Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #202

 Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again it is time for some classic cartoons. 

The Cat Concerto (1947) was the fourth Tom and Jerry film to win the Oscar for best animated short film. It was also the fourth consecutive win for the series as Tom and Jerry cartoons had won the Oscar the previous three years as well. Its competition was Chopin's Musical Moments (1946, Walter Lantz, starring Woody Woodpecker and Andy Panda), John Henry and the Inky Poo (1946, a George Pal Puppetoon), Squatters Rights (1946, Disney, starring Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Chip and Dale) and Walky Talky Hawky (1946, Warner Brothers, the first Foghorn Leghorn). One thing you may notice about all these films is that they were released in 1946, while this Tom and Jerry cartoon was released in 1947. However, while it was released to movie theaters in 1947, it was finished and submitted to the Acadamy and screened for the Acadamy in 1946. One element that really makes this cartoon stand out is the music. Many people have had classic cartoons as their introduction to classic music and a film like this is a wonderful introduction. This cartoon uses Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody no. 2 (as well as an excerpt from On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe (from the MGM feature film, The Harvey Girls (1946)). The performance is simply fantastic. This piece was used in many cartoons; however, this (to my untrained ears) is the best sounding version of it in any cartoon. Joe Barbera would later remember, "The idea of having the cat play the piano was fascinating to me. So, we decided to go ahead with The Cat Concerto and do the Second Hungarian Rhapsody. We happened to have under contract one of the best pianists in the United States at the time, a famous concert pianist. His name eludes me at the moment, but he loved doing it." The pianist was Calvin Jackson, who had also worked on some live action MGM feature films such as Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) and Anchors Aweigh (1945, which featured a live action Gene Kelly dancing with an animated Jerry) as an assistant director of music. This film also sparked a major controversy that lasts to this day in the cartoon fandom. This is that it is incredibly similar to the Bugs Bunny cartoon, Rhapsody Rabbit (1946), directed by Friz Freleng. In the film Bugs is giving a piano concert (playing the same piece used in this cartoon) and gets into a fight with a mouse. It is still if one of these cartoons borrowed from the other or whether it was a coincidence. There are parts of both cartoons that seem almost out of place in each respective series. Bugs Bunny seems like a more natural fit as a concert pianist as he feels like a more natural fit in a DeFacto human role. However, it feels more natural for Tom to face off against a mouse than it does for Bugs Bunny. Joseph Barbera would later state in an interview, “It was at a screening for the Oscar nominees. We [the Tom and Jerry short] played first. When it came on, people were laughing like hell, and when the lights came on, Freleng was mad as hell. Then it [the Bugs short] played, and the action was similar: Bugs walked up in the tailcoat, flipped it up, sat down, warmed up the hands, looking arrogant, all exactly the same. In ours, Tom, the cat, disturbs the mouse, and in his, Bugs, the rabbit, disturbs the mouse. Ours ended up as one of the five [Oscar] finalists, and people had the feeling that he [Freleng] was ripping off our cartoon, but he said, ‘No, no, no, I never saw your goddamned lousy cartoon!’ I really believe that [it was a coincidence]. Freleng had a sense of humor, we just thought the same, and our gags were the same. 'What’s a rabbit doing with a mouse?” Friz Freleng would later state, “When they drew the rotation out of a hat, my cartoon was run after theirs, unfortunately for me. And the audience thought I stole from them. They got a nomination for it, and I didn’t. But I felt that was one of the outstanding things I had done. I enjoyed doing it.” It is worth noting that the chances of either cartoon directly copying the other seems unlikely, due to their productions overlapping (though Rhapsody Rabbit began production first). Perhaps though it is this similarity, that caused Rhapsody Rabbit not to make it to the 5 Oscar finalists. Still, both of them are truly excellent cartoons. There is also that despite similar stories and the same music, the gags are completely different. If one studio was stealing from the other, it would only make sense for them to have stolen gags as well. Also, it is worth noting that the mouse's role is quite different too. Jerry simply wants some sleep, while the unnamed mouse in the Bugs cartoon wants to play piano himself. It is also worth noting that they were not the only cartoons released around this time that involved cartoon characters as classical music pianists. Most famously was the Walter Lantz cartoon, Musical Moments from Chopin, which featured Woody Woodpecker and Andy Panda as dueling pianists. The Cat Concerto was the only Tom and Jerry film to make it into Jerry Beck's book, The 50 Greatest Cartoons, where it landed at #42. The list in this book was compiled from a survey asking over 1,000 animation experts.

