Swing Symphony | |
---|---|
Produced by | Walter Lantz |
Music by | Darrell Calker |
Color process | Technicolor |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date | 1941–1945 |
Running time | 7 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
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]
The series mainly features a variety of different characters created exclusively for these shorts, although cameos by Woody Woodpecker and Andy Panda do appear in the first cartoon. Oswald the Lucky Rabbit also made an appearance in one short as well.
Walter Lantz Productions first developed the format with the cartoon 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 swing song at the time. 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]
Title | Drawn by (animator) | Written by | Directed by | Characters | Release date | Availability |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
$21 a Day (Once a Month) | Alex Lovy Frank Tipper | Lowell Elliot | Walter Lantz | Woody Woodpecker | December 1, 1941 | DVD - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection |
The Hams That Couldn't Be Cured | Alex Lovy R. Somerville | Lowell Elliot Ben Hardaway | Algernon Wolf Three Little Pigs | March 4, 1942 | DVD - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection: Volume 2 | |
Juke Box Jamboree | Verne Harding | Ben Hardaway Chuck Couch | Alex Lovy | July 27, 1942 | DVD - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection: Volume 2 | |
Yankee Doodle Swing Shift | Harold Mason | Ben Hardaway Milt Schaffer | September 21, 1942 | |||
Boogie Woogie Sioux | Robert Bentley | November 30, 1942 | DVD - Woody Woodpecker and Friends: Volume 5 | |||
Cow-Cow Boogie | Harold Mason | January 3, 1943 [8] | ||||
The Egg Cracker Suite | Les Kline | Milt Schaffer | Emery Hawkins | Oswald the Lucky Rabbit | March 22, 1943 | DVD - Woody Woodpecker and Friends: Volume 3 |
Swing Your Partner | Paul Smith | Ben Hardaway Milt Schaffer | Alex Lovy | Homer Pigeon | April 26, 1943 [9] | DVD - Woody Woodpecker and Friends: Volume 4 |
Pass The Biscuits Mirandy! | Paul Smith | James Culhane | Mirandy | August 23, 1943 [11] | 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 Woogie | September 27, 1943 | DVD - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection: Volume 2 | ||
The Greatest Man In Siam | Pat Matthews Emery Hawkins | Miss X | March 27, 1944 | DVD - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection | ||
Jungle Jive | Paul J. Smith Emery Hawkins | May 15, 1944 | DVD - Woody Woodpecker and Friends: Volume 6 | |||
Abou Ben Boogie | Paul J. Smith Pat Matthews | Miss X [12] | September 18, 1944 | DVD - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection | ||
The Pied Piper Of Basin Street | Laverne Harding Pat Matthews | The Pied Piper | January 15, 1945 | DVD - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection | ||
Sliphorn King Of Polaroo | Pat Matthews | Dick Lundy | Jackson | March 19, 1945 | DVD - Woody Woodpecker and Friends: Volume 4 |
Walter Lantz Productions was an American animation studio that was in operation from 1928 to 1972. It was the principal supplier of animation for Universal Pictures.
Woody Woodpecker is a cartoon character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Studio and Universal Animation Studio and distributed by Universal Pictures since 1940. Woody's last theatrical cartoon was produced by Walter Lantz in 1972.
John Frederick Hannah was an American animator, writer and director of animated shorts. He worked for Disney and Walter Lantz.
Walter Benjamin Lantz was an American cartoonist, animator, producer and director best known for founding Walter Lantz Productions and creating Woody Woodpecker.
Knock Knock is an animated Andy Panda short film, produced by Walter Lantz. The cartoon is noted for being the first appearance of Woody Woodpecker, and was released by Universal Pictures on November 25, 1940.
Richard James Lundy was an American animator and film director who worked at several animation studios including The Walt Disney Company, MGM, and Hanna-Barbera. Lundy was a pioneer of personality animation and is best remembered as one of the creators of Donald Duck. Throughout his career he worked as a primary animator on at least 60 films, both short and feature-length, and directed 51 shorts.
