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Do you feel like the Jon Snow of classical music (yes, we are referring to the infamous “You know nothing” quote)? What if we told you that probably know way more than you think?
Have you ever heard a piece of classical music playing in the background of an ad, movie or TV series and wondered “Where do I know that from”? Maybe you’ve never thought about it, but you’re probably able to recognise that piece from the cartoons you used to watch when you were a child.
Yes, you read that right: if you loved the Looney Tunes, Tom & Jerry, and Walt Disney, it is very likely that now you are, perhaps unbeknownst to you, a classical music expert.
The series of animated short films produced by Warner Bros. that gave us memorable characters such as Bugs Bunny, Willy the Coyote, and Sylvester and Tweety (just to mention a few), the one that introduced the beloved cat-mouse pairing into our lives and the countless cartoons by the world’s most popular children's brand have played a decisive role in introducing generations of children to classical music.
In this article, we’ve listed ten pieces of classical music (but the list could go on!) used in the cartoons you loved and that kept you company after school and in the evenings before bed. Fasten your seat belts: it's time to take a walk down memory lane!
- The Nutcracker: Russian Dance - Tchaikovsky, from Fantasia (1940)
Do you remember this one? Without a doubt one of the most popular excerpts from the Russian composer's ballet, this piece appears in the Walt Disney classic in the sequence in which flower-dancers execute a joyous and wild choreography. The choice of plants is no coincidence: thistles resemble men with fur hats and orchids Russian peasant women wearing the traditional headscarf.
- Carmen Suite: Les Toreadors - Bizet, from Tom & Jerry to the Opera (1962)
This well-known aria from Bizet's opera was used in the funny short film set in New York which sees Tom chasing Jerry all the way into the Metropolitan Opera House and improvising as an orchestra conductor, while the mouse himself appears dressed as a bullfighter.
- The Magic Flute: Overture - Mozart, from Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips (1944)
The overture to Mozart’s opera appeared in this cartoon in which Bugs Bunny finds himself fighting against the Japanese Empire’s army. Produced while the Second World War was still raging, the short film is controversial for its caricatured and stereotyped representation of the Japanese, at the time enemies of the Allies.
- The Barber of Seville: Overture - Rossini, from The Rabbit of Seville (1950)
In 1994, American animation historian Jerry Beck awarded the twelfth place in “The 50 Greatest Cartoons” to the animated film that maintains the plot of Rossini's opera buffa almost unchanged and sees Bugs Bunny (in the role of the barber) and hunter Elmer Fudd as protagonists. - Symphony No. 5 in C Minor Op. 67: IV. Allegro - Beethoven, from Pink, Plunk, Plink (1966)
In this episode of The Pink Panther, the protagonist learns to play the violin and interrupts the performance of the famous Beethoven symphony by playing the well-known "Pink Panther Theme" on various orchestra instruments. Fun fact: the only person in the audience to applaud the panther's performance is Henry Mancini, composer of the theme, who makes a brief cameo as himself.
- Piano Sonata No. 14, Op. 27 No. 2 "Moonlight Sonata": I. Adagio Sostenuto - Beethoven, from You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (Peanuts, 1967)
Even the Peanuts, beloved characters born from the pen of American cartoonist Charles M. Schulz in 1947, can boast the use of a piece by one of the great classical masters: in fact, this musical features a version of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata performed by Schroeder on the piano while Lucy asks him his opinion on marriage and declares her infatuation with him.
- Symphony No. 8 in B Minor D 759, "Unfinished": I. Allegro moderato - Schubert, from The Smurfs (Theme by Gargamel)
In 1958, Belgian cartoonist Peyo came up with funny blue creatures that he named “Les Schtroumpfs”, which then became the Smurfs in English. Although they were born as secondary characters, they were so successful that they got their own series of comics and then several series of short films and even feature films. The appearance of Gargamel, the evil and clumsy sorcerer who wants to capture them, is accompanied by a theme taken from the first movement of Schubert's "Unfinished" symphony. - The Tale of Tsar Saltan, Act III, Scene I: "Flight of the Bumblebee" - Rimsky-Korsakov, from Maestro Minnie (1999)
In this short film dedicated to Minnie Mouse, the protagonist conducts an orchestra performance of the famous piece taken from the third act of Russian composer Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera, but the concert is disrupted by an annoying hornet. - An der schönen blauen Donau, Op. 314 - Strauss II, from Merrie Melodies (1929-1939)
Even if the title didn’t ring a bell, the first notes would be all it takes for you to remember: this waltz by Johann Strauss II is one of the most famous pieces of classical music ever, and Walt Disney Productions used it in the series of animated shorts that saw the debut of the beloved Donald Duck.
- Liebesträume, S. 541: No. 3 in A Flat Major - Liszt, by Pizzicato Pussycat (1955)
Among the three compositions for solo piano known as Liebesträume, it is the third ("O lieb, so lang du lieben kannst!") that enjoys the greatest fame. In the Merrie Melodies short "Pizzicato Pussycat" produced by Warner Bros., a musically-versed mouse promises to hide in a piano and play for the fame-seeking cat that caught him to have his life spared.
How many of these cartoons do you remember? And how many of these famous pieces of classical music do you know? If you want to put your memory to the test, here at Halidon Music we have compiled a “Classical Music in Cartoons” playlist which features the best classical music from your favourite animated films. All you have to do is turn up the volume, press play and get on board the time machine!