Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom

It's the professorial owl who is teaching his class all about musical instruments. It's manna from heaven for an animator as the entertainingly crafted lyrical narration (complete with slightly annoying singing) takes us all on a very basic lesson in musical onomatopoeia! It was the cavemen who started, rather monotonically, with a dead cow's horn. Next, for the Egyptians it's a different kind of "King Toot" who wants something altogether more sophisticated. Trumpets, dear reader. What happens when trumpets get beaten up; the curvy bits and varying lengths give it flexibility and huzzah, the horn was born. You've got the drift by now and as the other three principal sections of the orchestra: woodwind, strings (quite excruciatingly at times) and finally percussion get an the treatment this leads us to the synchronised, and thankfully more tuneful, modern orchestra. It's a bit too long, this, but it is still quite good fun as they even manage to squeeze the bagpipes in there. The singing doesn't get any better, though - sorry.

We join Professor Owl as he teaches his avian students about where all the music comes from - in other words, the whole TOOT WHISTLE PLUNK AND BOOM of the matter.

This very engaging cartoon gives a lighthearted look at the origin of musical instruments. Using humor as the best tool to teach - in this instance zany cavemen bang home the lessons - it leaves the viewer with several pertinent facts from the fascinating world of musical history.

TOOT WHISTLE PLUNK AND BOOM was the Disney Studio's first foray into stylized, or limited, animation. The result was very successful & the 1953 Oscar for best cartoon was the reward.

This short, Disney's best in some time, won an Oscar and clearly shows an influence from the animation style of the UPA studios that were doing remarkable work in the 1950s. Disney did a number of shorts that were different stylistically and in tone than the work they had produced in the 1930s and 1940s and this is probably the best of those shorts. I's good to see that it's available, even if it's only on a DVD as additional material. Most recommended.

The best thing about "Toot, Whistle, Plunk, and Boom" is that I actually learned something from it! Who knew I would learn something from a cartoon at the age of 22?! I've never been that involved in musical instruments, but it was very interesting and easy to learn from TWP&B on why horns are shaped the way they are. The short is also hilarious as we see how the caveman learned to make music in their primitive ways and how that music evolved over the ages. It's also fun to see the cavemen collaborate with the modern-day symphonies. There are just some great gags and jokes throughout this jam-packed cartoon.

We're also reintroduced to that school of singing birds from the cartoon short, "Melody." They were fun, but I thought they were a little annoying in this short. I was glad when they made the transition to the cavemen, because those cavemen stole the show! I've even seen them make cameos on the recent cartoon series, "Disney's House of Mouse." Hey, maybe we can even see them in the theme parks!!! That would be fun!

There are a lot of memorable and educational moments from this cartoon, and it will always remain a classic. In my opinion, the only thing holding it back a little are those birds. They've done better! Better just let the cavemen get the show going!!

My IMDb Rating: 9/10

As I said above, I really wanted to hate this film...but I couldn't. The reason I wanted to give this film a savage review is that it represents a style of animation that I hate--the very modern and minimalistic animation that came into vogue in the 1950s and lasted through the 70s. Up until films like TOOT WHISTLE PLUNK AND BOOK and films by (uggh) UPA Studios, animation had been very detailed and higher quality. Gorgeous backgrounds and high frame-rates were the norm in the 40s and into the 50s with studios like Looney Tunes, MGM and Disney. But, with the success of very simplistic UPA films like Gerald McBoing-Boing and Mr. Magoo (beating out traditional films for Oscars AND costing a fraction to make), Disney decided to experiment with this splashier but tremendously easy style of animation. So, for the style of this film and what it represented, I wanted to hate the film.

The problem is that although I disliked the art, I couldn't help but like the film--even though it was quite educational. In fact, now that I finished the film, I am still amazed because I usually watch animation to have fun--not learn things! But, I found that I enjoyed the learning.

The film is about the basic parts of music and how all instruments fall within four broad categories--those that go 'toot', those that whistle, those that are plucked ('plunk') and those that are struck ('boom'). This may seem silly, but it really did make sense and made me understand and appreciate music a lot more. In particular, I learned why horns are all curvy and how a trumpet works--and that's really cool.

Overall, a great film to teach anyone (not just kids) about the fundamentals of music AND it does it in a way that isn't boring. Who would have thought this was possible?!