"Tubby the Tuba" is the title of a 1945 song with lyrics written by

Paul Tripp Paul Tripp (February 20, 1911 – August 29, 2002) was an American children's musician, author, songwriter, and television and film actor. He collaborated with a fellow composer, George Kleinsinger. Tripp was the creator of the 1945 " Tubby ...

and music composed by

George Kleinsinger George Kleinsinger (February 13, 1914, San Bernardino, California – July 28, 1982, New York City, New York) was an American composer. His works include his collaboration with Paul Tripp on the 1940s children's classical-music piece " Tubby the Tu ...

. The original 1946 recording featured

Victor Jory Victor Jory (November 23, 1902 – February 12, 1982) was a Canadian-American actor of stage, film, and television. He initially played romantic leads, but later was mostly cast in villainous or sinister roles, such as Oberon in ''A Midsummer N ...

's narration. A second recording, released on the

Decca label Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American Decca's president. ...

in 1947, was spoken and sung by

Danny Kaye Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky; yi, דוד־דניאל קאַמינסקי; January 18, 1911 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, singer and dancer. His performances featured physical comedy, idiosyncratic pantomimes, and ...

and later featured on his ''Hans Christian Andersen'' album, along with the sequel, ''Tubby the Tuba at the Circus''.

History

The song traces its origins back to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, following the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...

. After Tripp and Kleinsinger performed their first musical piece, the

tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

player quipped: "You know, tubas can sing, too". With this in mind, Tripp wrote the tale of a tuba who found a melody to play, and the pair then made a song out of it.History of "Tubby the Tuba"
at official site. Retrieved April 9, 2007. It was not until the war ended that they finally had a hit with "Tubby". The sales success of the tune prompted

George Pal George Pal (born György Pál Marczincsak; ; February 1, 1908 – May 2, 1980) was a Hungarian-American animator, film director and producer, principally associated with the fantasy and science-fiction genres. He became an American citizen after ...

to make a 1947

Puppetoon Puppetoons is a series of animated puppet films made in Europe (1930s) and in the United States (1940s) by George Pal. They were made using replacement animation: using a series of different hand-carved wooden puppets (or puppet heads or limbs) f ...

based on it, which was nominated for a Best Animated Short Oscar. It was followed by a 1975 animated feature, which was the first of its kind to take advantage of computer technology. There have been spinoffs involving two other characters from the song, Peepo the Piccolo and Celeste.

The Manhattan Transfer The Manhattan Transfer is a Grammy award–winning vocal group founded in 1969 that has explored a cappella, vocalese, swing, standards, Brazilian jazz, rhythm and blues, and pop music. There have been two editions of the Manhattan Transfer, ...

recorded an album featuring the character, their only one for children, in 1995; it contained the three sequel songs called "The Further Adventures of Tubby the Tuba", "Tubby the Tuba Joins the Circus", and "Tubby the Tuba Meets a Jazz Band". Other versions of "Tubby the Tuba" include a 1958 version narrated by

José Ferrer José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón (January 8, 1912 – January 26, 1992) was a Puerto Rican actor and director of stage, film and television. He was one of the most celebrated and esteemed Hispanic American actors during his lifetime, w ...

that was nominated for the

Best Recording For Children The Grammy Award for Best Children's Album (from 2020: Grammy Award for Best Children's Music Album) is an honor presented since 2012 at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honor ...

at the

1st Annual Grammy Awards The 1st Annual Grammy Awards were held on May 4, 1959. They recognized musical accomplishments by performers for the year 1959. Two separate ceremonies were held simultaneously on the same day; the first hotel in Beverly Hills, California, and the ...

; a version featuring Mouseketeer Annette Funicello as the narrator; a version featuring

Julia Child Julia Carolyn Child (née McWilliams; August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American cooking teacher, author, and television personality. She is recognized for bringing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, '' ...

with changes in the story, under the direction of

Arthur Fiedler Arthur Fiedler (December 17, 1894 – July 10, 1979) was an American conductor known for his association with both the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops orchestras. With a combination of musicianship and showmanship, he made the Boston Pops one o ...

and the Boston Pops Orchestra in 1971; and the 1996 release on Angel/EMI Records called ''Tubby the Tuba and Friends''. The orchestral tracks "Tubby the Tuba", "The Story of Celeste", "Adventures of a Zoo", and "Peepo the Piccolo", were recorded by the Radio Orchestra of Bratislava under the baton of Stephen Gunzenhauser. A final track, "Tubby the Tuba Meets a Jazz Band", was recorded in New York City with Bob Stewart on tuba, Jimmy Owens on trumpet, Paquito D'Rivera on clarinet,

Marco Katz Marco may refer to: People * Marco (given name), people with the given name Marco * Marco (actor) (born 1977), South Korean model and actor * Georg Marco (1863–1923), Romanian chess player of German origin * Tomás Marco (born 1942), Spanish c ...

on trombone,

Chuck Folds Chuck Folds is a musician living in North Carolina. He is the younger brother of the piano playing pop/rock star Ben Folds. Chuck has played bass in a number of bands since the late 1980s, including Bus Stop with Evan Olson, Britt " Snuzz" Uzzell, a ...

on piano, John Thomas on percussion, and Oliver Jackson on drums.

is the narrator on this recording. 6] Several of the same instrumental tracks appear on a 2006 release called ''Play it Happy'' on Koch Records that features

Meredith Vieira Meredith Louise Vieira (born December 30, 1953) is an American broadcast journalist and television personality. She is best known as the original moderator of the daytime talk show '' The View'' (1997–2006), the original host of the syndicated ...

on "Tubby the Tuba" and "Tubby the Tuba Meets a Jazz Band" and Paul Tripp on "The Story of Celeste". "Tubby the Tuba" has been translated into over 30 languages, and has been narrated by ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...

'' host

. Tripp's original story was printed by

E. P. Dutton E. P. Dutton was an American Publishing, book publishing company. It was founded as a book retailer in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1852 by Edward Payson Dutton. Since 1986, it has been an imprint of Penguin Group. Creator Edward Payson Dutton ( ...

in 2006, in commemoration of its 60th anniversary (). The original 1946 recording was added to the

National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservati ...

in 2005.

References

Sources

* Beck, Jerry (2005). ''The Animated Movie Guide''. . Chicago Reader Press. Accessed April 9, 2007.

External links

Official site
* * *

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

br>story
on Tubby's legacy
Tubby the Tuba
''Tubby the Tuba'' (1947) on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

Tubby the Tuba
''Tubby the Tuba'' on YouTube {{Authority control 1945 songs American children's songs Compositions with a narrator Compositions for symphony orchestra Songs about fictional male characters United States National Recording Registry recordings