Wrap party for “Toot Whistle Plunk & Boom”
A few years ago, a student at Woodbury volunteered to help build out our database. He told me how much this blog, along with Eddie Fitzgerald’s has opened his eyes to how great cartoons were in the 30s, 40s and 50s. He had a sketchbook full of Preston Blair drawings and enthusiasm for Fleischer, MGM and Warner Bros cartoons. So I asked him what kinds of music he listens to…
“David Bowie mostly.”
My jaw hit the floor. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I gave him this advice…
Cartoons aren’t the only things that were better back in the first half of the 20th century.
A friend of mine once pointed out that somebody should write a book titled "The Golden Age of Everything". Sure, there are things today that are incredibly great… computers, the internet, iPhones, frost-free refrigerators, etc… but music, dance, illustration, writing, movies and cartoons were all going through a golden age back then. Cartoonists should be aware of this, and they should absorb all of the greatness of the past. It will give them a solid foundation to build upon and make them better cartoonists.
Today, I’m going to talk about music…
I know that someone out there is going to post a comment saying that there’s still great music being made, it just isn’t mainstream. I’m fully aware of the fact that there are talented musicians working today. But in the 30s through the 50s, incredible talent was a given. Performers, from the top of the heap to the bottom- from most popular to least- were all capable of making you do a double take and say “wow!”.
When I ask kids what kinds of music they listen to, I usually get the response, “All kinds.” But “all kinds” usually turns out to mean a million shades of the same color… current rock music. There are so many names today for the same kind of music. For the life of me, I can’t tell the difference between rave, techno and electronica. In the past, there really were a million kinds of music… pop vocals, hot jazz, country western, big band swing, folk, rhythm & blues, bluegrass, mambo, dixieland, rock n’ roll, sweet orchestral, be bop…
I could talk for hours about this subject, but the best proof is seeing what I’m talking about…
"Four Or Five Times" (Soundie/1941)
(Quicktime 7 / 5.5 megs)
"Under The Double Eagle" (Tex Ritter’s Ranch Party/1959)
(Quicktime 7 / 5 megs)
"Gray Goose" "Pick A Bale Of Cotton"(1950s)
(Quicktime 7 / 10 megs)
"The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise" "Amuka Riki" (Grand Old Opry/1959)
(Quicktime 7 / 12 megs)
If you are a student planning to be a professional cartoonist, listen to music that relates to your work- read books that inspire cartoony ideas- watch movies to learn cinematic techniques that can be applied to cartooning- LIVE THE FABULOUS LIFESTYLE OF A FAMOUS HOLLYWOOD CARTOONIST!
By the way… That animation student is a big Fats Waller fan now! And that’s not all… He’s a professional in the animation business working as a storyboard artist at Cartoon Network.
Stephen Worth
Director
Animation Resources
This posting is part of a series of articles comprising an online exhibit entitled Theory.
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