The Brave Engineer
Encyclopedia
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
-produced short subject cartoon, based on the exploits of legendary railroad engineer
Railroad engineer
A railroad engineer, locomotive engineer, train operator, train driver or engine driver is a person who drives a train on a railroad...
John Luther "Casey" Jones
Casey Jones
John Luther Jones was an American railroad engineer from Jackson, Tennessee, who worked for the Illinois Central Railroad...
. It was narrated by madcap comic and radio funny-man Jerry Colonna and was a fanficiful re-telling of the story related in the Wallace Saunders ballad, later made famous by Eddie Newton and T. Lawrence Seibert. The short was released again in 2002 as part of the Disney's American Legends
Disney's American Legends
Disney's American Legends is a home video release narrated by James Earl Jones and which features the following Walt Disney Feature Animation animated short subjects:*Johnny Appleseed released in 1948*The Brave Engineer released in 1950...
compilation.
Synopsis
The film opens with an overhead shot of a sprawling railroad yard in the morning, where all the trains are "fast asleep". The shot begins to focus on a single train No. 2, an American 4-4-0, which is Casey's, which is "slow asleep", and eventually cuts to a closeup of the cab window, where Jones is revealed to be sleeping in his engine cab.Doffing his bedclothes (he is fully dressed in blue overalls and a stereotypical engineer's cap underneath), he checks his watch and realizing that he is behind schedule, hurriedly readies the engine to depart.
Mail is loaded aboard the train and with a toot on the whistle, Casey sets off at a dangerously high speed through the maze of switches and sidings, nearly t-boning two other trains in the process before making it safely out of the yard (much to the switchman's relief).
At first, the trip is uneventful and we see Casey relaxing in a rocking chair in front of the open firedoor, casually stoking it one piece of coal at a time as if it were a parlour stove. Further on, however, the weather turns nasty, flooding the tracks like "the bed of a creek" and all but swamping the train. Eight hours late, but nonetheless undaunted, Casey climbs up on the cab roof and uses his coal shovel as a paddle. Before long, he has cleared the flood and is on his way again.
No sooner is the train back up to full speed, though, then Casey is forced to bring it screeching to a halt: standing in the middle of the tracks grazing, is a large brown cow which finally moves aside after much shouting and whistle blowing on Casey's part.
Unfortunately, a new problem presents itself. A stereotypical villain with a black handlebar mustache has tied a lady to the tracks in front of Casey's train. Unwilling to waste any more time stopping, Casey rushes forward and stands on the locomotive's cowcatcher, scooping the terrified woman up just seconds before the train would have run her over. The villain turns to the camera and exclaims theatrically, "Curses! Foiled again!" Casey is in such a hurry now, that he doesn't even stop to let her off, depositing her (rope and all) in the arms of a pleasantly surprised station master as he rushes past the next platform at full speed.
Hours later, night has fallen and we find Casey's engine steaming full-bore through a narrow, snow-covered mountain pass. As the train passes over a high trestle
Trestle
A trestle is a rigid frame used as a support, especially referring to a bridge composed of a number of short spans supported by such frames. In the context of trestle bridges, each supporting frame is generally referred to as a bent...
spanning a gorge however, another stereotypical villain who is "not on the level" nearly brings things to an explosive end. Once again undaunted by a seemingly impassable obstacle, Casey's engine struggles, huffing and puffing, up the side of the gorge and continues on its way.
A short while later, the camera focuses on a backside shot of a group of armed men on horseback as they watch the train from up on a hillside. Casey is about to be attacked by train robbers!
The next shot finds the whole gang inside the cab, brandishing their guns and knives menacingly. At first, Casey is so caught up in stoking the boiler, that he is oblivious to their presence. It is only after he inadvertently picks up one of the robbers along with a shovel-full of coal that he finally notices the uninvited company.
Even then, Jones is more annoyed by the distraction than anything else and begins to fight the robbers, hitting them repeatedly with his coal shovel while continuing to stoke the boiler.
