This thread about cartoons and classical music is a nostalgic delight
This is just a brilliant thread by cartoonist and animator Vincent Alexander – @NonsenseIsland over on Twitter – looking back at the pieces of classical music that frequently used to pop up on cartoons of yesteryear.
It went wildly viral because it’s so well done, a hugely enlightening and entertaining read.
1.
THREAD: Lots of us learned classical music from watching old cartoons, so I’m going to identify the pieces that frequently popped up.
One of the most recognizable is Franz Liszt’s “Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2,” performed by those great piano virtuosos Bugs Bunny and Tom & Jerry. pic.twitter.com/SmyKbMpw3e
— Vincent Alexander (@NonsenseIsland) March 1, 2021
2.
I don’t know who can listen to the famous opera “The Barber of Seville” by Gioachino Rossini without thinking of Bugs Bunny. The way director Chuck Jones synchronizes the slapstick action to the soundtrack is flat-out masterful. pic.twitter.com/t58QbRsmmw
— Vincent Alexander (@NonsenseIsland) March 1, 2021
3.
An aria of Rossini’s “Barber of Seville” that shows up constantly in animation is “Largo al Factotum,” which introduces the Figaro character. Even the piece’s Wikipedia article credits the tune’s lasting legacy to its use in cartoons. Here are just a few iconic examples: pic.twitter.com/wtUms0adc3
— Vincent Alexander (@NonsenseIsland) March 1, 2021
4.
You may not know Franz Schubert’s “Der Erlkönig” by name, you’ll know it when you hear it, thanks to Looney Tunes cartoons. It was written about a supernatural king of the fairies, but WB composer Carl Stalling would always pull it out to underscore a villain’s entrance. pic.twitter.com/BBLcZG04eE
— Vincent Alexander (@NonsenseIsland) March 1, 2021
5.
“Dance of the Comedians” by Czech composer Bedřich Smetana (from the comic opera THE BARTERED BRIDE) was used as an unofficial musical theme for the Road Runner cartoons. The propulsive energy of the piece matches well with Wile E. Coyote’s various failures. pic.twitter.com/5iHF49P2El
— Vincent Alexander (@NonsenseIsland) March 1, 2021
6.
“The Light Cavalry Overture” by Austrian composer Franz von Suppé was most memorably used in the Mickey Mouse short SYMPHONY HOUR, probably Disney’s funniest cartoon ever, where Goofy breaks all the instruments and the orchestra has to play a wacky Spike Jones-esque rendition. pic.twitter.com/Wr73FMzVYT
— Vincent Alexander (@NonsenseIsland) March 1, 2021
7.
Franz von Suppé got quite a workout in classic cartoons. “The Poet and Peasant Overture” shows up in dozens of shorts. My favorite is Popeye conducting the “Spinach Overture” while giving Bluto a rhythmic beatdown perfectly in time with the music. pic.twitter.com/6dAr7cgHrC
— Vincent Alexander (@NonsenseIsland) March 1, 2021
8.
Bugs Bunny famously conducted Franz von Suppé’s “Morning, Noon and Night in Vienna” in the classic BATON BUNNY. This cartoon has been screened with live orchestral accompaniment on Broadway, at the Hollywood Bowl, and the Royal Festival Hall for the royal family. pic.twitter.com/8BAe7JgO8b
— Vincent Alexander (@NonsenseIsland) March 1, 2021
9.
The work of Austrian composer Johann Strauss, known as the Waltz King, is in literally hundreds of cartoons. “Frühlingsstimmen, Op. 410 (Voices of Spring)” was frequently used when characters dance or daintily frolic across the screen. You’ll know it when you hear it: pic.twitter.com/NYDcyhS1ys
— Vincent Alexander (@NonsenseIsland) March 1, 2021
10.
A CORNY CONCERTO, Bob Clampett’s hilarious spoof of Disney’s FANTASIA, brilliantly sets a violent Bugs Bunny chase to Johann Strauss’s peaceful “Tales from the Vienna Woods.” You can make any classical piece better by adding the “b-b-b-b-b” noise. pic.twitter.com/QxHovunpUM
— Vincent Alexander (@NonsenseIsland) March 1, 2021
11.
“The Blue Danube” is one of Strauss’s most famous and beautiful waltzes, thus making it ripe for animated parody. The piece was burned into my brain from infancy due to a VHS tape I had of A CORNY CONCERTO, and now I always hear quacking to go along with it. pic.twitter.com/x8Q5OnxxHh
— Vincent Alexander (@NonsenseIsland) March 1, 2021
12.
