Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom

The Music Lesson is an American animated short film by Ward Kimball and Charles A. Nichols from the year 1953.

Action

An owl comes into a classroom and numerous bird begins before children a lesson. Theme are the musical instruments. Any music a band goes back to four basic tones: The Tuten ( = Brass, toot ), the flutes ( = Woodwinds, whistle ), plucking ( = String Instruments, plunk ) and the impact sound ( = percussion instruments, boom ). The development of individual sounds is presented:

The history of Tutens begins as the other instruments in the cavemen. He has a primitive horn, into which this blows. The horn is refined by the Egyptians and later developed into an increasingly long brass instrument that needs to be supported by several horses and is finally bent and dented after a riding accident and still can be played. The developed differently shaped from brass and finally the modern trumpets and other instruments whose curvature is controlled by valves.

The flute of the cavemen, they still used it to impress the cave females, has been extended through holes that can be closed mechanically with modern wind instruments by flaps - the caveman who does not yet know the system, played the part with his toes.

The stringed and fretted instruments changed from a sheet of cavemen to elaborate harp. The instruments could be plucked or played with a bow again. It should appear in rapid succession a variety of stringed instruments, including a piano.

While the caveman has knocked on his stomach to fabricate a drum sound, the owl explains that from this simple principle originated all the instruments rattle, rattle or produce percussion sounds. The part ends with the arrival of a marching band.

In summary, it is stated that all music, be it Japanese, Latin American, African-American or Oriental, based on the four main noise.

Production

The Music Lesson was released on 10 November 1953 as part of the Disney animated series Adventures in Music. It was the first animated film that was released in Cinemascope.

Awards

The Music Lesson 1954 won the Oscar in the category " Best Animated Short Film ".

On the Festival Internacional de Cine de Donostia- San Sebastián, the film received the Silbernde shell as a " Best Short Film (Color) ".