[Dixielandjazz] Cartoon Music

[Steve Barbone]

OK, OK. Here is what I really think about cartoon music. IT IS AN ART FORM,
by golly. Note especially the last three paragraphs, you wascally wabbits.
I even posses two white shirts with 5 cartoon character jazz musicians
embroidered on the front which I use for elementary school concerts. Bought
them from a Warner Brothers store. The kids, 5 to 10 years old still
recognize Bugs Bunny as well as cartoon music, even if we don't.

What's that in the third from the last paragraph? That "Rossini's William
Tell Overture and Franz Liszt's second Hungarian Rhapsody, both classical
selections, have been so often used that they have become synonymous with
cartoon music. And who could forget Elmer Fudd's interpretation of the
Valkyrie leitmotif from Wagner's Die Walküre-³Kill the Wabbit?²

If that is true, why are some of us so defensive about Cartoon Music?

Cheers,
Steve Barbone


The Cartoon Music Book
Independent Publishers Group Press Release

>From Elmer Fudd's classic "Kill the Wabbit" to Mr. Burns' rousing Disney
parody "See My Vest," cartoon music is intelligent, hilarious and an art
form in its own right

CHICAGO: They are the songs of our childhood, accompanying the
cross-dressing shenanigans of Bugs Bunny and the rowdy hi-jinx of Tom and
Jerry, the soundtrack for dancing mushrooms and pink elephants on parade.
But as beloved as these cartoons and their essential scores are, serious
film, television and music critics have often dismissed them as mere
childish entertainment. With the increasing interest in the work of cartoon
music composers like Warner Brother's legendary Carl Stalling, however,
critics and fans are starting to recognize cartoon music as a unique art
form, one that is fundamental to great animated entertainment and serves as
a cultural touchstone for generations.

The Cartoon Music Book (A Cappella Books, an imprint of Chicago Review
Press, November 2002), edited by animation music historian Daniel Goldmark
and A Cappella Books editor Yuval Taylor, is one of the first books to
seriously examine the importance and the brilliance of cartoon music from
the glory days of Disney and Warner Brothers to today's revival with
television shows like Rugrats and The Simpsons. This compilation of critical
essays and rare interviews, most of which were written specifically for this
book, includes contributions from such notables as Leonard Maltin and Barry
Hansen, aka radio's Dr. Demento, all taking the silliest of music genres
seriously. 

For many, cartoons were an early introduction to music, particularly
classical and jazz. The very names of the series, Merrie Melodies, Silly
Symphonies and Loony Tunes, emphasized the importance of music. The
contributors to The Cartoon Music Book point out that Rossini's William Tell
Overture and Franz Liszt's second Hungarian Rhapsody, both classical
selections, have been so often used that they have become synonymous with
cartoon music. And who could forget Elmer Fudd's interpretation of the
Valkyrie leitmotif from Wagner's Die Walküre-³Kill the Wabbit?²

Cartoon musicians also made ingenious use of jazz according to the essayists
in The Cartoon Music Book. From the sexually charged collaborations between
the Fleischer Studio (home of Betty Boop and Popeye) and Cab Calloway and
Louis Armstrong, to the almost epidemic use of Raymond Scott's novelty
piece, ³Powerhouse,² jazz has brought life to chase scenes and conveyer belt
mayhem for decades.

³In really great cartoons, you can't help but recognize the pervasiveness of
the music,² says Goldmark. ³In fact, I learned to play the piano as a child
solely because I wanted to play the pieces I heard Bugs Bunny play in his
cartoons.²