Little Toot
Encyclopedia
Little Toot is a children's story written and illustrated by Hardie Gramatky
in 1939. It tells the story of Little Toot, an anthropomorphic tugboat
child, who thought that work was a joke, and preferred to play around making figure 8
s, and other games, that irritate the other tugboats, who call him a "Sissy". He is rejected by the tugboat community and dejectedly drifts out to sea, where he accidentally discovers a shipwrecked liner and a chance to prove his worth.
The book (G. P. Putnam's Sons first children's book) has been continually in print for 71 years. In 2007, in honor of what would have been Hardie Gramatky's 100th birthday, Penguin Putnam publishers rescanned the original artwork, added nine original full-color sketches by the illustrator, and brought back detailed endpapers so the book has been restored to its first-edition colors and vibrancy. The correct International Standard Book Number is 9780399247132. Daniel Pinkwater and Scott Simon read and raved about the restored classic edition ("Hardie Gramatky never speaks down to children") on NPR's Weekend Edition in October 2007.
In the animated Disney version, Little Toot actually disgraces his father "Big Toot" with his childish antics, and is exiled from the harbor. There he learns that he must give up his foolishness and grow up in order to earn the respect of the other boats and of his father.
The story appeared in an animated segment of the Walt Disney Studios
film Melody Time
in 1948, with the story being sung by the Andrews Sisters with Vic Schoen
providing the background musical score. When Capitol Records produced a record with the Little Toot song, it was the first children's record to hit the 1,000,000 sales mark on Billboard, according to then-president Alan Livingston.
There was also another movie based on Little Toot released in 1992, called The New Adventures of Little Toot. It featured Sam Vincent
as the voice of the title character.
Hardie Gramatky
Bernhard August "Hardie" Gramatky, Jr. was an American painter, author, and illustrator. In a 2006 article in Watercolor Magazine, Andrew Wyeth named him as one of America's 20 greatest watercolorists...
in 1939. It tells the story of Little Toot, an anthropomorphic tugboat
Tugboat
A tugboat is a boat that maneuvers vessels by pushing or towing them. Tugs move vessels that either should not move themselves, such as ships in a crowded harbor or a narrow canal,or those that cannot move by themselves, such as barges, disabled ships, or oil platforms. Tugboats are powerful for...
child, who thought that work was a joke, and preferred to play around making figure 8
Lemniscate
In algebraic geometry, a lemniscate refers to any of several figure-eight or ∞ shaped curves. It may refer to:*The lemniscate of Bernoulli, often simply called the lemniscate, the locus of points whose product of distances from two foci equals the square of half the interfocal distance*The...
s, and other games, that irritate the other tugboats, who call him a "Sissy". He is rejected by the tugboat community and dejectedly drifts out to sea, where he accidentally discovers a shipwrecked liner and a chance to prove his worth.
The book (G. P. Putnam's Sons first children's book) has been continually in print for 71 years. In 2007, in honor of what would have been Hardie Gramatky's 100th birthday, Penguin Putnam publishers rescanned the original artwork, added nine original full-color sketches by the illustrator, and brought back detailed endpapers so the book has been restored to its first-edition colors and vibrancy. The correct International Standard Book Number is 9780399247132. Daniel Pinkwater and Scott Simon read and raved about the restored classic edition ("Hardie Gramatky never speaks down to children") on NPR's Weekend Edition in October 2007.
In the animated Disney version, Little Toot actually disgraces his father "Big Toot" with his childish antics, and is exiled from the harbor. There he learns that he must give up his foolishness and grow up in order to earn the respect of the other boats and of his father.
The story appeared in an animated segment of the Walt Disney Studios
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
film Melody Time
Melody Time
Melody Time is a 1948 animated feature produced by Walt Disney and released to theatres by RKO Radio Pictures on May 27, 1948. Made up of several sequences set to popular music and folk music, the film is, like Make Mine Music before it, the popular music version of Fantasia Melody Time is a 1948...
in 1948, with the story being sung by the Andrews Sisters with Vic Schoen
Vic Schoen
Victor "Vic" Schoen was an American bandleader, arranger, and composer whose career spanned from the 1930s until his death in 2000...
providing the background musical score. When Capitol Records produced a record with the Little Toot song, it was the first children's record to hit the 1,000,000 sales mark on Billboard, according to then-president Alan Livingston.
There was also another movie based on Little Toot released in 1992, called The New Adventures of Little Toot. It featured Sam Vincent
Sam Vincent
Sam Vincent may refer to:*Samuel Vincent, Canadian voice actor*Sam Vincent , American basketball player and former Charlotte Bobcats head coach...
as the voice of the title character.
External links
- Interview on Weekend Edition at NPRNPRNPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
- Little Toot restored classic edition info
- The New Adventures of Little Toot at IMDB