What's up, Doc!?
Does it ring a bell? Sure it does! A rabbit, and some other animated characters like Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Porky Pig, Yosemite Sam... They are part of Warner Bros. universe, and they were part of my childhood.
The truth is that, while watchting again some of these episodes looking for those with "classical" music in their OST, I was struggling with some of the scenes: there were violent (guns, shoots, fights, punches...), but I remember I laughed when I watched them when I was younger. So, I had doubts about showing them to my own kids. I found some episodes rude and wild, not to speak about some of them showing racial and ethnic stereotypes! Actually, there are some episodes that were censored.
Finally, I've decided to keep what is useful for my purposes: learn a bit about "classical" music and "classical" cartoons. For better and for worse, animated cartoons seem to be a good resource to introduce educational contents. We just have to choose wisely. For this reason, sometimes I will link directly to the "musical moments", shorter videos lasting about 1-2 minutes, avoiding the fury and savageness (not suitable for little minds in development).
Like I said in the previous post (about Tom&Jerry), cartoons employ "classical" music to partner with the images. Maybe because it was cheap (no royalties) or maybe because by using "serious" music in burlesque situations would enhance the message (of mockery and parody).
Showing up below, I will list some episodes starred by Bugs Bunny where we can listen to "classical" compositions (I will try to follow a chronological order):
- First, it is an episode named "Rhapsody Rabbit" (1946). In this one, Bugs plays the piano the famous "Hungarian Rhapsody no. 2" of Franz Liszt (1811-1886). Here you can watch the beginning of his performance and here the ending. Since MGM released by the same time another similar short, both companies accused each other of plagiarism! The conflict dragged on and reached, more than 40 years later!, to the film "Who framed Roger Rabbit?" (1988) where a pianistic "duel" will confront Daffy Duck and Donald Duck.
In this link you can see a summary of the cartoons that have used the same music of Liszt.
- In "Bugs Bunny Rides Again" (1948) we will hear parts of the overture of "Light Cavarly"
by Franz von Suppé (1819-1895) for the chasing scene (this last a little more than 1 minute). I am not providing a link to the full episode because of the reason I explained some lines above: too many shoots, too many fights... from second 1!
- In "The long-haired hare" (1949) OST we can listen to several pieces of music. Under the "classical" tag, we will hear:
1. "Largo al factotum" from "The Barber of Seville", composed by Giocchino Rossini (1792-1868)
2. "Chi mi frena in tal momento" from "Lucia di Lammermoor", composed by Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)
3. Prelude to Act III of "Lohengrin", opera composed by Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
4. Overtura of "The Beautiful Galatea", composed by Suppé.
In addition to the variety of music, Bugs plays several instruments (banjo, harp, tuba...) in the first half of the short, and afterwards he will be drawn as Leopold Stokowski (1882-1977), the conductor.
Another anecdote is that, Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones (1992-2002) directed the short, and we can see (minute 2:22) the name of the singer "Giovanni Jones". Is that a mention to his own name? This fact is unknown.
- In "Rabbit of Seville" (1950), Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd sing while action happens. The venue is Hollywood Bowl (I wrote about this place in the previous post) where a performance of Rossini's opera "The Barber of Seville" will be held.
A fine sense of humor can be tasted in the opening credits where you can read three names: Eduardo Selzeri, Michele Maltese y Carlo Jonzi. These were the "Italian" versions of the names of Eddie Selzer, Michael Maltese and Chuck Jones (productor, writer and director of the short).
At the end you will listen briefly a few chords of the "Wedding March" of Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) and a tiny wink to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) in the wedding cake (it is written "The marriage of Figaro").
- E147, titled "What's Opera, Doc?" (1957) is know also as "Kill the Wabbit". It is also starred by Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd (this time they are dressed up as mythological characters). The dialogues are also sung. Elmer will win in his confrontation to Bugs. It is a travesty of Wagner's operas.
You will hear bits of overtures ("Rienzi", 1942; "The flying dutchman, 1843; , 1845).
Also "Pilgrim's Chorus" and "Baccanal" (from "Tannhäuser"). And "Ride of the valkyries" (1870).
The cartoon is seen as Chuck Jones' masterpiece. Here is the link to the full episode.
- In the short "Hyde and Hare" (1955) Bugs Bunny agrees on becoming the pet of a doctor called Jekyll. At some point, the rabbit plays the piano. It is the Minute Waltz op. 64/1 of Fédéric Chopin (1810-1849). Click here to watch his performance.
By watching this scene, you could talk about the waltz as a dance, connecting to Tom&Jerry's episode "Johann Mouse" (post #1). In the next post I will talk about another short film of WB: "A Corny Concerto", where we will listen to more music of Johann Strauss II. You could also talk about the piano, about Chopin... etc. Maybe show a kid of 5 years and a half playing it! (This video blew my mind!)
- "Baton Bunny" (1959): Bugs conducts an orchestra performing the overture of "Morning, Noon, and Night in Vienna", composed by Suppé, but he will have to deal with some misadventures like an annoying fly!
Baton refers to the stick that a conductor holds in his hand, again a play on words!
Here is a performance of the music. And here part of the show "Bugs Bunny at the Symphony II" where the orchestra plays live music at the same time as a big screen displays the animated cartoon.
As you can realize, there is a lot of music we can listen while having some fun watching cartoons. If you don't want to expose your kid to too much "screen time", you can isolate the pieces and run them while you do other activities: arts&crafts, drawing or coloring, reading or writting...
Besides those ideas, another related activity could be going to the local library and borrow a book like "Óperas contadas para niños" (Jordi Sierra i Fabra) or any volume of "Musicando con..." (Montse Sanuy and Violeta Monreal). My suggestions are in Spanish, but for English-speakers I think it is easy to order a couple books in Amazon and also I find this other post interesting.
For the youngest, books with sounds, like "Mi primer Vivaldi", "Mi primer Mozart", "Mi primer Beethoven" or "Mi primer Carnaval de los animales" (all are edited by TIMUNMAS), are perfect to get them into the "world of music". "Paco y la orquesta" (Marion Billet), edited by Planeta, is similar. In this one, orchestral instruments are introduced to the children.
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