Swing Symphony

Swing Symphony is a group of musical 14 cartoon shorts, created in 1941 till 1945, which often featured top boogie-woogie musicians.[1] Directed by Walter Lantz the Swing Symphony cartoons are a more contemporary pastiche on Disney's Silly Symphonies.[2] Some of those short include the characters Woody Woodpecker and Andy Panda.

Swing Symphony
The classic Swing Symphony title card from 1941–1945
Directed byWalter Lantz
Alex Lovy
Ben Hardaway
Emery Hawkins
Shamus Culhane
Produced byWalter Lantz
Story byBen Hardaway
L. E. Elliot
Milt Schaffer
Chuck Couch
StarringKent Rogers
Mel Blanc
Zedra Conde
King Jackson
June Foray
Sara Berner
Patricia Kay
Dick Nelson
Walter Tetley
Music byDarrell Calker
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Walter Lantz Productions
Universal Studios
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
December 1, 1941 — March 19, 1945
Running time
7 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Background

When Ben Hardaway left Warner Bros. in 1939, he was hired by Walter Lantz to work on the storyboards for Universal Studios' cartoons, including Swing Symphony. He also supplied his voice talents for Woody Woodpecker in 1942 till 1948.[3] Darrell Calker who was involved in jazz circles, composed the music and brought in famous musicians like Nat King Cole and Meade Lux Lewis to play them.[4] A pianist Bob Zurke did a recording for the cartoon Jungle Jive before he died aged 32.

In 1943 Juke Box Jamboree was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film but lost to Disney's Der Fuehrer's Face.[5] Few of Lantz's cartoons were highlighted for stereotyping and racism, but were said by Joe Adamson as not intended to be offensive.[6]

Filmography
# Title Drawn By (Animator) Characters Identification Numbers Release date Availability
1007 $21 a Day - (Once a Month) Alex Lovy, Frank Tipper Woody Woodpecker, Andy Panda 07585 December 1, 1941 DVD - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection
1010 The Hams That Couldn't Be Cured Alex Lovy, R. Somerville Algernon Wolf, Three Little Pigs March 4, 1942 DVD - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection: Volume 2
1015 Juke Box Jamboree Verne Harding Mouse July 27, 1942 DVD - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection: Volume 2
C-1 Yankee Doodle Swing Shift Harold Mason September 21, 1942
C-4 Boogie Woogie Sioux Robert Bentley Boogie Woogie November 30, 1942 DVD - Woody Woodpecker and Friends: Volume 5
C-7 Cow-Cow Boogie Harold Mason Boogie Woogie January 3, 1943[7]
C-10 The Egg Cracker Suite Les Kline Oswald the Lucky Rabbit March 22, 1943[8] DVD - Woody Woodpecker and Friends: Volume 3
C-13 Pass The Biscuits Mirandy! Paul Smith 09275 August 27, 1943[9] DVD - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection
D-1 Boogie Woogie Man Laverne Harding, Les Kline September 27, 1943 DVD - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection: Volume 2
D-3 The Greatest Man In Siam Pat Mathews, Emery Hawkins, Grim Natwick 09585 March 27, 1944 DVD - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection
D-5 Jungle Jive Paul J. Smith, Emery Hawkins, Laverne "Verne" Harding, Lester "Les" Kline, Pat Matthews, Don Williams May 15, 1944 DVD - Woody Woodpecker and Friends: Volume 6
D-7 Abou Ben Boogie Paul J. Smith, Pat Matthews, Grim Natwick, Don Williams, Les Kline, Dick Lundy, Laverne Harding Boogie Woogie 09876 September 18, 1944 DVD - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection
D-10 The Pied Piper Of Basin Street Laverne Harding, Pat Mathews 10120 January 15, 1945 DVD - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection
D-13 Sliphorn King Of Polaroo Pat Mathews March 19, 1945 DVD - Woody Woodpecker and Friends: Volume 4

See also

References
  1. Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. p. 140. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  2. "Abou Ben Boogie - Cartoon Research". Jerry Beck. March 25, 2015. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
  3. Lenburg, Jeff (2006). Who's Who in Animated Cartoons. Applause Theater & Cinema Books. p. 127.
  4. Goldmark, Daniel; Taylor, Yuval (2002). The Cartoon Music Book. A Capella Books. p. 10.
  5. "The 15th Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 2015. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
  6. Cohen, Karl F. (2006). Forbidden Animation: Censored Cartoons and Blacklisted Animators in America. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 50.
  7. Shull, Michael S.; Wilt, David E. Doing Their Bit: Wartime American Animated Short Films, 1939–1945. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 132.
  8. "The Vault". www2.boxoffice.com. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  9. Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series. The Library of Congress. 1970. p. 124.
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