THREAD: Lots of us learned classical music from watching old cartoons, so I’m going to identify the pieces that frequently popped up.
One of the most recognizable is Franz Liszt’s “Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2,” performed by those great piano virtuosos Bugs Bunny and Tom & Jerry. pic.twitter.com/SmyKbMpw3e
— Vincent Alexander (@NonsenseIsland) March 1, 2021
Cartoonist Vincent Alexander put together a wonderfully informative Twitter thread that shows how so many of us were introduced to classical music through old cartoons.
With each example of music, Alexander posted footage from such studios as Warner Bros. (Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies), Disney, Paramount (Popeye the Sailor Man), Hannah-Barbera (Tom and Jerry), and Universal Studios (Woody Woodpecker), among several others.
This analysis is truly fascinating and proves to be true in so many ways, as many of the compositions Alexander discusses often sound familiar, even when played in a different context.
I don’t know who can listen to the famous opera “The Barber of Seville” by Gioachino Rossini without thinking of Bugs Bunny. The way director Chuck Jones synchronizes the slapstick action to the soundtrack is flat-out masterful. pic.twitter.com/t58QbRsmmw
— Vincent Alexander (@NonsenseIsland) March 1, 2021
You may not know Franz Schubert’s “Der Erlkönig” by name, you’ll know it when you hear it, thanks to Looney Tunes cartoons. It was written about a supernatural king of the fairies, but WB composer Carl Stalling would always pull it out to underscore a villain’s entrance. pic.twitter.com/BBLcZG04eE
— Vincent Alexander (@NonsenseIsland) March 1, 2021
“Wintermärchen, Op. 366” by Austro-Hungarian composer Alphons Czibulka is another one I assumed everybody knew as a kid because of its frequent use in cartoons. It generally shows up in scenes of over-the-top melodrama, stretching back to the very first Looney Tune in 1930. pic.twitter.com/JizfE9GoEk
— Vincent Alexander (@NonsenseIsland) March 1, 2021
“The Blue Danube” is one of Strauss’s most famous and beautiful waltzes, thus making it ripe for animated parody. The piece was burned into my brain from infancy due to a VHS tape I had of A CORNY CONCERTO, and now I always hear quacking to go along with it. pic.twitter.com/x8Q5OnxxHh
— Vincent Alexander (@NonsenseIsland) March 1, 2021
More examples can be found on Alexander’s thread.