The Rhythmettes were a singing trio who provided the vocals on several 1930s and 1940s
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
films, including
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
''
Silly Symphony
''Silly Symphony'' is an American animated series of 75 musical short films produced by Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1939. As the series name implies, the ''Silly Symphonies'' were originally intended as whimsical accompaniments to pieces ...
'' shorts and '' The Wizard of Oz'' (1939).
The original members were
Dorothy Compton
Dorothy Compton was an American voice actress born in the early 1900s. An early friend of Walt Disney, she made her first acting debut in ''The Three Little Pigs'' (1933) as the voice of Fifer Pig. From 1933 onward she made more appearances in th ...
and
Mary Moder
Mary Moder (1905 – 1993) was an American voice actress for The Walt Disney Company known for the voice of the Fiddler Pig in the ''Three Little Pigs'' short subjects. She was a member of the vocal trio the Rhythmettes, which also included Bonni ...
with Anna Lou Barnes and Betty Bruce performing as the third member in the early- to mid -1930s. Bruce wrote the musical arrangements for the group.
By 1933, the trio was with
Al Pearce
Albert Pearce (July 25, 1898 – June 2, 1961) was an American comedian, singer and List of banjo players, banjo player who was a popular personality on several radio networks from 1928 to 1947.
Biography
After selling insurance door-to-door ...
's radio show, ''The Happy Go Lucky Hour'', on radio station KHJ in Los Angeles. They performed on stage with the rest of Pearce's group in the United States and Canada.
Compton, Moder, and one other member were heard in Disney's ''Silly Symphony'' shorts, including ''
Old King Cole
"Old King Cole" is a British nursery rhyme first attested in 1708. Though there is much speculation about the identity of King Cole, it is unlikely that he can be identified reliably as any historical figure. It has a Roud Folk Song Index numbe ...
Funny Little Bunnies
''Funny Little Bunnies'' is a ''Silly Symphonies'' animated Disney short film. It was released in 1934.
Plot
The short is set in the enchanted dell of the titular Easter bunnies, which according to the storybooks, can be visited by those who bel ...
'' (1934). Various members of the Rhythmettes would appear in other shorts, including '' Birds of a Feather'' (1931), ''
Three Little Pigs
"The Three Little Pigs" is a fable about three pigs who build three houses of different materials. A Big Bad Wolf blows down the first two pigs' houses which made of straw and sticks respectively, but is unable to destroy the third pig's house ...
'' (1933), and ''
The Practical Pig
''The Practical Pig'' is a ''Silly Symphony'' cartoon. It was released on February 24, 1939, and directed by Dick Rickard. It was the fourth and final cartoon starring The Three Pigs. In addition to singing, individual members performed voicework for characters in several ''Silly Symphony'' shorts.
Dorothy Compton
Dorothy Compton was an American voice actress born in the early 1900s. An early friend of Walt Disney, she made her first acting debut in ''The Three Little Pigs'' (1933) as the voice of Fifer Pig. From 1933 onward she made more appearances in th ...
voiced of Fiddler Pig and Mary Moder voiced Fifer Pig in ''Three Little Pigs'' (1933). A 1934 article in '' Hearst's International-Cosmopolitan'' reported that the trio "do not broadcast that they are the Three Little Pigs because they want more work at the Disney art shop".
Compton left the trio in 1934. In ''The Practical Pig'' (1939), Moder reprised her role as Fifer Pig and Bruce took over Compton's role of Fiddler Pig.
The trio were heard on several songs in ''The Wizard of Oz'', including "Munchkinland" (the vocals after Dorothy arrives in the Munchkin village), a reprise of Dorothy's " Over the Rainbow", and "Optimistic Voices", which plays as Dorothy and her friends escape the field of poppies and approach the Emerald City.
Selected filmography
* ''
Three Little Pigs
"The Three Little Pigs" is a fable about three pigs who build three houses of different materials. A Big Bad Wolf blows down the first two pigs' houses which made of straw and sticks respectively, but is unable to destroy the third pig's house ...
'' (1933)
* '' Birds of a Feather'' (1931) as hummingbirds and Brox Sister owls
* ''
Old King Cole
"Old King Cole" is a British nursery rhyme first attested in 1708. Though there is much speculation about the identity of King Cole, it is unlikely that he can be identified reliably as any historical figure. It has a Roud Folk Song Index numbe ...
Funny Little Bunnies
''Funny Little Bunnies'' is a ''Silly Symphonies'' animated Disney short film. It was released in 1934.
Plot
The short is set in the enchanted dell of the titular Easter bunnies, which according to the storybooks, can be visited by those who bel ...
'' (1934)
* ''
The Practical Pig
''The Practical Pig'' is a ''Silly Symphony'' cartoon. It was released on February 24, 1939, and directed by Dick Rickard. It was the fourth and final cartoon starring The Three Pigs.The Wizard of Oz'' (1939)
Pinto Colvig
Vance DeBar Colvig Sr. (September 11, 1892 – October 3, 1967), professionally Pinto Colvig, was an American voice actor, newspaper cartoonist, and circus and vaudeville performer whose schtick was playing the clarinet off-key while mugging. Co ...