User Reviews

. . . for six years--trapped mercilessly amid fifth through tenth grade school orchestra--so I perfectly understand why TOOT WHISTLE PLUNK AND BOOM pictures milquetoast musicians as malingering miscreant cavemen. These nefarious rascals are truly the bottom feeders of any academic institution. Whether you dignify them with dressed-up terminology such as the horn, woodwind, string and percussion sections, or simply label them as the Neanderthal numbskulls that they invariably are, you can count upon band and orchestra pupils to be the meanest, most low-down underhanded ilk of any academy. Though the most outrageous bullies are designated as the First Chairs, no normal person would be comfortable sitting in even a last chair. The sleazy directors have the audacity to charge these mostly affluent noisemakers Big Bucks for so-called Private Lessons aimed at making them even more insufferable then their misbegotten Nature has cursed them as to top off their careers in cacophony.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s Walt Disney began to expand his studio's work from entertainment to teaching. In this area he is best recalled for his wonderful short nature films about subjects like deserts and animals. But he also, occasionally turned to the use of his cartoons to get his message across. TOOT, WHISTLE, PLUNK, and BOOM was one of his best examples of this (in fact, it was recognized for it's unique excellence by copping the best short film - cartoon Oscar in 1953).

Disney used this cartoon to trace the development of musical instruments from the dawn of human history to the present (1953). Since the subject is music related all of the dialog is sung or spoke - sung. The setting is a classroom for young animals, and the teacher (who rushes into class late at the start) is an owl. He starts by showing four cavemen figures: one is tooting a metal horn, one is playing with a wind instrument whistle, one is plucking his bow (from his bow and arrow) and one is beating time with his belly as a drum (the boom sound). We then watch each of these instruments grow up so to speak: the horn is brought to the attention of the Pharoah of Egypt who convinces the caveman to change it to a longer trumpet. Eventually the modern trumpet is developed when musicians learn that they can twist the size of the trumpet to be carried . We also get a view of the development of clarinets, harps and string instruments, and drums.

There are some funny moments in the film, such as the birth of social dancing at the court of Pharoah, and the problems of strings for harp and violin players. But for all the changes and developments of the modern musical instruments, the instruments basics are never changed - a point that Disney's artists get across when they keep bringing the four original cavemen into music in other ages up to the present.

"Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom" is an American cartoon from 1953, so this one has its 65th anniversary this year and at slightly over 10 minutes, it is a bit longer than most cartoons from that time. Maybe this runtime is one of the components that had this film make enough of a difference to win an Academy Award. It certainly cannot be the film itself can it? Here and there it is informative admittedly, but the animation did very little for me and the story/plot, if there even is such a thing in here, could not impress me either. It feels very rushed and not like a worthy tribute to the wonderful world of music (instruments). I am surprised this one is fairly well known still, especially as it doesn't have any of the famous Disney duck/mouse characters in it. Maybe the Oscar helped. In any case I am not sure who I'd recommend this one to, certainly not music classes or their teachers, cartoon lovers or music lovers won't really like what they see in here either. Maybe it is for film historian curious about a fairly unusual Disney work. As for me, it came indeed pretty short. My suggestion is to watch something else instead. Not recommended.