| I Love to Singa | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Fred Avery |
| Produced by | Leon Schlesinger |
| Music by | Norman Spencer |
| Animation by | Charles Jones Virgil Ross |
| Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 8:14 |
| Language | English |
I Love to Singa is a 1936 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated cartoon directed by Tex Avery. [1] The short was released on July 18, 1936. [2]
I Love to Singa depicts the story of an owlet (singing voice of Jackie Morrow, speaking voice of Tommy Bond) who wants to sing jazz, instead of the classical music that his German-accented parents wish him to perform. The plot is a tribute to Al Jolson's 1927 film The Jazz Singer . [3]
The owlet's disciplinarian violinist father, Professor Fritz Owl (voiced by Billy Bletcher), kicks him out of the family's home after catching him singing jazz instead of "Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes" to the pump organ accompaniment of his mother (voiced by Martha Wentworth). While wandering, he encounters a radio amateur contest (clearly a takeoff of the Major Bowes Amateur Hour ), hosted by "Jack Bunny" (a pun on Jack Benny and later used in Goofy Groceries , voiced by Tedd Pierce). Billing himself as "Owl Jolson" (a reference to Al Jolson), he performs and his family, worried sick about him (including his father Fritz, who now regrets throwing his son out) hears him over the radio. They rush to the station.
Jack Bunny has decided Owl Jolson wins First Prize, but when the owlet sees his family watching him from outside the studio, he reverts to singing "Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes". Jack Bunny is about to revoke the prize, but the family bursts through the studio and stops Jack Bunny from kicking their owlet out of the studio. And so, Professor Fritz, having finally realized both his errors and his son's true potential, allows him to freely sing jazz. Jack Bunny then gives Owl Jolson the prize, and so on the owl family lived happily ever after.
As with several early Warners cartoons, it is in a sense a music video designed to push a song from the Warners library. The song in question, "I Love to Singa", was first written by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg for the 1936 Warner Bros. feature-length film The Singing Kid . It is performed three times in the film: first by Al Jolson and Cab Calloway, then by the Yacht Club Boys and Jolson, and finally again by Calloway and Jolson. During this period, it was customary for Warners to have their animation production partner, Leon Schlesinger Productions, make Merrie Melodies cartoons based upon songs from their features.
The cartoon has become a cult favorite, with a pervasive impact on popular culture. The short, one of the earliest Merrie Melodies produced in Technicolor's three-color process, is recognized as one of Avery's early masterpieces. Musicologist Daniel Goldmark writes, "I Love to Singa may be one of the most instantly endearing cartoons Warner Bros. ever created. The story combines two themes that are as popular then as they are now—a child breaking away from his parents and contesting chasing the 'rags-to-riches' promise of amateur shows." [4] Animation historian Jerry Beck agrees, "While not as wacky as Tex Avery's later works, I Love to Singa is still the perfect metaphor for the changes this great director brought to the studio. Instead of following stuffy cartoon convention, Tex taught his peers to march to their own drummers." [4]
The May 7, 2013 episode of The Looney Tunes Show , "Gribbler's Quest", featured a Merrie Melodies segment in which Gossamer plays the piano and sings "I Love to Singa" (with new audio sung by Kwesi Boakye). This was one of two instances of the show's Merrie Melodies segment using a classic song rather than a new composition with the other instance being "Yellow Bird". However, the lyrics were changed to remove racist terms such as "mammy."
In the first episode of the American animated television series South Park , "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe", Cartman and Officer Barbrady are hit by an alien beam, causing them to begin singing and dancing to "I Love to Singa".
Owl Jolson appears in several levels of the video game Looney Tunes: Back in Action , singing "I Love to Singa" via archive audio. Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck will comment upon Owl when they get close enough.
As a short published in 1936 with its copyright renewed, the short will enter the public domain on January 1, 2032. [5]
Looney Tunes is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside the related series Merrie Melodies, during the golden age of American animation. Following a revival in the late 1970s, new shorts were released as recently as 2014. The two series introduced a large cast of characters, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig. The term Looney Tunes has since been expanded to also refer to the characters themselves.
Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery was an American animator, cartoonist, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of American animation. His most significant work was for the Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios, where he was crucial in the creation and evolution of famous animated characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Droopy, Screwy Squirrel, The Wolf, Red Hot Riding Hood, and George and Junior.
