Swing Symphony

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Swing Symphony
Swing Symphony Title Card.jpg
The title card used from 1942 to 1945.
Produced byWalter Lantz
Music by Darrell Calker
Color process Technicolor
Production
companies
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date
1941–1945
Running time
7 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Swing Symphony is an American animated musical short film series produced by Walter Lantz Productions from 1941 to 1945. The shorts were a more contemporary pastiche on Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies, [1] and often featured top boogie-woogie musicians of the era. [2] While the first cartoon include the characters Woody Woodpecker and Andy Panda, it mainly features a variety of different characters created exclusively for the series, with Oswald the Lucky Rabbit making an appearance in one cartoon.

Contents

Background

Walter Lantz Productions first developed the format with Scrub Me Mama with a Boogie Beat , released on March 28, 1941. The short is considered a precursor as it contains many elements seen in the series, such as utilizing a popular boogie-woogie song. Lantz also produced Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company 'B' later in September which followed the same formula and would be nominated for an Academy Award. The first cartoon that would go under Swing Symphony wouldn't be released until December of that year.

One of the main writers that worked on the series was Ben Hardaway, who left Warner Bros. in 1940 and was hired by Walter Lantz to work on the storyboards for Universal Studios' cartoons. From 1938 to 1940, Hardaway was notably one of the last holdouts to co-direct several Merrie Melodies cartoons that featured lengthy musical sequences. He also supplied his voice for Woody Woodpecker in 1944 until 1949. [3] Darrell Calker, who was involved in jazz circles, composed the music and brought in famous musicians like Nat King Cole, Meade Lux Lewis and Jack Teagarden to play them. [4] Pianist Bob Zurke did a recording for the cartoon Jungle Jive before he died aged 32.

In 1942, Juke Box Jamboree was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film but lost to Disney's Der Fuehrer's Face . [5] Few of Lantz's cartoons were highlighted for stereotyping and racism, but were said by Joe Adamson as not intended to be offensive. [6]

The series was discontinued in 1945 due to swing music fading in popularity following the end of World War II. Dick Lundy, who directed the last Swing Symphony cartoon, later developed Musical Miniatures, a musical series focusing on classical music. Four cartoons were produced in 1947–1948. [7]

Filmography

TitleDrawn by (animator)Written byDirected byCharactersRelease dateAvailability
$21 a Day (Once a Month)Alex Lovy

Frank Tipper

Lowell Elliot

Ben Hardaway

Walter Lantz Woody Woodpecker

Andy Panda

December 1, 1941DVD - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection
The Hams That Couldn't Be CuredAlex Lovy

R. Somerville

Lowell Elliot

Ben Hardaway

Algernon Wolf

Three Little Pigs

March 4, 1942DVD - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection: Volume 2
Juke Box JamboreeVerne HardingBen Hardaway

Chuck Couch

Alex Lovy MouseJuly 27, 1942DVD - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection: Volume 2
Yankee Doodle Swing ShiftHarold MasonBen Hardaway

Milt Schaffer

September 21, 1942
Boogie Woogie SiouxRobert BentleyNovember 30, 1942DVD - Woody Woodpecker and Friends: Volume 5
Cow-Cow BoogieHarold MasonJanuary 3, 1943 [8]
The Egg Cracker Suite Les KlineMilt Schaffer Emery Hawkins

Ben Hardaway

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit March 22, 1943 [9] DVD - Woody Woodpecker and Friends: Volume 3
Swing Your PartnerPaul SmithBen Hardaway

Milt Schaffer

Alex Lovy Homer Pigeon April 26, 1943 [10] DVD - Woody Woodpecker and Friends: Volume 4
Pass The Biscuits Mirandy!Paul Smith James Culhane Mirandy

The Foy's and Barton's [11]

August 23, 1943 [12] DVD - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection
Boogie Woogie Man

Will Get You If You Don't Watch Out

Laverne Harding

Les Kline

Boogie WoogieSeptember 27, 1943DVD - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection: Volume 2
The Greatest Man In SiamPat Matthews

Emery Hawkins

March 27, 1944DVD - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection
Jungle JivePaul J. Smith

Emery Hawkins

May 15, 1944DVD - Woody Woodpecker and Friends: Volume 6
Abou Ben BoogiePaul J. Smith

Pat Matthews

Miss. X [13] September 18, 1944DVD - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection
The Pied Piper Of Basin StreetLaverne Harding

Pat Matthews

The Pied Piper January 15, 1945DVD - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection
Sliphorn King Of PolarooPat Matthews Dick Lundy JacksonMarch 19, 1945DVD - Woody Woodpecker and Friends: Volume 4

See also

Related Research Articles

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