John Henry is a mighty man

Ada’s favorite movie is American Legends, the Disney collection of shorts about Johnny Appleseed, Casey Jones, Paul Bunyan and my favorite, John Henry.  I’ve seen this DVD about 100 times at least, but each time I cry when I watch it.  When the workers are wondering how they can build their railroad and John Henry stands up and says, “I’ll take you there!”, I completely lose it.  Every single time.   Here’s the clip of it (skip the first two minutes because it’s just James Earl Jones giving a boring introduction.  Start at 2:00 until 4:00. Or just watch the whole thing.  It’s a cartoon of the best sort.)  Does it choke you up or is it just me?

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5 thoughts on “John Henry is a mighty man

  1. I agree it’s a heartfelt story. But I figured that if anyone would see through the archetypal illustration of the futility of fighting the technological progress that was evident in the 19th century upset of traditional physical labor roles, it would be my sister the ice-queen. Sure… working-class people were marginalized during the growth into the modern machine age in America. But really, aren’t you glad the machines got to be really efficient so we don’t all have to harvest wheat by hand and dig tunnels by hand. Some one ought to have had John Henry read the book “Who Moved my Cheese.” It would have saved his life.

  2. I certainly don’t want to dig tunnels, but I think I’m more anti-machine than most people. (Except for computers which are wonderful). I buy and make handcrafted whenever possible!

    Ice queen? Ouch!

  3. I popped over from Mindi’s blog. LOL all because of your comment. I needed to see the lady, up close!! I do like your blog though. I love the tips to the side.

  4. This is by far one of my favorite kid videos. I forgot about it because I only have it on VHS. I do think Ben has a point. Boy, you Davis Children have the most interesting insights into life..

  5. Are you serious, Ben, or were you just trying to sound smart???

    I’ve never seen that movie and actually I didn’t even know the story, I’m embarrassed to say. Now I do! And Daphne says it’s her favorite movie as of her first time seeing it. Good thing it has a good soundtrack–I have a feeling I’ll be listening to it a lot!

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