Porky in Wackyland is a 1938 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes animated short film, directed by Bob Clampett. The short was released on September 24, 1938, and stars Porky Pig venturing out to find the last do-do bird, which he finds in Wackyland, a land that makes no sense located in Darkest Africa.
Merrie Melodies is an American animated comedy short film series distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was part of the Looney Tunes franchise and featured many of the same characters. It originally ran from August 2, 1931, to September 20, 1969, during the golden age of American animation, though it was revived in 1979, with new shorts sporadically released until June 13, 1997. Originally, Merrie Melodies placed emphasis on one-shot color films in comparison to the black-and-white Looney Tunes films. After Bugs Bunny became the breakout character of Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes transitioned to color production in the early 1940s, the two series gradually lost their distinctions and shorts were assigned to each series randomly.
Beans the Cat is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Cartoons series of cartoons from 1935–1936. Beans was the third Warner Bros cartoon character star after Bosko and Buddy. He was voiced by Billy Bletcher. He was created by director Friz Freleng. The character was featured in nine cartoons made in 1935 and 1936.
Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. was an American animation studio, serving as the in-house animation division of Warner Bros. during the Golden Age of American animation. One of the most successful animation studios in American media history, it was primarily responsible for the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated short films. The characters featured in these cartoons, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig, are among the most famous and recognizable characters in the world. Many of the creative staff members at the studio, including directors and animators such as Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, Robert McKimson, Tex Avery, Robert Clampett, Arthur Davis, and Frank Tashlin, are considered major figures in the art and history of traditional animation.
A Wild Hare is a 1940 American animated comedy short film directed by Tex Avery, produced by Leon Schlesinger, and distributed by Warner Bros. as part of the Merrie Melodies series. The film was released on July 27, 1940, and features Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny, the latter making what is considered his first official appearance.
The Heckling Hare is a Merrie Melodies cartoon, released on July 5, 1941, and featuring Bugs Bunny and a dopey dog named Willoughby. The cartoon was directed by Tex Avery, written by Michael Maltese, animated by soon-to-be director Robert McKimson, and with musical direction by Carl W. Stalling. In a style that was becoming typical of the Bugs character, he easily outwitted and tormented his antagonist through the short, his only concern being what to do next to the dog.
Wabbit Twouble is a Merrie Melodies cartoon starring Bugs Bunny, produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions and released on December 20, 1941, by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Elmer's Candid Camera is a 1940 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon short directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on March 2, 1940, and features Elmer Fudd and an early Bugs Bunny prototype.
Hare-um Scare-um is a 1939 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton. The short was released on August 12, 1939, and is the third short to feature the rabbit that would evolve into Bugs Bunny.
Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears is a 1944 Merrie Melodies cartoon short directed by Chuck Jones and written by Tedd Pierce. The short was released on February 26, 1944, and features Bugs Bunny. This short marks the first appearance of Jones' dysfunctional version of The Three Bears, and is a parody of the old fairy tale, Goldilocks and The Three Bears.
This is a list of all cartoons featuring Porky Pig. Directors are listed in parentheses.
Of Fox and Hounds is a 1940 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies directed by Tex Avery. The short was released on December 7, 1940, and introduces Willoughby the Dog. Avery performed the voice of Willoughby, and Mel Blanc voiced George the Fox and the bear's yells. The short is an attempt to duplicate the success of the 1940 Bugs Bunny short A Wild Hare by giving another anthropomorphic animal the same unflappable demeanor. The names of Tex Avery, Dave Monohan, Carl W. Stalling, and possibly Charles McKimson intentionally draft numbers in the credits.
Dangerous Dan McFoo is a 1939 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Tex Avery. The short was released on July 15, 1939.
This is a listing of all the animated shorts released by Warner Bros. under the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies banners between 1940 and 1949.
The Woods Are Full of Cuckoos is a 1937 Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Frank Tashlin. The short was released on December 4, 1937.
Goofy Groceries is a 1941 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated short film directed by Bob Clampett. The short was released on March 29, 1941.
Tex Avery Screwball Classics is a series of single-disc Blu-ray and DVD sets by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment's Warner Archive unit collecting various theatrical cartoons from animation director Tex Avery during his tenure at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio's cartoon division between the years of 1942 and 1955. It is the first comprehensive collection of Avery's MGM shorts to be released on home media in North America since The Compleat Tex Avery series of laserdiscs in the 1990s, with many of the shorts having been previously unreleased on DVD or Blu-ray.