Now let's go on a Seaside Adventure (1952) with a classic Terry Toons short. 

Now for a classic UPA cartoon, Madeline (1952). This short film is inspired by Ludwig Bemelmans' classic children's books and captures much of the simple charm of those classic books. This cartoon was nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film. The other films nominated were Johann Mouse (1953, MGM starring Tom and Jerry), Little Johnny Jet (1953, MGM directed by Tex Avery), Pink and Blue Blues (1952, UPA) and The Romance of Transportation in Canada (1952, National Film Board of Canada). Johann Mouse won the Oscar. 

Now for the Fleischer cartoon, Yip Yip Yippy (1939). This short was released as part of the Betty Boop series, making it the last cartoon in that series. However, Betty does not even appear in this film.   

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

Next comes the first of Walt Disney's Alice comedies, Alice's Wonderland (1923). Before this film was even close to done with production, Walt was already writing distributors stating, "We have just discovered something new and clever in animated cartoons!" He was speaking of the idea of having a live action character enter into an animated cartoon world. This was actually a reversal of what the Fleischer Brother were doing with their Out of the Inkwell films, were animated characters entered our live action world. For the live action little girl Walt hired four-year-old Virginia Davis. Walt had seen Virginia on an advertisement for Warneker's Bread. Virginia later spoke of this stating, "It was just a picture of me smiling and looking like 'Oh, yum, yum!' and eating this piece of Warneker's Bread with a lot of jam on it." At the time of making this film, Walt and his studio were struggling financially. While many producers would take this as a reason to make a cheap film, Walt plugged into the project with everything he had. This short was downright lavish compared to much of Walt's previous work and still looks great today. Unfortunately, the film was not enough to save his company, but it did catch the attention of Margaret J. Winkler, who was also distributing the Felix the Cat and Out of the Inkwell cartoons. His studio went under, and Walt moved to Hollywood without his crew. Yet he had this film and was able to secure a deal for 12 more Alice films with Winkler.  

Now we join Donald Duck in Donald’s Happy Birthday (1949). This short film made its TV debut on an episode of the Disneyland TV show entitled At Home with Donald Duck (1956). It later appeared on an episode of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color entitled Kids is Kids (1961). 

Next comes a classic Warner Brothers cartoon, A Corny Concerto (1943). This cartoon is very much a parody of Disney's recent animated feature, Fantasia (1940) with the unrefined Elmer Fudd taking over the Deems Taylor role. Earlier the same year this cartoon was released another Merrie Melody parodied Fantasia with an unrefined wolf doing the Deem Taylor role. That cartoon was called Pigs in a Polka (1943). A Corny Concerto was directed by Bob Clampett (who also made some of the vocal sound effects here) and written by Frank Tashlin. It is odd to have Tashlin write a Warners cartoon he didn't direct. Tashlin had in fact just returned to Warners after a stint at Disney, making him a perfect candidate to write this Disney parody. This film features another rarity for a Warners cartoon. That is the fact the Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig share the screen. This is the only time Porky hunts a fully formed Bugs Bunny, though he did hunt a prototype of the character in Porky's Hare Hunt (1938). It has been debated whether or not the Duck that appears in the second part of this cartoon is or isn't Daffy. I like to think of him as Daffy, myself. Despite having Porky, Bugs and probably Daffy, Mel Blanc doesn't do a single voice in this short. That is because the character he usually voices don't talk for the whole film. The only speaking voice heard is Arthur Q. Bryan as Elmer Fudd. Also notice that Bugs makes Porky and his dog into a couple of boobs. This cartoon appropriately appears in Jerry Beck's book, The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes.

Now to end with a song whose lyrics may or may not have a subtle message. 

Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry. 

Resources Used

Walt in Wonderland: The Silent Films of Walt Disney by J.B. Kaufman and Russell Merritt.

Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin

The 50 Greatest Cartoons edited by Jerry Beck

https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/pianist-envy/

https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/a-note-of-comedy-the-75th-anniversary-of-the-cat-concerto/