Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom
Encyclopedia
Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom is an educational Adventures in Music animated
short film produced by Walt Disney Productions, and originally released to theaters by Buena Vista Distribution
on November 10, 1953. A sequel to the first Adventures in Music cartoon, the 3-D
short Melody
, Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom is a stylized presentation of the evolution of four musical instruments over the ages: the horn
("toot"), the flute
("whistle"), the guitar
("plunk"), and the drum
("boom").
The first animated cartoon to be filmed and released in widescreen
CinemaScope
, Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom won the 1954 Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons)
. In 1994, it was voted #29 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field.
A brief musical section introduces us to "the subject for today": the study of musical instruments. The owl explains to the class (and the viewer) that all music originates from four core sounds: toot (brass), whistle (woodwind), plunk (strings) and boom (percussion).
We return to the owl, who explains that making a trumpet longer made its tone lower. We then visit a Roman trumpeter who crashes into a column and bends his horn into a grotesque shape... however, he soon discovers that despite this change in form, the trumpet does not sound any different: it is possible to change the horn's shape without changing the pitch.
However, as the owl explains, this horn can only produce certain notes; in order to get all of the notes required for even a simple tune, you would need four horns of different lengths. But if we create a horn with valves, we can effectively have four horns in one, and this fact is celebrated with another jazz solo.
The owl explains that this system of holes is the basis for every woodwind instrument, including the clarinet and the saxophone.
The owl mentions that you can either pluck the harp, or play it with a bow. We then briefly visit several periods in history, where we see several string instruments being played in similar fashion, and finish with a string quartet.
. The short is available on two Disney DVD sets: it is a bonus feature on the Fantasia 2000
DVD, and is one of the selected shorts included in the Walt Disney Treasures
set Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts, 1920s–1960s.
In 1962, Disney issued a re-recorded and expanded version of the short's music and voices on Vinyl LP entitled "A Child's Introduction to Melody and the Instruments of the Orchestra." Thurl Ravenscroft
, later famous as the bass-voiced singer of "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch", in How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
, provided the voice of the owl on the album.
While the film was originally released into theatres as a part of a broader collection of shorts, it continues to be used today in music classrooms to provide an elementary understanding of how musical instruments work.
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...
short film produced by Walt Disney Productions, and originally released to theaters by Buena Vista Distribution
Buena Vista Distribution
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is a motion picture and television feature distribution company owned by Disney Enterprises, Inc. Buena Vista International was the international distribution arm, Buena Vista Home Entertainment was the firm's video and DVD distribution arm, and Buena Vista...
on November 10, 1953. A sequel to the first Adventures in Music cartoon, the 3-D
3-D film
A 3-D film or S3D film is a motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception...
short Melody
Melody (1953 film)
Melody is a 1953 Walt Disney short cartoon film, originally released on May 28, 1953. It was the very first cartoon to be filmed in 3-D.-Synopsis:In this cartoon, Professor Owl teaches his class about melody and its importance to the world of music....
, Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom is a stylized presentation of the evolution of four musical instruments over the ages: the horn
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
("toot"), the flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
("whistle"), the guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
("plunk"), and the drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
("boom").
The first animated cartoon to be filmed and released in widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
CinemaScope
CinemaScope
CinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...
, Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom won the 1954 Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons)
Academy Award for Animated Short Film
The Academy Award for Animated Short Film is an award which has been given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as part of the Academy Awards every year since the 5th Academy Awards, covering the year 1931-32, to the present....
. In 1994, it was voted #29 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field.
Synopsis
The credits roll over a stylised music shop. The names of cast and crew and title of the feature are superimposed over the various instruments and instrument cases. The scene then cuts to an owl, who rushes to a schoolhouse full of bird children as a drumroll is played on a snare.A brief musical section introduces us to "the subject for today": the study of musical instruments. The owl explains to the class (and the viewer) that all music originates from four core sounds: toot (brass), whistle (woodwind), plunk (strings) and boom (percussion).
