Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom poster

Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom( 1953)

TV-MAAnimation
67%
User
Score

A crash course on the history of Western musical instruments.

Overview

In this short subject (which mostly represents a departure from Disney's traditional approach to animation), a stuffy owl teacher lectures his feathered flock on the origins of Western musical instruments. Starting with cavepeople, whose crude implements could only "toot, whistle, plunk and boom," the owl explains how these beginnings led to the development of the four basic types of Western musical instruments: brass, woodwinds, strings, and percussion.

    Top Billed Cast

    1. cast image

      Bill Thompson

      Professor Owl / Bertie Birdbrain

    2. cast image

      Loulie Jean Norman

      Penelope Pinfeather

    3. cast image

      Gloria Wood

      Susy Sparrow

    4. cast image

      Thurl Ravenscroft

      The Mellomen

    Social

    Review 1Discussion

    A review by CinemaSerf

    7
    Written by CinemaSerf on Mon Jan 27 2025
    It's the professorial owl who is teaching his class all about musical instruments. It's manna from heaven for an animator as the entertainingly crafted lyrical narration (complete with slightly annoying singing) takes us all on a very basic lesson in musical onomatopoeia! It was the cavemen who started, rather monotonically, with a dead cow's horn. Next, for the Egyptians it's a different kind of "King Toot" who wants something altogether more sophisticated. Trumpets, dear reader. What happens when trumpets get beaten up; the curvy bits and varying lengths give it flexibility and huzzah, the ho...

    Media

    Videos 0Backdrops 1Posters 2

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    Facts

    Status

    Released

    Original Language

    English

    Budget

    -

    Revenue

    -

    Keywords

    • adventures in music
    • music history
    • cinemascope
    • short film