I Love to Singa
Encyclopedia
I Love to Singa is a Merrie Melodies
animated
cartoon directed by Tex Avery
, produced by Leon Schlesinger
, and released to theatres on July 18, 1936 by Warner Bros.
and Vitaphone
. I Love to Singa depicts the story of a young owl
et who wants to sing jazz
, instead of the classical music
that his German parents wish him to perform. The plot is a light-hearted tribute to Al Jolson
's film The Jazz Singer
.
"I Love to Singa" was first a song written by Harold Arlen
and E.Y. Harburg for the 1936
Warner Bros.
feature-length film The Singing Kid. It is performed three times in the film: first by Jolson and Cab Calloway
, then by the Yacht Club Boys and Jolson, and finally again by Calloway and Jolson. During this period, it was customary for Warners to have their animation production partner, Leon Schlesinger Productions
, make Merrie Melodies cartoons based upon songs from their features.
The cartoon has, in recent years, taken on something of a cult following, with a pervasive impact on popular culture. The short, one of the earliest Merrie Melodies produced in Technicolor
's 3-strip process, is recognized as one of Avery's early masterpieces.
et who wants to sing jazz
, instead of the classical music
that his German parents wish him to perform. The plot is a light-hearted tribute to Al Jolson
's film The Jazz Singer
.
The young owl, voiced by Tommy Bond
, best known as "Butch" of the Our Gang (Little Rascals)
films, is unjustly kicked out of his family's house by his disciplinarian violin
ist father (voiced by Bert Lahr
first, replaced by Billy Bletcher
) after he is caught singing jazz instead of "Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes
" to the reed (pump) organ accompaniment of his mother (voiced by Martha Wentworth
). While wandering, he comes across a radio
amateur
contest
, hosted by "Jack Bunny" (a pun on Jack Benny
), and billing himself as "Owl Jolson" (a reference on Al Jolson
), wins the contest, but not before his father has finally seen his son's potential and allows him to freely sing jazz.
in recent years. In the "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe
" episode of the cartoon South Park
, characters Eric Cartman
and Officer Barbrady lapse into Owl Jolson's odd song-and-dance routine whenever they get hit with an alien beam. In Warners' 2003 film Looney Tunes: Back in Action
, Owl Jolson's dance sequence from I Love to Singa repeatedly appears on the video screen of the ACME Corp. Chairman (played by Steve Martin
), since he cannot properly operate his remote control
. He also shows up in the Looney Tunes: Back in Action game, in the France, Las Vegas, and Africa levels. He can be turned on and shut off by being hit by either character. When approached, Bugs and Daffy will make comments.
I Love to Singa was reissued with "Blue Ribbon" series version of the credits in the mid 1940s, and later restored with original titles for DVD release. This version was included in the Looney Tunes Golden Collection
Vol. 2 DVD box set, released in 2004. It is also included as a special feature on the Warner Bros. DVD releases of the 1927
Al Jolson
film The Jazz Singer
and the 2006 CGI animated film Happy Feet
. Owl Jolson also appears in Cartoon Network
's newest series The Looney Tunes Show
.
(a.a.p.) in 1956. That company's library would change hands several times over the years, ending up with Turner Entertainment
in 1986, and years later became a staple of Cartoon Network
's programming. This cartoon (among a select few such as Nasty Quacks
) continued to show the a.a.p. logo into the 2000s (Nasty Quacks still carries it), even as other cartoons in the a.a.p. package were remastered as "dubbed versions" without the a.a.p. logo (although a "dubbed version" of this cartoon was also made, and has aired a few times). This and Nasty Quacks are among the few Turner-owned WB cartoons to air on Cartoon Network as both a.a.p. and "dubbed" versions in this decade. On CN's 2009 New Year's Day Looney Tunes marathon, I Love to Singa aired as a "dubbed version", while Nasty Quacks aired as an a.a.p. version (as did another Daffy Duck
outing, Daffy Duck in Hollywood
).
's short-lived children's program, The Rudy and Go-Go Show, the part where Owl Jolson is forced to sing "Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes
" and some scenes of the auditions for Jack Bunny's radio show were cut for time constraints.
Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969.Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Merrie Melodies were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944,...
animated
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
cartoon directed by Tex Avery
Tex Avery
Frederick Bean "Fred/Tex" Avery was an American animator, cartoonist, voice actor and director, famous for producing animated cartoons during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. He did his most significant work for the Warner Bros...
, produced by Leon Schlesinger
Leon Schlesinger
Leon Schlesinger was an American film producer, most noted for founding Leon Schlesinger Productions, which later became the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio, during the golden age of Hollywood animation.-Early life and career:...
, and released to theatres on July 18, 1936 by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
and Vitaphone
Vitaphone
Vitaphone was a sound film process used on feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects produced by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1930. Vitaphone was the last, but most successful, of the sound-on-disc processes...
