Infographic: Indies vs. Majors in Music Webcasts

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Bugs Bunny Does Opera: Notes On Adaptation and Censorship in Musical Storytelling

Over on Z Recommends today we reviewed Music Tales, an album of drawn-and-quartetered versions of classical compositions used to sound-illustrate fairy tales and children's stories. A subsequent interview led us briefly to Warner Brothers' fantastic operatic adaptations, "The Long-Haired Hare" and "What's Opera, Doc?" which have Rossini and Wagner spinning in their graves to this day.

What strikes me as most interesting about the comparison has hit me only in hindsight. In our review I gently criticized the album for its inclusion of moments of graphic violence in some of the stories, elements that have been easily and deftly removed by other authors; in Tomie de Paola's Favorite Nursery Tales, for example, the story of the Three Little Pigs is no worse off for having the wolf give up and go home rather than being "boiled to bits" in the pigs' pot.

I missed the Bugs Bunny connection from the outset when I asked the group's violinist if their "mashups" had any antecedents in the modern era, so I'm grateful she mentioned the cartoons. But even then I didn't recognize the other parallel, which is their willingness to display violence. Fairy tales may contain more visceral violence than classic cartoons, but the thread certainly runs through them both, and some fairy tales have been so thoroughly sanitized that some critics are beginning to welcome the reintroduction of at least a touch of violence in stories old and new. I'll stand by my criticism, though, to the extent that I'm talking about a toddler audience, not one of older children. When our daughter Z is a bit older we will enjoy the old Bugs Bunny cartoons together. At three, not a chance!

Apparently some networks took their concern about cartoon violence even further when it came to "The Long-Haired Hare." From Wikipedia:

The ABC version of this cartoon cuts the entire sequence where Bugs is dressed as a bobby-soxer looking for Giovanni Jones's autograph and gives him a dynamite stick disguised as a pen.

The CBS version of this cartoon is a little more heavily edited (as the censors hated the cartoon due to its violence). Not only is the bobby-soxer sequence that was cut from ABC also cut here, but also the scenes where Giovanni Jones beats Bugs up every time he ruins his singing lessons (i.e., Jones breaking, then smashing Bugs' banjo over his head; Jones slamming Bugs' harp on his neck; Jones pulling Bugs from the tuba, tying his ears to a tree branch, and pulling his body back so it'll snap back and have his head hit the branch).

Most websites don't list the cartoon titles included in Looney Tunes collections, but after a lot of digging I confirmed that "Long-Haired Hare" is included in Looney Tunes' Golden Collection Vol. 1. I couldn't find the studio's lesser-known Wagnerian masterpiece mentioned as being included in any collection - if you know where to purchase it, let me know in the comments!

Both cartoons can currently be viewed on YouTube, so why not settle in to watch a couple of hilarious, not to mention history-making cartoons?

Long-Haired Hare


What's Opera Doc

Happy Fair Use Day

Incidentally, today is Fair Use Day, which I have nothing interesting to say about. Just to be a jerk about it, I will point out that the Electronic Frontier Foundation doesn't know a good soapbox from a bad one - give them one, however rickety, and they'll stand on it and start crowing.

"Disrespectful, shameful, and outrageous" indeed - I disagree with the broader position on copyright that Web Sheriff and the labels employing the company represent as much as anyone at the EFF, but what von Lohmann castigates Web Sheriff for is simply a company trying to be more personable in enforcing an unpopular law with some small measure of sensitivity. The post, and the argument, is a credibility-squanderer - unless, of course, you are another of those people already so blind to opposing views on the issue that the mere whiff of blood will get you thrashing around.

Animation With Dice

Thanks, Josh!

Joyce Hatto, Fake Piano Prodigy

Visual waveforms comparing the purported piano-playing of the late and celebrated prodigy Joyce Hatto with that of a recording by Laszlo Simon.

Dehoax by Pristine Audio.

Read Gramophone's story here.

Psychedelish by Matt Hammill

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In A Street Fight With Todd Oldham, I'd Put My Money On Ned Troide

While a bunch of suckers are watching Bravo's new show "Top Designer," I'll be pining over the boutique furniture of Ned Troide, whose first claim to fame was scoring 72,999,975 in a 62.5-hour, marathon session of the arcade game Defender. With one quarter.

Troide's AC/DC Shifter is a musical mixing board for six AC/DC songs.

Jack Daniels Drinking Fountain

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This Is The Strangest Thing You Will See All Week

The story behind this film is interesting in itself, but you really should watch it first. I am quite confident you will agree with me that you have not seen anything stranger this week than the dancing ghost of a walrus, and the ways in which skeletons and ghosts can perish. Add Betty Boop, Bimbo, and Cab Calloway and you have an affair to remember.



After you've watched it, follow the Wikipedia link above to sort out the 1930s drug references.

[Via my new love, Spy's Spice.]

Sound Optional - Two "Soundtracked" Films

Voyage Dans La Lune (Voyage to the Moon): A 1902 Science Fiction Film

Most of the special effects are painted scenery. There are also some explosions. Probably the best thing about this film is the voyage to and from the move - they travel in a giant bullet shot quite ceremoniously from a very long cannon. The version below is in French, so read the synopsis first if you want to make sure you understand what's going on.



