Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons.Also have much admiration for Tex Avery, an animation genius whose best cartoons are animated masterpieces and some of the best he ever did. 'Symphony in Slang' to me is one of his best, certainly among his funniest and cleverest. The limitations in animation at the time shows at times in some lacking in finesse backgrounds, but Avery still makes the most of these limitations, with so much colour, a lot of visual imagination and characteristically unique character designs that it is easy to overlook. The entertainment value, creativity and clever construction are constant from start to finish.Characterisation is spot on and John Brown gives a bravura vocal performance.Typically, Avery does a wonderful job directing, with his unique, unlike-any-other visual and characteristic and incredibly distinctive wacky humour styles all over it as can be expected.Once again there is nothing sadistic or repetitious, instead it's imaginative, wonderfully wild and hilarious, as is characteristic of Avery on form. Am not a fan of slang usually, but it is used brilliantly and had me in hysterics, even the more clichéd ones.Some limited backgrounds aside, the animation is colourful with some inventive expressive moments. The music, courtesy of Scott Bradley, is lushly and cleverly orchestrated, with lively and energetic rhythms and fits very well indeed, a lot of the action is even enhanced by the music.Altogether, another Avery classic with the most inspired use of slang to be found anywhere. 10/10 Bethany Cox
... View MoreTex Avery is my all-time animation writer & director. Symphony In Slang is my all-time favorite cartoon. If I could , I would rate it one-hundred stars. Cartoon writer, Rich Hogan done the best work in Symphony In Slang, putting together at least sixty slang clichés & the animation that shows as the voice, John Brown, perfectly said numerous slang terms, throughout this all-time classic cartoon. Tex Avery's mind of continuous & numerous creations throughout his career, at any studio, is definitely that of an animation genius. Tex Avery's works & animation creations are extremely unique, especially during his fourteen plus years at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In my dictionary, Symphony In Slang is Extremely & Hysterically Humorous, from beginning to end!
... View MoreRich Hogan and Tex Avery took on cliches and catchphrases in this highly stylized 1951 short on a happy-go-lucky guy who must explain his life story to Angel Webster before being admitted to the hereafter. The humor comes from the hipster's use of cliches and catchphrases that are hilariously given literal illustration by Avery and company, from getting up with the chickens, slinging hash, being shorthanded, and so forth. The cartoon is not only a masterpiece of visual description, it is a landmark experiment in limited animation, uncharacteristic of Avery for that time as he uses still poses to extract laughs, notably the shorthanded cook, chewing the rag, and going through red tape.You'll be beside yourself with anger at first, but hotfoot it to see how slang will make you die laughing, even if the cat has your tongue.
... View MoreSymphony in Slang is a clever MGM cartoon created by the surrealtic Tex Avery. Which also the short is also surrealistic. They find a dead guy on heaven tell his story to Noah Webster and they don't get his language (slang). Things like "I was with a silver spoon in my mouth" or "I was really in a pickle, the proprietor drew a gun on me, but I gave him the slip, and hid in the foot hills". It's very creative. Tex Avery has always been a great creator of animation.
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