Anchors Aweigh
The Age
Friday March 7, 2003
DVD review: Anchors Aweigh (1945) (Warner) (140 minutes plus extras) G ***
1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit? was considered a milestone in animation history for the believable way it combined live action and cartoon characters. With far less fanfare, Anchors Aweigh achieved similar technical excellence 43 years earlier when Gene Kelly's friend and collaborator, director Stanley Donen, suggested Kelly dance with an animated character. As an archival interview, included on the DVD, with animators William Hanna and Joseph Barbera reveals, Kelly wanted to dance with Mickey Mouse. In a meeting with the animators and Kelly, Walt Disney ruled out Mickey ever appearing in a rival studio's picture, and Jerry (of Tom and Jerry) - a more interesting rodent by far - was drafted in for the dance scene. Once the short excerpt from When the Lion Roars documentary series (about the MGM studios) ends, the extras in this DVD fall into a black hole. There are three theatrical trailers and a cast and crew list. The movie itself is pretty standard '40s musical fare - two sailors on shore leave (Kelly and Frank Sinatra) woo the babes in LA with some serious song-and-dance routines. -- Seamus Bradley
F: DVD9 A: Dolby Digital V: 1.33:1/4:3 transfer
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