On first watch when much younger, my feelings on 'Winter Draws On' were quite mixed. It was well made and scored and did like the bird characters and some of the gags, but the cartoon was not always engaging all the way through and some aspects didn't age as well as others. As someone who has always found the Screen Song series and Famous Studios' output inconsistent but interesting, expectations were a bit mixed re-watching the cartoon after many years.
'Winter Draws On' is one of those cartoons that were pretty much the same on re-watch. It is not one of the worst of Famous Studios' Screen Song series (as far as the previous cartoons of the series go, 'Base Brawl' is one of them), but it's not one of the best either ('Little Brown Jug' was surprisingly great for instance). Would put 'Winter Draws On' somewhere around above average high middle, which is not too bad a position to be in.
There are enough good things to make 'Winter Draws On' worth watching. Really liked the animation, though the series nearly always delivered in a good way on that, especially the lush colours and some creative moments in the drawing of the birds. There is some good music too, though other Screen Song cartoons did this aspect better. It is lushly orchestrated and has character at least.
Famous Studios' Screen Song series always varied when it came to the gags. There is quite a lot in 'Winter Draws On' and the ones concerning the birds are actually quite funny and not near as corny or cutesy as feared. Really liked what was done with the birds in terms of the humour and the ending was nice. The birds themselves had surprisingly more personality than expected and ones more distinct than expected too, the subject of bird migration potentially sounds mundane and too cute but the cartoon does enough interesting with it in the first half.
Having said that, 'Winter Draws On' is far from perfect. One never sees a Screen Along cartoon for the story and the story here is no exception, with not quite enough content to sustain the short length and that was evident in the slightly over-stretched second half. The pace does become on the dull side later.
"Alabamy Bound" is not one of the better Screen Along songs, nice enough if not as memorable as others and hasn't held up as much as others. There are caricatures here and they have dated even more than the song and didn't serve much point. Buzzy the Crow makes a brief appearance but again not particularly necessary or interesting.
In conclusion, a little above average. 6/10