. I Love to Singa depicts the story of a young owl
Owl
Owls are a group of birds that belong to the order Strigiformes, constituting 200 bird of prey species. Most are solitary and nocturnal, with some exceptions . Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish...
et who wants to sing jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, instead of the classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
that his German parents wish him to perform. The plot is a light-hearted tribute to Al Jolson
Al Jolson
Al Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....
's film The Jazz Singer
The Jazz Singer (1927 film)
The Jazz Singer is a 1927 American musical film. The first feature-length motion picture with synchronized dialogue sequences, its release heralded the commercial ascendance of the "talkies" and the decline of the silent film era. Produced by Warner Bros. with its Vitaphone sound-on-disc system,...
.
"I Love to Singa" was first a song written by Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen was an American composer of popular music, having written over 500 songs, a number of which have become known the world over. In addition to composing the songs for The Wizard of Oz, including the classic 1938 song, "Over the Rainbow,” Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the...
and E.Y. Harburg for the 1936
1936 in film
The year 1936 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 29 - Fritz Lang's first Hollywood film Fury, starring Spencer Tracy and Bruce Cabot, is released.*November 6 - first Porky Pig animated cartoon...
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
feature-length film The Singing Kid. It is performed three times in the film: first by Jolson and Cab Calloway
Cab Calloway
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
, then by the Yacht Club Boys and Jolson, and finally again by Calloway and Jolson. During this period, it was customary for Warners to have their animation production partner, Leon Schlesinger Productions
Warner Bros. Cartoons
Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. was the in-house division of Warner Bros. Pictures during the Golden Age of American animation. One of the most successful animation studios in American media history, Warner Bros. Cartoons was primarily responsible for the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies theatrical...
, make Merrie Melodies cartoons based upon songs from their features.
The cartoon has, in recent years, taken on something of a cult following, with a pervasive impact on popular culture. The short, one of the earliest Merrie Melodies produced in Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
's 3-strip process, is recognized as one of Avery's early masterpieces.
Plot
I Love to Singa depicts the story of a young owlOwl
Owls are a group of birds that belong to the order Strigiformes, constituting 200 bird of prey species. Most are solitary and nocturnal, with some exceptions . Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish...
et who wants to sing jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, instead of the classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
that his German parents wish him to perform. The plot is a light-hearted tribute to Al Jolson
Al Jolson
Al Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....
's film The Jazz Singer
The Jazz Singer (1927 film)
The Jazz Singer is a 1927 American musical film. The first feature-length motion picture with synchronized dialogue sequences, its release heralded the commercial ascendance of the "talkies" and the decline of the silent film era. Produced by Warner Bros. with its Vitaphone sound-on-disc system,...
.
The young owl, voiced by Tommy Bond
Tommy Bond
Thomas Ross "Tommy" Bond was an American actor. A native of Dallas, Texas, Bond was best known for his work as a child actor for two different nonconsecutive periods on Our Gang comedies, and also for being the first actor to portray the role of "Superman's pal" Jimmy Olsen on screen.-Early years...
, best known as "Butch" of the Our Gang (Little Rascals)
Our Gang
Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...
films, is unjustly kicked out of his family's house by his disciplinarian violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist father (voiced by Bert Lahr
Bert Lahr
Bert Lahr was an American actor and comedian. Lahr is remembered today for his roles as the Cowardly Lion and Kansas farmworker Zeke in The Wizard of Oz, but was also well-known for work in burlesque, vaudeville, and on Broadway.-Early life:Lahr was born in New York City, of German-Jewish heritage...
first, replaced by Billy Bletcher
Billy Bletcher
William "Billy" Bletcher was an American actor, comedian, and voice artist, a native of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.-Career:...
) after he is caught singing jazz instead of "Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes
Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes
"Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes" is a popular English song, set to the lyrics of Ben Jonson's 1616 poem "Song. To Celia." John Addington Symonds demonstrated in The Academy 16 that almost every line has its counterpart in the Epistles of Philostratus, notably Epistle xxx...
" to the reed (pump) organ accompaniment of his mother (voiced by Martha Wentworth
Martha Wentworth
Martha Wentworth was an American actress.Originally a radio actress, she became a film actress in the 1940s, starring in several Red Ryder Western films...
). While wandering, he comes across a radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
amateur
Amateur
An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training....
contest
Competition
Competition is a contest between individuals, groups, animals, etc. for territory, a niche, or a location of resources. It arises whenever two and only two strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which co-exist in the same environment. For...
, hosted by "Jack Bunny" (a pun on Jack Benny
Jack Benny
Jack Benny was an American comedian, vaudevillian, and actor for radio, television, and film...
), and billing himself as "Owl Jolson" (a reference on Al Jolson
Al Jolson
Al Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....
