High Note

In one of the occasional instances where they took a break from using their normal cast, the crowd behind the Looney Tunes cartoons made "High Note", about music notes assembling themselves for "The Blue Danube", only to have one note get drunk, leading the conductor note to chase him all over the sheet.

It's one of their many shorts introducing children to high culture (at the very least, it seems that they were doing that). It also shows that cartoons don't need words to be great; in fact, it makes them more comprehensible to other cultures if they consist of only images. Whether it's just quick entertainment or something else, this is a cartoon for the ages. I definitely recommend it.

Some reviews have noted on this site that this particular Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon was not shown on TV. I certainly don't remember seeing it then so I'm guessing this was truly my first time of wacthing this which I just did on the DVD of Cash McCall. It depicts the musical sheet of "The Blue Danube" and the various musical notes moving about trying to assemble on the scales to have the note conductor conduct. But when that note conductor does, he finds out that one of the notes is missing, in fact, he's in the "Little Brown Jug" sheet getting drunk (which you can tell because the head is colored red...) What I just described is enough to tell you that this was a more unusual cartoon, even from Chuck Jones, than what one is used to from Warner Bros., that's for sure! But it's quite funny and creative and it deserved its Oscar nomination. So that's a high recommendation for High Note.

I had the pleasure of seeing this as well as other great Chuck Jones' cartoons on the big screen. Linda Jones Clough, Chuck Jones' daughter, introduced each film with a memory that related to the film. Interesting trivia: Linda stated that High Note has never been shown on TV because it involves drunk notes that censors felt where not suitable for children.

I did see this as a child on TV in the early 1970s it was probably on a local station before the PC police got started censoring everything good. It is available on a laser disc called "Looney Tunes Curtain Calls" yes it is currently on ebay & usually goes from $5.00 to $15.00 & it is even listed as a buy it now right now. The quality is the same as a DVD how do i know because i own it on laser disc & watched it last night it may have been the late 1960s or early 1970s when i first saw it on TV also the CBS station back then showed these on a Saturday afternoon where the characters came on with the song on with the show. It is a great cartoon & with cable today its hard to believe that it is too risqué to be shown.

A quarter note attempts to put together the score of The Blue Danube. It is creative for most of the feature. The various notations come to life, including bending sticks to become a time signature and unfolding sharps like lawn chairs. The music is important but the strength is in the method. Well worth the time.