Toot
The film then jumps to a group of cavemen, each of whom have discovered the nuclear form of one of the above sounds. We begin with a portly caveman who has discovered that blowing through a cow's horn produces a pleasing "toot". We advance to ancient Egypt in 2000 BC, where the caveman discovers that metal horns produce even better sounds. He celebrates by breaking into a two-note jazz solo as Egyptian characters painted on the walls boogie down.We return to the owl, who explains that making a trumpet longer made its tone lower. We then visit a Roman trumpeter who crashes into a column and bends his horn into a grotesque shape... however, he soon discovers that despite this change in form, the trumpet does not sound any different: it is possible to change the horn's shape without changing the pitch.
However, as the owl explains, this horn can only produce certain notes; in order to get all of the notes required for even a simple tune, you would need four horns of different lengths. But if we create a horn with valves, we can effectively have four horns in one, and this fact is celebrated with another jazz solo.
Whistle
We return to the cavemen, where the next one is trying to impress his "cavegirl" by blowing on a blade of grass; he further discovers that adding holes to the tube allows him to modify the sound in interesting ways. The cavegirl is impressed, but then a rival caveman appears, bonks the cavegirl on the head with his club, and drags her off by the hair.The owl explains that this system of holes is the basis for every woodwind instrument, including the clarinet and the saxophone.
Plunk
The next caveman has discovered that plucking on his bow produces a pleasant sound. An offscreen choir explains (as the animation shows) how to create a simple harp by adding a resonator, some extra strings and tuning pegs, and rearranging it all.The owl mentions that you can either pluck the harp, or play it with a bow. We then briefly visit several periods in history, where we see several string instruments being played in similar fashion, and finish with a string quartet.
Boom
The final caveman beats on his chest to produce a "boom", and hits other parts of his body for other sounds. The owl escorts us through history and explains how a variety of percussion instruments emerged from this basic theory, ranging from rattles to complex drum kits and even the bass drums of marching bands.Conclusion
The chorus recaps that all music, from the banjo to Latin percussion to "music oriental" to a grand symphony, emerges from the four nuclear sounds.Re-releases and educational use
Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom was reissued in 1963 as a companion short to that year's theatrical re-release of FantasiaFantasia (film)
Fantasia is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released by Walt Disney Productions. The third feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski, seven of which are...
. The short is available on two Disney DVD sets: it is a bonus feature on the Fantasia 2000
Fantasia 2000
Fantasia 2000 is a 1999 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was the 38th feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and a sequel to 1940's Fantasia...
DVD, and is one of the selected shorts included in the Walt Disney Treasures
Walt Disney Treasures
The Walt Disney Treasures is a two-disc DVD set of classic Disney works. They cover work from the studio's earliest days to their more recent work...
set Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts, 1920s–1960s.
Walt Disney Treasures: Wave Five
-The Chronological Donald, Volume Two:This set covers the second leg of Donald Duck's long career, starting from 1942 to 1946, covering World War II in the process. The Japanese, French and German releases of this set only contains 29 of the 32 shorts available on the American release. The shorts...
In 1962, Disney issued a re-recorded and expanded version of the short's music and voices on Vinyl LP entitled "A Child's Introduction to Melody and the Instruments of the Orchestra." Thurl Ravenscroft
Thurl Ravenscroft
Thurl Arthur Ravenscroft was an American voice actor and singer best known as the deep voice behind Tony the Tiger's "They're grrreat!" in Frosted Flakes television commercials for more than five decades. Ravenscroft was also known, however uncredited, as the vocalist for the song "You're a Mean...
, later famous as the bass-voiced singer of "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch", in How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (TV special)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is a 1966 American animated television special directed by Chuck Jones. It is based on the homonymous children's book by Dr. Seuss, the story of The Grinch trying to take away Christmas from the townsfolk of Whoville below his mountain hideaway...
, provided the voice of the owl on the album.
While the film was originally released into theatres as a part of a broader collection of shorts, it continues to be used today in music classrooms to provide an elementary understanding of how musical instruments work.