), wins the contest, but not before his father has finally seen his son's potential and allows him to freely sing jazz.
Musical selections
- The first owlet hatched sang the opening bars of "Chi mi frena in tal momento" from the opera Lucia di LammermoorLucia di LammermoorLucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor....
. (Papa Fritz compared him to the great opera singer Enrico Caruso.) - The second owlet to hatch played the beginning of "Träumerei" by Robert SchumannRobert SchumannRobert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
on the violin. (Papa Fritz compared him to the famous violinist Fritz KreislerFritz KreislerFriedrich "Fritz" Kreisler was an Austrian-born violinist and composer. One of the most famous violin masters of his or any other day, he was known for his sweet tone and expressive phrasing. Like many great violinists of his generation, he produced a characteristic sound which was immediately...
.) - The third owlet, a flautistFlautistA flautist or flutist is a musician who plays an instrument in the flute family. See List of flautists.The choice of "flautist" versus "flutist" is the source of dispute among players of the instrument...
, played the first notes of "Spring Song" by Felix MendelssohnFelix MendelssohnJakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
from his work Songs without WordsSongs without WordsSongs Without Words is a series of short, lyrical piano pieces by the Romantic composer Felix Mendelssohn.-Composition and reception:...
. - The first reject in the contest played a few bars of "Listen to the Mocking Bird" on the harmonica.
- The blackbird in the blue jacket played a few bars of "Nola", composed by Felix ArndtFelix ArndtFelix Arndt was an American pianist and composer of popular music. His mother was the Countess Fevrier, related to Napoleon III....
, on the saxophone. - The bird with the accordion briefly played "Turkey in the StrawTurkey in the Straw"Turkey in the Straw" is a well-known American folk song dating from the early 19th century.The song's tune was first popularized in the late 1820s and early 1830s by blackface performers, notably George Washington Dixon, Bob Farrell and George Nichols. Another song, "Zip Coon", was sung to the...
". - The dark, operatic bird sang a line from the silent film Laugh, Clown, LaughLaugh, Clown, LaughLaugh, Clown, Laugh is a 1928 silent film starring Lon Chaney and Loretta Young. The movie was directed by Herbert Brenon and produced and released through MGM Studios.-Cast:*Lon Chaney - Tito/Flick*Loretta Young - Simonetta...
(even though the lyrics to the theme song don't have those actual words). - The overweight bird got only a few notes of "I'm Forever Blowing BubblesI'm Forever Blowing Bubbles"I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" is a popular song which debuted in 1918 and was first published in 1919.-Creation:The music was written by John Kellette. The lyrics are credited to "Jaan Kenbrovin", actually a collective pseudonym for the writers James Kendis, James Brockman and Nat Vincent...
" sung before being rejected. - The country bumpkin bird stuttered through the first and almost all of the second verse of the nursery rhyme Simple SimonSimple Simon (nursery rhyme)"Simple Simon" is a popular English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19777.-Lyrics:The rhyme is as follows;*Simple Simon was played by Charley Rogers in Babes in Toyland ....
before rejecting himself.
Cultural influence
The I Love to Singa cartoon has taken on something of a cult followingCult Classic
Cult Classic is a Blue Öyster Cult studio recording released in 1994, containing remakes of many of the band's previous hits.-Track listing:# " The Reaper" - 5:05# "E.T.I...
in recent years. In the "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe
Cartman Gets an Anal Probe
"Cartman Gets an Anal Probe" is the first episode of the animated television series South Park. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on August 13, 1997...
" episode of the cartoon South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
, characters Eric Cartman
Eric Cartman
Eric Theodore Cartman is a fictional character in the American animated television series South Park. One of four main characters, along with Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Kenny McCormick, he is generally referred to within the series by his last name...
and Officer Barbrady lapse into Owl Jolson's odd song-and-dance routine whenever they get hit with an alien beam. In Warners' 2003 film Looney Tunes: Back in Action
Looney Tunes: Back in Action
Looney Tunes: Back in Action is a 2003 American live action/animated adventure comedy film directed by Joe Dante and starring Brendan Fraser, Jenna Elfman, Timothy Dalton, and Steve Martin. The film is essentially a feature-length Looney Tunes cartoon, with all the wackiness and surrealism typical...
, Owl Jolson's dance sequence from I Love to Singa repeatedly appears on the video screen of the ACME Corp. Chairman (played by Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
), since he cannot properly operate his remote control
Remote control
A remote control is a component of an electronics device, most commonly a television set, used for operating the television device wirelessly from a short line-of-sight distance.The remote control is usually contracted to remote...
. He also shows up in the Looney Tunes: Back in Action game, in the France, Las Vegas, and Africa levels. He can be turned on and shut off by being hit by either character. When approached, Bugs and Daffy will make comments.
