Land of 10,000 Lakes." Paul eventually clears the trees from

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...

and

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large porti ...

, digs the Missouri River to flow the logs downstream to the sawmills, and builds

Pike's Peak Pikes Peak is the highest summit of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, in North America. The ultra-prominent fourteener is located in Pike National Forest, west of downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado. The town of Manitou Sprin ...

as a lookout. He creates the Grand Tetons while playing rough with Babe, and makes

Yellowstone Falls Yellowstone Falls consist of two major waterfalls on the Yellowstone River, within Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, United States. As the Yellowstone river flows north from Yellowstone Lake, it leaves the Hayden Valley and plunges first ov ...

as a shower bath. Paul's work opens up the American west to trade; and soon a slick-talking salesman named Joe Muffaw encourages the loggers to "get with the times and become modern" by using steam-powered chainsaws to cut trees, and a steam train to transport the timber (up until this point Babe would haul the timber to the river on a wooden sled). Paul protests that nothing can replace the heart and soul of himself and Babe, while Joe counters that his steam-saw and engine can cut and haul more timber than any man or ox, and the two men decide to host a tournament with only one rule, that whoever creates the highest pile of lumber at the end of the contest will be declared the superior way. Paul and Joe work tirelessly throughout the tournament cutting down trees, with Babe furiously racing against the steam train. When time is up, the referee measures Paul Bunyan's pile as 240 feet, even and the men cheer. The referee then measures Joe's pile as 240 feet... and one quarter inch, thus Joe wins. Paul and Babe despondently walk off into the sunset, never to return, but one of the men decides to record the legend of Paul Bunyan and Babe for posterity's sake. Some say they went up to

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

, and that the

Aurora Borealis An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

is really just Paul and Babe playfully wrestling in the snow.

Cast and crew

* Voice: ''

'' * Chorus: ''

The Mellomen The Mellomen were a popular singing quartet active from the late 1940s through the mid-1970s. The group was founded by Thurl Ravenscroft and Max Smith in 1948. They recorded under a variety of names, including Big John and the Buzzards, the Crackerj ...

'' * Director: ''

'' * Producer: ''

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

'' * Writers: '' Lance Nolley'', ''

Ted Berman Ted Berman (December 17, 1919 – July 15, 2001) was an American film director, animator, and screenwriter, known for his work with Disney, including ''Fantasia'', ''Bambi'' and '' The Black Cauldron''. Early life Berman was born in East Los An ...

'' * Character Animators: John Sibley, George Nicholas, Bob Youngquist, George Goepper, Fred Kopietz, Ken Hultgren, Jerry Hathcock, Jack Parr * Music: ''

George Bruns George Edward Bruns (July 3, 1914 – May 23, 1983) was an American composer of music for film and television. His accolades include four Academy Award nominations, and three Grammy Award nominations. He is mainly known for his compositions for ...

'' * Lyrics: ''

Tom Adair Thomas Montgomery Adair (June 15, 1913 – May 24, 1988) was an American songwriter, composer, and screenwriter. Biography Adair was born on 15 June 1913, in Newton, Kansas, where his father owned a clothing store: he was the only child of Willi ...

'' * Art Director: ''

Eyvind Earle Eyvind Earle (April 26, 1916 – July 20, 2000) was an American artist, author and illustrator, noted for his contribution to the background illustration and styling of Disney's animated films in the 1950s. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New Yo ...

'' * Additional voices: ** ''

Dal McKennon Dallas Raymond McKennon (July 19, 1919 – July 14, 2009), sometimes credited as Dal McKennon, was an American film, television and voice actor, who had a career lasting over 50 years. During World War II he served in the Army Signal Corps and wa ...

'' as Cal McNab ** ''

Parley Baer Parley Edward Baer (August 5, 1914 – November 22, 2002) was an American actor in radio and later in television and film. Despite dozens of appearances in television series and theatrical films, he remains best known as the original "Cheste ...

'' as Narrator / Chris Crosshaul ** ''

Ken Christy Robert Kenneth Christy (November 23, 1894 – July 23, 1962) was an American television, film, and radio character actor. Early life Born Robert Kenneth Christy, he was the second of three children of Alice Christy and Olivier B. Christy. ...

'' as Shot Gunderson ** '' Bob Amsberry'' as Joe Muffaw ** ''

'' as Paul Bunyan

Home media

The short was released on December 6, 2005 on '' Walt Disney Treasures: Disney Rarities - Celebrated Shorts: 1920s–1960s''. Additional releases include: *1995 VHS Release ''Favorite Stories: Paul Bunyan'' *2001 VHS, and DVD release ''

Disney's American Legends ''Disney's American Legends'' is a 2001 American animated anthology film narrated by James Earl Jones. It is a compilation of four previously released animated musical shorts from Walt Disney Animation Studios based on American tall tales. The fi ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paul Bunyan (film) 1950s English-language films 1958 animated films 1950s Disney animated short films 1958 short films Paul Bunyan American folklore films and television series Films based on folklore Films produced by Walt Disney Films set in Maine Films scored by George Bruns Films directed by Les Clark American animated short films Films about cattle Animated films about mammals

Plot

Cast and crew

Home media

See also

References

External links