''A Car-Tune Portrait'' is a cartoon in the

Color Classics ''Color Classics'' are a series of animated short films produced by Fleischer Studios for Paramount Pictures from 1934 to 1941 as a competitor to Walt Disney's ''Silly Symphonies''. As the name implies, all of the shorts were made in color fo ...

series produced by Fleischer Studios. Released on June 26, 1937,Cartoon Research entry
/ref> the cartoon gives an imaginative take on Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2.

Plot

After the brief opening credits set to an

orchestrated Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

version of the Minuet in G by Ludwig van Beethoven, the cartoon introduces a lion who is dressed as a musical conductor and attempts to keep his orchestra of animal musicians in order as they half-play and half-fight their way through the piece. Memorable moments include a dachshund playing the

xylophone The xylophone (; ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Like the glockenspiel (which uses metal bars), the xylophone essentially consists of a set of tuned wooden keys arranged in ...

with his back legs while the rest of him sleeps, a group of monkeys using a flute as a pea-shooter to fire at their fellow musicians, and a horse trombonist who attempts to swat a fly with his

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

, but only succeeding in hitting the dog trumpeter in front of him. In keeping with the building frenzy of Liszt's rhapsody, the animals become more and more violent, playing pranks on each other and generally wreaking havoc, but the piece still goes on. The final scenes see the lion conductor getting smashed over the head with a giant bass drum, at which point he gives in, the music finishes, and the cartoon ends.

Similar cartoons

Other cartoons with similar plots include the Oscar-nominated shorts, ''

Rhapsody in Rivets ''Rhapsody in Rivets'' is a 1941 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on December 6, 1941. Plot At a busy urban construction site in a world of anthropomorphic animals, an appreciative crowd o ...

'' and ''The Magic Fluke''; an Oscar-winning short, ''

The Cat Concerto ''The Cat Concerto'' is a 1947 American one-reel animated cartoon and is the 29th ''Tom and Jerry'' short, released to theatres on April 26, 1947. It was produced by Fred Quimby and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, with musical sup ...

''; a '' Merrie Melodie'' short, ''

Rhapsody Rabbit ''Rhapsody Rabbit'' is a 1946 American animated comedy short film in the '' Merrie Melodies'' series, directed by Friz Freleng and featuring Bugs Bunny. The short was originally released to theaters by Warner Bros. Pictures on November 9, 1946. ...

'' with

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Warner Bros. Cartoons, Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring role ...

; a

Woody Woodpecker Woody Woodpecker is an animated character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Studio and distributed by Universal Studios between 1940 and 1972. Woody, an anthropomorphic woodpecker, was created in 1940 by ...

short, '' Convict Concerto'', with a story by Hugh Harman; and a '' Looney Tunes'' short, ''

Daffy's Rhapsody ''Daffy's Rhapsody'' is a 2012 3D computer-animated '' Looney Tunes'' short film featuring the characters Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd. Directed by Matthew O'Callaghan and written by Tom Sheppard, the film is an adaptation of the song of the sam ...

''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Car-Tune Portrait 1930s animated short films 1937 short films Color Classics cartoons Fleischer Studios short films 1930s American animated films 1937 animated films Paramount Pictures short films Short films directed by Dave Fleischer 1930s English-language films American animated short films Animated films about lions Films about classical music and musicians

Plot

Similar cartoons

See also

References

External links