Chris Clegg
If you are as old as I am, you grew up on Saturday afternoons watching Bugs Bunny, better know as the series of Looney Tunes cartoons.
As funny as Bugs Bunny was, I loved Foghorn Leghorn. That silly rooster made me laugh even after watching the same cartoon 100 times. Those battles with that dog and Henery Hawk were priceless! Wish they would have made 100 episodes!
Not far behind on my “like list” were Blacque Jacque Shellacque, Pepe le Pew and Marvin the Martian. Marvin sounded so sincere when he told Bugs he was going to blow up the Earth! Blacque Jacques telling Bugs Bunny he was, “Sick, sick I tell you!” and Pepe le Pew – well – do we need to say more? The greatest failed lover in history along with Charlie Brown, but he always tried!
In today’s world, some of the material used by Foghorn Leghorn would probably be edited out.
“This will cause more confusion than a mouse at a burlesque show,” he said in one cartoon.
I’m sure dad got a laugh out of it but to a five-year-old it meant nothing. Looney Tunes did appeal to the mass audience.
As much as we all enjoyed the characters, Looney Tunes did something for children we never expected nor were aware. The cartoon series introduced children to the world of classical music.
Even today, when I play some of the classics, I remember the Looney Tunes episodes. Remember Greig’s Morning Mood to the scene where the coyote and the sheepdog prepare for another day of battle over the sheep? For many children, this was the first exposure to the classics.
There are many other examples I could cite.
Warner Brothers’ indeed struck genius by combining two art forms one would normally not expect and making a masterpiece.
However, I do not think this was by accident.
Most of today’s people dare not admit they love classical music. It is not “cool” by today’s standards, especially if you are a teenager. But Warner Brothers capitalized on the idea that the best classical music pieces are timeless.
Of course, there have been many musical geniuses since Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart and the like. Elvin Presley, the Beatles, Elton John, Michael Jackson, and more have also created timeless classics. Many other musicians have also created one-hit wonders, like some composers. Best classical music example I can think of Aram Khachaturian’s Sabre Dance, still played at Buffalo Sabres hockey games. Or in the 1970s when the Hamilton Tiger Cats scored they played Offenbach’s Can Can. Who doesn’t know that classic?
Through the centuries, and ever since Grog first tapped a stick on a stone to create music, the human race has been enthralled. The desire to create music is like an obsession to bring us joy we never had before. Music can be soothing, enchanting, emotional, inspiring – anything you want it to be.
Music is so powerful it is used in every form of video advertising. Listen closely to a lot of shows you watch on TV. Music is piped in so often we do not even recognize it. Our subconscious does, however. Show producers know this and use it as tool to “fool” us to like the show more.
I doubt Warner Brothers needed music for the audience to tune into Bugs Bunny and his pals but the addition of music added so much to the show. Take away the thunderous music of battles and have less impact. Music enhanced the overall product and when you had the classics to work with it was like working with gold. There was never a chance of failure.
Today, you can only find Looney Tunes classics on specialty channels. What a shame!