From the Internet Archive:

Le Voyage Dans La Lune is a 1902 French science fiction black and white film. It is loosely based on two popular novels of the time: From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne and The First Men in the Moon by H. G. Wells. It was written and directed by Georges Méliès, with help from his brother Gaston.

It is recognized as one of the first films of the science fiction genre, and for its innovative animation.

At a meeting of astronomers, one proposes to the rest a trip to the Moon. After addressing some dissent (the speaker pitches some paper at him), six brave astronomers agree to the plan. They build a space capsule in the shape of a bullet and a huge cannon to shoot it into space. The astronomers embark and their capsule is fired from the cannon with the help of a bevy of beautiful women (played by chorus girls of the Folies Bergères). The Man in the Moon watches the capsule as it approaches, and it hits him in the eye.

Safely on the Moon, the explorers get out of the capsule and watch the Earth rise in the distance. Something then explodes near them. They then unroll their blankets, and take a nap. They dream of celestial Folies-Bergères girls as the stars of the Big Dipper, Saturn, and another Moon, who call down a snowfall that wakens the explorers. The explorers seek shelter in a cavern and discover giant mushrooms. One astronomer opens his umbrella; it promptly takes root and turns into a giant mushroom itself. At this point, a Selenite (an alien inhabiting the Moon, apparently part man and part insect) appears, but it is easily killed by an astronomer (the creatures explode if whacked with a stick or umbrella). More Selenites appear and it becomes increasingly difficult for the explorers to destroy them as the creatures surround them. The Selenites arrest the astronomers and bring them to their leader. An astronomer picks the Chief Selenite up off its throne and dashes it to the ground, exploding it.

The astronomers run back to their capsule (popping pursuing Selenites on the way). Five get inside. The sixth uses a rope to tip the capsule over a ledge on the Moon and into space. A Selenite tries to seize the capsule at the last minute. Astronomer, capsule, and Selenite fall through space and land in an ocean on Earth, where all are rescued by a ship and towed ashore.

There is in fact a final scene of the film in which there is a celebratory parade in honor of the travellers' safe return. Parts of the final scene have been recovered but the entire scene has been lost.

The film is fun but the score is pretty bad. Many silent films posted on YouTube provide an opportunity for young musicians to score interesting films that are in the public domain and have their work heard, potentially by a lot of people. Here is a part of Voyage with an original score.



I would just turn the sound off and listen to the Flaming Lips' Soft Bulletin while watching this, starting with "A Spoonful Weighs A Ton" and moving on to "The Gash" during the battle scene with the Moon people, with something else I guess in between.


Vision On: A British Show "For Deaf Children"


Vision On was a 1960s-70s show in Great Britain which served as an official offering for children who were hearing impaired. The show makes great use of sound in an entirely "optional" way, and the visuals are great. There are a lot of great clips on this video - my favorite is the cookoo clock that goes crazy and the cookoo has to put it back together.



[Vision On via Sandbox]

2D Meets 3D In DIY Music Video

Our daughter is obsessed with the Danielson Famile. This video doesn't hurt.

Stop-Motion Writing

The range of techniques in this music video is really refreshing. A lot of great ways of representing text with movement are tossed out very quickly - a different one for each word of this song. Directed by Kris Moyes.



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The Worst Design of 2006: Music, Film, and Books

Nestled lovingly in the bosom of the many "Best of 2006" lists released over the past week are critics' stabs at identifying some of the most outrageous worsts in their fields. Below are a few "worst-of " lists or list components relating to visual design.

Music: Worst Album Covers Pitckfork Media's pick of the top 25 worst album covers had me sadly nodding my head over at their first pick - one of my favorite bands' worst pieces of cover art since Built to Spill was just a sparkle in Treepeople's eye. But it goes way, way downhill from there. One of my favorites, Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor, cuts out the annoying nuance of traditional bling assertion and shows us the products we've all been shopping for. NSFW and not for sensitive viewers.

Film: Worst Movie Posters
Short but sweet, Cinematical's list of the year's worst movie posters highlights advertising strategies destined to bomb.

Most Despicable Use of In-Game Advertising
Gamespot's Best/Worst of 2006 in computer games includes this juicy category for the many games that have chosen to push the envelope with in-your-face product placement and in-game billboard advertising.

Worst (and Most Misleading) Young-Adult Book Covers
Fuse #8 is a bit kinder than that - or the task would be too hard if so defined - so she chose to include the best young-adult books with the worst covers, and also takes a passing swipe at major books with the most misleading ones, in her newly-inaugurated Golden Fuse Awards. My favorite in that category is at left. Number of dragons in the dragon-festooned The Floating Island? I'll let you guess.

Timeless Best/Worst Lists

• Best and Worst Toddler TV Show Logos: Okay, only partially related, not all-new for 2006, and not worsts only, but an interesting design read!
• Worst NFL Team Logos: Editors' and readers' picks. Gee, how could anyone criticize a team logo that's just a big orange football helmet? Simplicity redefined!
• Worst Magazine Covers: Gawker's picks from the last four decades.