After quickly throwing the last of the would-be thieves off the train, Casey checks his watch and is horrified to discover that the robbers have put him behind schedule once again. Determined to make up for lost time whatever the cost, he opens the throttle so wide that he actually rips the handle from its mount and throws it away.
The scenery outside quickly becomes a blur as the train travels faster and faster. He adds more coal to the furnace, and, when running out, he also uses his shovel and rocking chair, until the ribbing on the locomotive's boiler exterior is forced off. Casey gives the locomotive some running repairs while the train roars down a hill.
Just a bit away a double headed slow freight train, double-headed by a pair of 2-8-0s is chugging towards Casey, who is too busy fixing the engine's dome to notice. The brakeman climbs out of the caboose and quickly runs up to the locomotive and warns Casey that the double-headed slow freight train is coming, but is misunderstood, and jumps from the train after saying 'So long.', but here's a goof. He is still seen on Casey's train in another shot. The crews of the double header approaching gasp before abandoning the train as well and run for cover and, just as Casey notices, he gasps 'Egad!' one more time before the two trains begin to collide with a large explosion.
Afterwards, we are taken to a station, presumably the one Casey is meant to terminate at, and, Casey being late, the Porter fears the worst. Then, much to his joy and surprise, Casey rolls down the hill in the remains of his locomotive carrying a bag of mail.
A beaten up Casey then shows his watch with pride, it stating he is 'ON TIME-ALMOST'.
And the Narrator says 'Next time, take the train!'
Differences between the cartoon and real life.
- The Brave Engineer depicts the wreck near Vaughan, MississippiVaughan, MississippiVaughan is an unincorporated community in Yazoo County, Mississippi, United States. It is 32 miles from the state capital of Jackson and 12 miles east of Benton...
as a head-on collision with a train steaming in the opposite direction. In the real accident, Jones' engine struck the rear end of a train which was stopped on the tracks due to a broken air line.
- The accident takes place in broad daylight and clear conditions in the cartoon. The real life wreck occurred at night during a rain storm.
- The Brave Engineer ends with Casey looking a little beat-up after the wreck, but very much alive. In real life, Jones was critically injured and did not survive the accident.
- Casey's locomotive in the cartoon is number 2, an American Standard 4-4-04-4-0Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-4-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels...
. His real engine on the fateful trip was number 382, a Ten-Wheeler 4-6-04-6-0Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. This wheel arrangement became the second-most popular...
.
- Casey is depicted operating the engine single-handedly in the cartoon. The real life Casey Jones had an African-American fireman, Simeon "Sim" Webb, who was with him until mere seconds before the crash.
Censorship
Like many classic cartoons produced by Disney and other studios, The Brave Engineer has recently been subject to censorship editing in a controversial attempt to make it more "politically correct". In this case, a brief scene depicting train robbers brandishing knives and guns has been edited out.Additional information
Distributed by Buena Vista Distribution Co., Inc.Color by Technicolor.
Release Date: March 3, 1950
Director: Jack Kinney.
Animators: Milt Kahl
Milt Kahl
Milton Erwin Kahl was an animator for the Disney studio, and one of Disney's Nine Old Men....
, Fred Moore, Al Bertino
Al Bertino
Al Bertino , was an American animator best remembered for his work with the Walt Disney CompanyBorn in California in 1912, Bertino began work for Walt Disney in 1935...
.
Effects Animation: Andy Engman.
Layout: Don DaGradi.
Backgrounds: Ray Huffine.
Writers: Dick Kinney, Dick Shaw.
Musical Score: Ken Darby.
Based on "The Ballad of Casey Jones" by Eddie Newton, T. Lawrence Seibert.
Vocals: The King's Men.
Running Time: 7 min. 38 sec. (un-edited)
Trivia
- The scene where Casey is rushing through a tunnelTunnelA tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
at the end, is mimicked in A Cowboy Needs A Horse, another Disney Cartoon. - Casey's train is featured in the short Out of Scale as the model train Donald Duck rides in his train set.
- The end of the scene where Casey is leaving the railyard in a hurry, is mimicked in How to be a detective, a Goofy Disney Cartoon.