I Love to Singa was reissued with "Blue Ribbon" series version of the credits in the mid 1940s, and later restored with original titles for DVD release. This version was included in the Looney Tunes Golden Collection
Looney Tunes Golden Collection
The Looney Tunes Golden Collection was an annual series of six four-disc DVD box sets from Warner Bros.' home video unit Warner Home Video, each containing about 60 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies animated shorts...
Vol. 2 DVD box set, released in 2004. It is also included as a special feature on the Warner Bros. DVD releases of the 1927
1927 in film
-Events:*January 10 - Fritz Lang's science-fiction fantasy Metropolis premieres in Germany.*April 7 - Abel Gance's Napoleon often considered his best known and greatest masterpiece, premiers at the Paris Opéra and would demonstrate techniques and equipment that would not be used for years to...
Al Jolson
Al Jolson
Al Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....
film The Jazz Singer
The Jazz Singer (1927 film)
The Jazz Singer is a 1927 American musical film. The first feature-length motion picture with synchronized dialogue sequences, its release heralded the commercial ascendance of the "talkies" and the decline of the silent film era. Produced by Warner Bros. with its Vitaphone sound-on-disc system,...
and the 2006 CGI animated film Happy Feet
Happy Feet
Happy Feet is a 2006 American-Australian computer-animated family film with music, directed and co-written by George Miller. It was produced at Sydney-based visual effects and animation studio Animal Logic for Warner Bros., Village Roadshow Pictures and Kingdom Feature Productions and was released...
. Owl Jolson also appears in Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
's newest series The Looney Tunes Show
The Looney Tunes Show
The Looney Tunes Show is a packaged show, created for Cartoon Network, and broadcast from 2002 to 2005. It was produced by Warner Bros. Animation. The show featured cartoon shorts from the original Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies theatrical cartoon series produced from 1930 to 1969.-External links:...
.
Television airings
This was one of many WB cartoons released prior to August 1, 1948 that was sold to Associated Artists ProductionsAssociated Artists Productions
Associated Artists Productions was a distributor of theatrical feature films and short subjects for television. It existed from 1953 to 1958. It was later folded into United Artists. The former a.a.p. library was later owned by MGM/UA Entertainment and then Turner Entertainment. Turner continues...
(a.a.p.) in 1956. That company's library would change hands several times over the years, ending up with Turner Entertainment
Turner Entertainment
Turner Entertainment Company, Inc. is an American media company founded by Ted Turner. Now owned by Time Warner, the company is largely responsible for overseeing its library for worldwide distribution Turner Entertainment Company, Inc. (commonly known as Turner Entertainment Co.) is an American...
in 1986, and years later became a staple of Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (United States)
Cartoon Network is an American cable television network owned by Turner Broadcasting which primarily airs animated programming. The channel was launched on October 1, 1992 after Turner purchased the animation studio Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1991...
's programming. This cartoon (among a select few such as Nasty Quacks
Nasty Quacks
Nasty Quacks is a 1945 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series. It was the final Daffy Duck cartoon directed by Frank Tashlin, who is not credited as he had already left the studio for the second time...
) continued to show the a.a.p. logo into the 2000s (Nasty Quacks still carries it), even as other cartoons in the a.a.p. package were remastered as "dubbed versions" without the a.a.p. logo (although a "dubbed version" of this cartoon was also made, and has aired a few times). This and Nasty Quacks are among the few Turner-owned WB cartoons to air on Cartoon Network as both a.a.p. and "dubbed" versions in this decade. On CN's 2009 New Year's Day Looney Tunes marathon, I Love to Singa aired as a "dubbed version", while Nasty Quacks aired as an a.a.p. version (as did another Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, often running the gamut between being the best friend and sometimes arch-rival of Bugs Bunny...
outing, Daffy Duck in Hollywood
Daffy Duck in Hollywood
Daffy Duck in Hollywood is a Merrie Melodies 1938 animated short starring Daffy Duck. This was the final Daffy Duck cartoon directed by Tex Avery.-Plot:...
).
Edited version
When this cartoon aired on TNTTurner Network Television
Turner Network Television is an American cable television channel created by media mogul Ted Turner and currently owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner...
's short-lived children's program, The Rudy and Go-Go Show, the part where Owl Jolson is forced to sing "Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes
Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes
"Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes" is a popular English song, set to the lyrics of Ben Jonson's 1616 poem "Song. To Celia." John Addington Symonds demonstrated in The Academy 16 that almost every line has its counterpart in the Epistles of Philostratus, notably Epistle xxx...
" and some scenes of the auditions for Jack Bunny's radio show were cut for time constraints.
Availability
- I Love to Singa is available, with the original 1936 opening and end cards restored, on Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2 is a DVD box set that was released by Warner Home Video on November 2, 2004. It contains 60 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons and numerous supplements.-Related releases:...
, Disc 4.