| I Love to Singa | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Fred Avery |
| Produced by | Leon Schlesinger |
| Music by | Norman Spencer |
| Animation by | Charles Jones Virgil Ross |
| Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 8:14 |
| Language | English |
I Love to Singa is a 1936Warner Bros.Merrie Melodiesanimated cartoon directed byTex Avery.[1] The short was released on July 18, 1936.[2]
I Love to Singa depicts the story of an owlet (singing voice of Jackie Morrow, speaking voice ofTommy Bond) who wants to singjazz, instead of theclassical music that hisGerman-accented parents wish him to perform. The plot is a tribute toAl Jolson's 1927 filmThe Jazz Singer.[3]
The owlet's disciplinarianviolinist father, ProfessorFritz Owl (voiced byBilly Bletcher), kicks him out of the family's home after catching him singing jazz instead of "Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes" to the pump organ accompaniment of his mother (voiced byMartha Wentworth). While wandering, he encounters aradioamateurcontest (a takeoff of theMajor Bowes Amateur Hour), hosted by "Jack Bunny" (a pun onJack Benny and later used inGoofy Groceries, voiced byTedd Pierce). Billing himself as "Owl Jolson" (a reference toAl Jolson), he performs and his family, worried sick about him (including his father Fritz, who now regrets throwing his son out) hears him over the radio. They rush to the station.
Jack Bunny has decided Owl Jolson wins First Prize, but when the owlet sees his family watching him from outside the studio, he reverts to singing "Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes". Jack Bunny is about to revoke the prize, but the family bursts through the studio and stops Jack Bunny from kicking their owlet out of the studio. And so, Professor Fritz, having finally realized both his errors and his son's true potential, allows him to freely sing jazz. Jack Bunny then gives Owl Jolson the prize, and the owl family live happily ever after.
As with several early Warners cartoons, it is in a sense amusic video designed to push a song from the Warners library. The song in question, "I Love to Singa", was first written byHarold Arlen andE.Y. Harburg for the1936Warner Bros. feature-length filmThe Singing Kid. It is performed three times in the film: first byAl Jolson andCab Calloway, then by the Yacht Club Boys and Jolson, and finally again by Calloway and Jolson. During this period, it was customary for Warners to have their animation production partner,Leon Schlesinger Productions, makeMerrie Melodies cartoons based upon songs from their features.
The cartoon has become acult favorite, with a pervasive impact on popular culture. The short, one of the earliestMerrie Melodies produced inTechnicolor's then-new three-color process (Process 4), is recognized as one of Avery's early masterpieces. Musicologist Daniel Goldmark writes, "I Love to Singa may be one of the most instantly endearing cartoons Warner Bros. ever created. The story combines two themes that are as popular then as they are now—a child breaking away from his parents and contesting chasing the 'rags-to-riches' promise of amateur shows."[4] Animation historianJerry Beck agrees, "While not as wacky as Tex Avery's later works,I Love to Singa is still the perfect metaphor for the changes this great director brought to the studio. Instead of following stuffy cartoon convention, Tex taught his peers to march to their own drummers."[4]
The May 7, 2013 episode ofThe Looney Tunes Show, "Gribbler's Quest", featured a Merrie Melodies segment in whichGossamer plays the piano and sings "I Love to Singa" (with new audio sung byKwesi Boakye). This was one of two instances of the show's Merrie Melodies segment using a classic song rather than a new composition with the other instance being "Yellow Bird". However, the lyrics were changed to remove racist terms such as "mammy."
In the first episode of the American animated television seriesSouth Park, "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe", Cartman and Officer Barbrady are hit by an alien beam, causing them to begin singing and dancing to "I Love to Singa".
Owl Jolson appears in several levels of the video gameLooney Tunes: Back in Action, singing "I Love to Singa" via archive audio.Bugs Bunny andDaffy Duck will comment upon Owl when they get close enough.
As a short published in 1936 with its copyright renewed, the short will enter the public domain on January 1, 2032.[5]