“Die Fledermaus” by Johann Strauss served as the entire basis for the 1950 MGM short TOM AND JERRY IN THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL. As with several Bugs Bunny shorts, this film later was actually screened at the Hollywood Bowl, with live orchestrations to go with it. pic.twitter.com/gJYRQznPR4
— Vincent Alexander (@NonsenseIsland) March 1, 2021
13.
Strauss must be the #1 composer among cartoonists, because he sure shows up a lot. The Oscar-winning Tom & Jerry short JOHANN MOUSE is even named after him. Here are just a few different Strauss pieces that have made their way into animated shorts: pic.twitter.com/HcyPL9flqP
— Vincent Alexander (@NonsenseIsland) March 1, 2021
14.
Some pieces are ONLY famous due to their use in cartoons. I could find almost no information on Arthur A. Penn’s 1907 piece “Carissima,” but cartoon fans will remember its inclusion in this hilarious bit from the Sylvester cartoon BACK ALLEY OPROAR. pic.twitter.com/8RUXwkDNPk
— Vincent Alexander (@NonsenseIsland) March 1, 2021
15.
The extremely brief Wikipedia article on composer Gustav Lange features the dismissive quote that his works are “pretty in character, but they are not marked by any very striking features.” I think cartoon fanatics would disagree. “Flower Song” is an oft-used classic: pic.twitter.com/WXfZetuGxZ
— Vincent Alexander (@NonsenseIsland) March 1, 2021
16.
It’s strange to be intimately familiar with a piece of music without ever actually knowing what it is. This piece is called “Sextet from Lucia di Lammermoor” by Gaetano Donizetti, but to me it will be “the one where Bugs Bunny ruins that guy’s opera.” pic.twitter.com/hb7P5IcmqH
— Vincent Alexander (@NonsenseIsland) March 1, 2021
17.
The hypnotic “Fingal’s Cave Overture” by Felix Mendelssohn was used as the theme music for the mysterious Minah Bird in several WB cartoons. Director Chuck Jones said of these films, “They were really fourth-dimensional pictures and I don’t understand the fourth dimension.” pic.twitter.com/BsOUeolZYl
— Vincent Alexander (@NonsenseIsland) March 1, 2021
18.
A Mendelssohn piece that you hear constantly in classic cartoons, and even more recent ones like REN & STIMPY and SPONGEBOB, is “Frühlingslied (Spring Song),” which is used to denote peace and tranquility. This is my favorite instance, from the first Ralph Wolf-Sam Sheepdog film. pic.twitter.com/XJjup7nWU7
— Vincent Alexander (@NonsenseIsland) March 1, 2021
19.
“The Minute Waltz” by Polish composer Frédéric Chopin (or as Bugs would say, “Choppin’) is featured in the classic short HYDE AND HARE, where the beautiful trill descends into madness. pic.twitter.com/qoSfY0gxch
— Vincent Alexander (@NonsenseIsland) March 1, 2021
20.
Another Chopin piece everybody knows from cartoons is “Funeral March,” which plays when a character dies or is about to die, as in this memorable bit from the Merrie Melodies short BARS AND STRIPES FOREVER. pic.twitter.com/LjJYPXT3u1
— Vincent Alexander (@NonsenseIsland) March 1, 2021
21.
Chopin is all over classic cartoons. Woody Woodpecker devoted an entire Oscar-nominated cartoon to his works. And who can forget Tom gliding in the air with makeshift wings to “Grande Valse Brillante?” A small sample: pic.twitter.com/YlxuKjsHOe
— Vincent Alexander (@NonsenseIsland) March 1, 2021
22.
French composer François-Joseph Gossec was influential in his era, but isn’t terribly well-known today. But I think you might recognize his “Gavotte,” which was used to underscore something pleasant or dainty (usually ironically) in Warner Bros. cartoons. pic.twitter.com/WI601SpKiD
— Vincent Alexander (@NonsenseIsland) March 1, 2021
23.
Brahms’ Hungarian Dances serve as the soundtrack for the WB classic PIGS IN A POLKA. Director Friz Freleng would time out his cartoons on musical bar sheets in order to get the synchronization precise. This is Freleng at his best: pic.twitter.com/0VDWthXyFA
— Vincent Alexander (@NonsenseIsland) March 1, 2021