The Reluctant Dragon (1941 film)

The Reluctant Dragon
Original theatrical poster
Directed by	Alfred Werker (live action) Hamilton Luske (animation) Jack Cutting, Ub Iwerks, Jack Kinney (sequence directors)
Written by	Live-action: Ted Sears Al Perkins Larry Clemmons Bill Cottrell Harry Clork Robert Benchley The Reluctant Dragon segment: Kenneth Grahame (original book) Erdman Penner T. Hee Baby Weems segment: Joe Grant Dick Huemer John Miller
Produced by	Walt Disney
Starring	Robert Benchley Frances Gifford Buddy Pepper Nana Bryant
Cinematography	Bert Glennon
Edited by	Paul Weatherwax
Music by	Frank Churchill Larry Morey
Production company	Walt Disney Productions
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures
Release date	June 27, 1941 (1941-06-27)[1]
Running time	74 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$600,000[2]
Box office	$960,000 (worldwide rentals) [3]

The Reluctant Dragon is a 1941 American live-action/animated anthology comedy film produced by Walt Disney, directed by Alfred Werker, and released by RKO Radio Pictures on June 27, 1941.^[1][4] Essentially a tour of the then-new Walt Disney Studios facility in Burbank, California, the film stars Algonquin Round Table member, film actor, writer and comedian Robert Benchley and many Disney staffers such as Ward Kimball, Fred Moore, Norman Ferguson, Clarence Nash, and Walt Disney, all as themselves.

The first twenty minutes of the film are in black-and-white, and the remainder is in Technicolor. Most of the film is live-action, with four short animated segments inserted into the running time: a black-and-white segment featuring Casey Junior from Dumbo; and three Technicolor cartoons: Baby Weems (presented as a storyboard), Goofy's How to Ride a Horse, and the extended-length short The Reluctant Dragon, based upon Kenneth Grahame's book of the same name. The total length of all animated parts is 40 minutes.