Tea Break Toons

Welcome to the first in the series of Tea Break Toons. Every week I will be recommending a 'toon that lasts 15 minutes or less for you to watch during your valuable tea breaks.

Like an overpriced restaurant I will also be recommending an accompanying biscuit which complements the 'toon like a well matured wine.

This week's Toon is:

Tom and Jerry's, The Cat Concerto (1946/1947)

Run time: Approximately 7 minutes

Recommended biscuit: Taxi

A chocolate coated, caramel wafer sandwich with a chocolate centre.

This exquisite bickie has everything you could possibly want and more. To be treated with respect and only to be eaten with a Tea Break Toon that matches it's quality.

NB. Not to be eaten while wearing braces. Orthodontists don't appreciate you breaking your braces over a biscuit, even if it is a Taxi, how inconsiderate of them. 

As I mentioned in a previous post I am currently still dragon-less and so taking the place of dragon this week is Stitch.

Biscuit rating: 10/10

My beautiful model Stitch with the Tom and Jerry DVD and Taxi biscuits, I really hope he doesn't eat them all...

The Cat Concerto is one of my personal favourite Tom and Jerry cartoons of all time. It features incredibly skilled animation, a fantastic score and a hilarious plot.

The short is beautifully set to the music of Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No.2. Although it is not the first time animation has been set to take a classical music (the first being Disney's Fantasia in 1940), I personally think this is much more effective. The thought that must have gone into this short cartoon amazes me, I can't even begin to think where I would start trying to animate it, but this just works incredibly well.

This episode won the 1946 Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons.

It follows Tom and Jerry on another one of their wacky adventures, this time following Tom's debut as a classical pianist.

However, little does Tom know, that his world class piano playing is interrupting Jerry's sleep, as the mouse had made himself a little bed on the piano strings.

A startled Jerry decides to add his own improvisations to Tom's piece by dancing, drumming and running all over the keys and strings of the piano.

It then descends into anarchy as Tom seeks revenge on Jerry with the poor mouse being smacked about by the piano.

Tom and Jerry's Cat Concerto. Copyright Hanna-Barbera Productions.

An angry Jerry then throws the final punch by playing the fastest section of the rhapsody with Tom struggling to keep up.

As the set comes to an end, Tom, his suit now shredded to pieces through exhaustion, collapses on the piano keys. The audience applauds but rather than Tom receiving the praise, it is Jerry who receives all the attention as he jumps up from the piano, throws on a suit and bows to the audience with a spotlight shining down on him.

Unfortunately this short is not available on Youtube however you can find it on the DVD Tom and Jerry Classic Collection Volume 2, along with 24 other classic episodes. It is available for £4.50 from Amazon here.

You can however, listen to the piece as performed by Lang Lang.

Very impressive Lang Lang, however I still prefer Tom's version, sorry...

Until next time

The Great Episode Friday (TGEF)

This is the first post of The Great Episode Friday. Every week I will select one animated episode that  either sums up my week or just deserves special recognition.

This week's winner is...

Wallace and Gromit's A Grand Day Out!

Is there anything more British than Wallace and Gromit? Cheese, tea and knitting, it's got it all!

So why have I chosen this episode this week? Well this is a brand new blog and is the start of a new adventure into the unknown much like Wallace and Gromit's trip to the moon.

A Grand Day Out is where it all began for Wallace and Gromit. Created by Nick Park, who was still a student at the time, the animation took eight years to complete and introduced a number of concepts rarely seen before.

The short contains a small cast three characters with only one of them having the ability to speak. Nick Park heavily relies on his animation ability to tell the story from Gromit and the Cooker's point of view.

Gromit's eyebrows are key to the plot and are so expressive that he rarely requires any other body language to communicate his feelings. Gromit regularly breaks the fourth wall which allows the audience to fill in what they think he might be saying. The Cooker, however has no facial expressions and relies on his arms and antenna to show his emotions and an animated dream sequence being transmitted to highlight his skiing ambitions.

Wallace and Gromit research holiday destinations. Copyright Aardman Animations.

A Grand Day Out it follows the story of one man and his dog and their quest for something to do on the Bank Holiday...and cheese. As "everybody knows the moon's made of cheese" the pair decide to build a rocket (complete with wallpaper from your Gran's house, armchairs and of course a toaster) and fly to the moon.

Once they have reached their dream vacation destination they stumble upon a coin activated cooker (yes really) who is none too pleased with Wallace coming to his home and destroying the landscape to put on his crackers.

Cooker then attempts to seek his revenge on Wallace by walloping him on the head with a baseball bat, but just as he is about to strike, he runs out of pennies.

After being reactivated by Wallace the Cooker, who is now livid, begins to clear up Wallace's mess and finds a magazine that advertises skiing holidays.

Cooker has a change of heart and becomes desperate to join Wallace and Gromit on their rocket ship back to Earth.

Thinking Cooker is back to complete his attempted murder Wallace and Gromit fly off and leave without him. Cooker is devastated and fears he will never fulfil his skiing dreams.

But Cooker is in luck as by clinging desperately to the rocket he in fact managed to rip two strips of metal off, which he moulds into skis and joyfully heads off to scale the cheese mountains.

If this description of the slightly bonkers episode hasn't put you off, you will certainly enjoy it. Believe me, nothing else will make you cry for a cooker like this does.

You can watch the episode here on Youtube. I did not upload this but enjoy it while you can before it is inevitably removed. This is a classic piece of British film that is a monumental part of animated history.

Until the next time.

Welcome!

Welcome to The Animated Dragon, the place for all things animated.

As this is a brand new blog I can't say exactly what animation things will appear on it but I'm guessing news, reviews and whatever else takes my fancy.

I hope you will all enjoy reading this, who knows what will come of it, Instagram, Twitter, maybe even Youtube although who wants to see my face(!)

PS. I am currently searching for an appropriate dragon model for the blog, he will be of the cuddly sort (no Hungarian Horntails here). However, as the dragon's prospective owner lives in Scotland, there is a very high chance he could end up being a Nessie but let's just pretend he's a dragon, don't want him getting upset.

Until the next time.