On this day, March 13, 1947, the 1946 Academy Award for "Best Short Subject - Cartoons" went to "The Cat Concerto."

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. More about Franz Liszt and the "Hungarian Rhapsody No.2":

EYESORE replied:

Wed Mar 13, 2024: Everything I know about classical music, I learned from cartoons

I replied:

Wed Mar 13, 2024: Tell me about it, and that's my inspiration for this thread.

On Saturday morning (in 2024, when this thread first showed up), it was dreary and raining outside. I turned on the TV, and a Betty Boop cartoon came on. It was this one:

Betty Boop - A Little Soap and Water - 1935

Cult Cinema Classics
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Pudgy the Pup loses his bone on top of the coal bucket. Meanwhile, Betty Boop is preparing the wash tub for a dog bath. When Pudgy realizes what Betty has planned, he tries to get away. Betty has to pursue him through the house, including several laps under the living room rug. Betty finally gets Pudgy into the tub and washes him while singing the title song. Pudgy is all nice and clean, until he finds his bone, and knocks over the coal bucket to get it. -

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There was this one piano piece that showed up in one scene, and for the life of me I couldn't place it. The internet knew, of course. It was the Franz Liszt "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2."

I fell down that rabbit hole, and I got to thinking how many kids back then were exposed to classical music by way of cartoons.

Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2


Main theme from the friska

Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-sharp minor, S.244/2, is the second in a set of 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies by composer Franz Liszt, published in 1851, and is by far the most famous of the set.

In both the original piano solo form and in the orchestrated version this composition has enjoyed widespread use in animated cartoons. Its themes have also served as the basis of several popular songs.

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In popular culture

The Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 has been prominently used in animated cartoons and popular media, most famously in the Tom and Jerry short The Cat Concerto, which won an Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons and the Bugs Bunny short Rhapsody Rabbit, directed by Friz Freleng. The first such appearance in a cartoon was as part of a piano solo by Mickey Mouse in The Opry House in 1929 where he has to deal with an animated piano.

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