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YMMV / The Reluctant Dragon

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  • Esoteric Happy Ending: "Baby Weems" ends with a couple happy that their child has suffered brain damage. Hopefully, his development hasn't been any more stunted than it appears, or they aren't gonna be smiling for long.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight: Baby Weems is presented as what is essentially an animatic (a storyboard filmed so it'll play like the movie), something that would be more regularly seen when movies got released with behind the scene featurettes and deleted scenes.
  • Ho Yay: The dragon is prissy, effeminate, and camp as can be, but that's hardly an indication of his sexual orientation. The rather shameless flirting between him and Sir Giles, however...
  • Overshadowed by Controversy: The animators strike of 1941 looms over this movie, which it is now entirely associated with today. It, combined with the very stagy presentationnote  completely undermines the pleasant work atmosphere that the film depicts of the Disney studio.
  • Retroactive Recognition: The storyman who pitches Baby Weems to Benchley is none other than Alan Ladd, a year before This Gun for Hire turned him into a superstar.
  • Values Dissonance: One of the elephant drawings is a very obvious and ugly Chinese caricature, something that would simply never fly today. Several blackface caricatures appear during “Baby Weems”, as well.
  • Vindicated by History: Originally a box office flop and critical disappointment, the film is heralded today as an interesting look at the process of cartoon making from that time period. It's also seen as a prototype for Walt Disney Presents, which had a somewhat similar behind-the-scenes look at projects within the Disney studios.

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