Chilly Willy is a cartoon character, a diminutive penguin. He was created by director Paul Smith for the Walter Lantz studio in 1953, and developed further by Tex Avery in the two subsequent films following Smith's debut entry. The character soon became the second most popular Lantz/Universal character, behind Woody Woodpecker. Fifty Chilly Willy cartoons were produced between 1953 and 1972.
The Woody Woodpecker Show is an American television series mainly composed of the animated cartoon shorts of Woody Woodpecker and other Walter Lantz characters including Andy Panda, Chilly Willy, The Beary Family and Inspector Willoughby all released by Walter Lantz Productions. The series was revived and reformatted several times, but remained popular for nearly four decades and allowed the studio to continue making theatrical cartoons until 1972 when it shut down. It also kept the Walter Lantz/Universal "cartunes" made during the Golden Age of American animation a part of the American consciousness. The Woody Woodpecker Show was named the 88th best animated series by IGN.
Andy Panda is a cartoon character who starred in his own series of animated cartoon short subjects produced by Walter Lantz. These "cartunes" were released by Universal Pictures from 1939 to 1947, and United Artists from 1948 to 1949. The title character is an anthropomorphic cartoon character, a cute panda. Andy became the second star of the Walter Lantz cartoons after Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. He achieved considerable popularity until being eventually supplanted by Woody Woodpecker.
Joseph Benson Hardaway was an American storyboard artist, animator, voice actor, gagman, writer and director for several American animation studios during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. He was sometimes credited as J. B. Hardaway, Ben Hardaway, B. Hardaway and Bugs Hardaway. He fought in World War I in the 129th Field Artillery Regiment, Battery D.
This is a list of animated cartoons that star Woody Woodpecker, who appeared in 202 cartoons during and after the Golden age of American animation. All the cartoons were produced by Walter Lantz Productions, and were distributed by Universal Pictures, United Artists and Universal International. Also listed are miscellaneous cartoons that feature Woody but are not a part of the main short series.
The Barber of Seville is the tenth animated cartoon short subject in the Woody Woodpecker series. Released theatrically on April 22, 1944, the film was produced by Walter Lantz Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures.
Wally Walrus is an animated cartoon character created by Walter Lantz and James Culhane. He'd appeared in several films produced by Walter Lantz Productions from the 1940s through the 1960s.
The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection is a three-disc DVD collection of theatrical cartoons produced by Walter Lantz Productions for Universal Pictures between 1930 and 1956. The set was released by Universal Studios Home Entertainment on July 24, 2007, and marks the first time a collection of cartoons starring Woody Woodpecker and the other Lantz characters have been widely available on home video.
This is a list of Walter Lantz "Cartunes" featuring Andy Panda. All are entries in Lantz's Andy Panda series, except for $21 a Day , Musical Moments from Chopin, and Banquet Busters and The Woody Woodpecker Polka, two Woody Woodpecker cartoons.
Ski for Two is a 1944 Woody Woodpecker "cartune" directed by James Culhane. Released theatrically on November 13, 1944, the film was produced by Walter Lantz Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures.
Wet Blanket Policy is a 1948 Woody Woodpecker "cartune" directed by Dick Lundy. Released theatrically on August 27, 1948, the film was produced by Walter Lantz Productions and distributed by United Artists. The film would later be reissued by Universal International, Lantz's former distributor.
The Dizzy Acrobat is the eighth animated cartoon short subject in the Woody Woodpecker series. Released theatrically on May 21, 1943, the film was produced by Walter Lantz Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures.
Homer Pigeon is an animated character created by Walter Lantz, who made his first appearance in the cartoon "Pigeon Patrol" in 1942. His final appearance was in 1964, in The Woody Woodpecker Show episode "Spook-A-Nanny".
Musical Moments from Chopin is a Musical Miniatures cartoon, co-starring Andy Panda and Woody Woodpecker. It was directed by Dick Lundy and released on February 24, 1947.