Tubby the Tuba (1947 film)
Encyclopedia
Tubby the Tuba is a 1947 American animated short film from Paramount Pictures
, directed by George Pal
as part of his Puppetoon series
. It was based on the original song
by Paul Tripp
and George Kleinsinger
. The film features narration by Victor Jory
.
The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Short
. A feature-length version
was released in 1975 by AVCO Embassy
. The 1987 compilation feature, The Puppetoon Movie
, featured the original short in its entirety.
featuring, among other instruments, a piccolo
, a flute
, an oboe
, a clarinet
, a bassoon
, a trumpet
, a French horn
, a trombone
, a tuba
(Tubby), a violin
, a cello
, a double bass
, a xylophone
, cymbals
, timpani
, and a piano
. Tubby, the orchestra's tuba, comments after a rehearsal's warmup that he is tired of playing only the bass line. This draws ridicule from the other instruments, and Tubby runs off crying to a nearby creek. A frog who lives there consoles Tubby; both are treated poorly, as neither is thought to be capable or worthy of a solo. The frog teaches Tubby a melody and the two part ways.
The next day, at the warmup, Tubby begins playing his newly-learned melody. The orchestral instruments are shocked, but are encouraged to let the tuba have his solo by their conductor. With the frog's help, Tubby gets to play his solo.
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
, directed by George Pal
George Pál
George Pal , born György Pál Marczincsak, was a Hungarian-born American animator and film producer, principally associated with the science fiction genre...
as part of his Puppetoon series
Puppetoons
George Pal's Puppetoons were a series of animated puppet films made in Europe in the 1930s and in the U.S. in the 1940s. They are memorable for their use of "replacement" animation: using a series of different hand-carved wooden puppets for each frame in which the puppet moves or changes...
. It was based on the original song
Tubby the Tuba (song)
"Tubby the Tuba" is the title of a 1945 song, whose lyrics were written by Paul Tripp and music composed by George Kleinsinger. The original recording, released on the Decca label, was sung by Danny Kaye....
by Paul Tripp
Paul Tripp
Paul Tripp was a musician, author and television and film actor born in New York City. He was a partner of fellow composer George Kleinsinger. Tripp was the creator of 1945's "Tubby the Tuba", a children's song that has become his best-known work. Early in his career, he was the host of CBS' Mr....
and George Kleinsinger
George Kleinsinger
George Kleinsinger was an American composer from San Bernardino, California, best known for his collaboration with Paul Tripp on the 1940s children's song "Tubby the Tuba". He also wrote the music for the phonograph record Archy & Mehitabal and the Broadway musical based on the record, Shinbone...
. The film features narration by Victor Jory
Victor Jory
Victor Jory was a Canadian actor.-Biography:Born in Dawson City, Yukon, Jory was the boxing and wrestling champion of the Coast Guard during his military service, and he kept his burly physique. He toured with theater troupes and appeared on Broadway, before making his Hollywood debut in 1930...
.
The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Short
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....
. A feature-length version
Tubby the Tuba (1975 film)
Tubby the Tuba is a 1975 animated feature film, based on the 1945 children's story for concert orchestra and narrator of the same name by Paul Tripp and George Kleinsinger...
was released in 1975 by AVCO Embassy
Embassy Pictures
Embassy Pictures Corporation was an independent studio and distributor responsible for such films as The Graduate, The Lion in Winter, This Is Spinal Tap and Escape from New York.-Founding:The company was founded in 1942 by producer Joseph E...
. The 1987 compilation feature, The Puppetoon Movie
The Puppetoon Movie
The Puppetoon Movie, released in June 1987, is an animated film that pays tribute to the Oscar-winning Puppetoons of George Pal. Written, produced, and directed by Arnold Leibovit and Arnold Leibovit Entertainment, The Puppetoon Movie is composed of animated sequences featuring George Pal's Academy...
, featured the original short in its entirety.
Plot
This story takes place in an orchestraOrchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
featuring, among other instruments, a piccolo
Piccolo
The piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
, a flute
Western concert flute
The Western concert flute is a transverse woodwind instrument made of metal or wood. It is the most common variant of the flute. A musician who plays the flute is called a flautist, flutist, or flute player....
, an oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
, a clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
, a bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
, a trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, a French 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 ....
, a trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
, a tuba
Tuba
The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
(Tubby), a violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, a cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
, a double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
, a xylophone
Xylophone
The xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets...
, cymbals
Clash cymbals
Clash cymbals or hand cymbals are cymbals played in identical pairs by holding one cymbal in each hand and striking the two together.-Terminology:The technical term clash cymbal is rarely used...
, timpani
Timpani
Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
, and a piano
Celesta
The celesta or celeste is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. Its appearance is similar to that of an upright piano or of a large wooden music box . The keys are connected to hammers which strike a graduated set of metal plates suspended over wooden resonators...
. Tubby, the orchestra's tuba, comments after a rehearsal's warmup that he is tired of playing only the bass line. This draws ridicule from the other instruments, and Tubby runs off crying to a nearby creek. A frog who lives there consoles Tubby; both are treated poorly, as neither is thought to be capable or worthy of a solo. The frog teaches Tubby a melody and the two part ways.
The next day, at the warmup, Tubby begins playing his newly-learned melody. The orchestral instruments are shocked, but are encouraged to let the tuba have his solo by their conductor. With the frog's help, Tubby gets to play his solo.