Tubby the Tuba

I you cannot stand the disney films, like me, there is a solution out there; Tubby the Tuba! This charming animated film has voices from the likes of Dick Van Dyke(Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang fame). So it has to be good with the likes of his voices and his top-notch singing involved in this animated feature. It is very suitable for young kids, like when I watched it for the very first time, because of the very good songs throughout the feature, particulary "Om-pah,om-pah,om-pah-pah"! The animation isn't as "expensive" as the works of disney! I'm surprised the disney empire has not spoiled or thought of ruining the charming story of a tuba who attempts to find a melody. And if they did I'll be disgusted! This is a fine story as it is without their "modifications" involved!

So, like i said, it's a really good film, especially for children! Any other children's films will do just as well, but i personnally recommend you should invest in this unknown animated feature.

It is about Tubby, a tuba in an orchestra who is fed up with playing the same two notes all the time and follows his adventures as he goes in search of a real melody to play for once in his life. Sounds fun? Not really. Tubbys journey is full of sorrow, disappointment and yet more disappointment along the way. Just as soon as you think, OK enough now, whens the happy part coming? Something sad happens again. There is a token happy ending however which is quite unconvincing. On a more objective note, I personally felt the tempo of the story changed unnaturally at times. However, the directors did very well in creating real depth to the character of Tubby. He is very believable and we are led to feel genuine pity for him. It's a shame a lot of cartoon characters are so one-dimensional these days. Kids really do have an intuitive understanding of emotions and character depth. It is probably mainly for this reason that I never forgot the story since I saw it when I was 7 or 8 yrs old as it left such an impression. Disney's, The Incredibles is another great example of a good cartoon. Anyway, it is kind of a musical, and some of the songs are pleasant and hummable. The drawing of characters is alright for it's time I guess. It's good that it can encourage a simple interest in classical music in young children as well. Ya know what would be great, Dick van Dyke would play a great real life Tubby..wait a minute he does the voice! What a bonus!

I don't care who knows it: I love this movie. There, I've said it.

And since there is no plot summary here yet ... Tubby is indeed a tuba, who longs to find a melody he can play. But nobody writes music for tubas to play, they're only supposed to do that oom-pah thing. But Tubby, despite feeling he should maintain his life station of background instrument, cannot contain his desire to play leads.

The story unfolds with a lot of interesting characters, some of them other instruments, some "tunes" which seem to be something like orphaned sirens with musical noted-shaped heads. Yet it all makes sense when you watch it.

At any rate, it's a well-made cartoon. Kids will enjoy it and I think it has a lot to say on the subject of independence and finding the best way to live your life. Hey, Dick Van Dyke wouldn't attach his name to any old thing, right?

I really don't like it myself. Now, the grandparents got it for the kids, and they like it, so I suppose that was a success. I have two reasons for not liking this movie. First, I don't care for 20th century classical music, specifically dissonant music. There is a lot of that in this film. If the music is older, then it is older dissonant music.

Also, most of the character interaction in this movie is negative. The instruments make fun of Tubby, and drive him away. He finally catches on with the circus, but they eventually throw him out. He hooks up with an orphan melody, who herself is treated badly by other orphan melodies. There is just so much negative in this movie. Yes, there is the obligatory happy ending, but for me it is a painful journey. The overall message is keep trying, but the intermediate message is that you are going to get dumped on a lot before the good happens. To me, it also reinforces being mean, since so many characters are mean to Tubby.

However, with only 8 votes, I'm betting this movie doesn't get a lot of viewing anyway. I will admit, just about any way you can sneak classical music in front of a child is probably a good thing. But I think this story could have been better.

According to the David A. Price book, "The Pixar Touch," this production may lay claim to being the first computer-animated feature.

Developed largely by technicians without previous animation experience, even many of the people who worked on it were dismayed at how bad the animation quality was. It took a few more years before computer animation actually was recognized as the powerful tool it has become in features by Pixar and others, not to mention special effects work in many other "live action" films.

However, I note with interest that some comments dislike the story itself and don't speak to the production quality, so maybe the piece holds up after all.

PS - Fans of animation will find the Price Pixar history fascinating.