Symphony in Slang

I had first seen this Tex Avery cartoon from M-G-M on the Tom & Jerry show on weekday afternoons during the late '70s. In this one, a man enters Heaven puzzling St. Peter and Noah Webster with his various slang terms when telling his life story. I'll just now say that the literal gags come fast and furious with each slang word the guy mentions and one would have to watch this cartoon more than once to get all of them! Anyway, this was one of the most hilarious of Avery's shorts I've ever seen! So on that note, Symphony in Slang is highly recommended.

Tex Avery is my all-time animation writer & director. Symphony In Slang is my all-time favorite cartoon. If I could , I would rate it one-hundred stars. Cartoon writer, Rich Hogan done the best work in Symphony In Slang, putting together at least sixty slang clichés & the animation that shows as the voice, John Brown, perfectly said numerous slang terms, throughout this all-time classic cartoon. Tex Avery's mind of continuous & numerous creations throughout his career, at any studio, is definitely that of an animation genius. Tex Avery's works & animation creations are extremely unique, especially during his fourteen plus years at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In my dictionary, Symphony In Slang is Extremely & Hysterically Humorous, from beginning to end!

More cleverness from Tex Avery, this one involving wordplay. After a brief setup that has a hipster showing up at the Pearly Gates in Heaven and speaking in a way that makes St. Peter seek out Noah Webster for help, a string of roughly 95 visual puns follow, a breakneck speed of one every four seconds or so. The man tells his life story and in every clause of every sentence we see a clip of what the words could mean if taken literally. "I was beside myself with anger," he says, and we two of him sitting there, with a fiery red fellow labeled "anger." Some of them are pretty corny but there's no time to groan because it's on to the next one, something I liked about it. Light and playful fun.

Rich Hogan was hugely underappreciated as the hidden fuel to Tex Avery's fire. Here, he proves himself to be George Carlin's comedic father, with his schizoid tribute to our mangled "mother tongue". The images that come to mind every time I hear "She sent me a cable, so I sent her a wire"; or especially "I was up against it, but I carried on" will delight me forever. A visual triumph, but mostly because Hogan's turn of a phrase works so well. Indescribably essential viewing.

Symphony in Slang is a clever MGM cartoon created by the surrealtic Tex Avery. Which also the short is also surrealistic. They find a dead guy on heaven tell his story to Noah Webster and they don't get his language (slang). Things like "I was with a silver spoon in my mouth" or "I was really in a pickle, the proprietor drew a gun on me, but I gave him the slip, and hid in the foot hills". It's very creative. Tex Avery has always been a great creator of animation.