I Love to Singa


I Love to Singa is a 1936 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated cartoon directed by Tex Avery. The short was released on July 18, 1936.

Plot

I Love to Singa depicts the story of an owlet who wants to sing jazz, instead of the classical music that his German-accented parents wish him to perform. The plot is a tribute to Al Jolson's 1927 film The Jazz Singer.
The owlet's disciplinarian violinist father, Professor Fritz Owl, kicks him out of the family's home after catching him singing jazz instead of "Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes" to the pump organ accompaniment of his mother. While wandering, he encounters a radio amateur contest, hosted by "Jack Bunny". Billing himself as "Owl Jolson", he performs and his family, worried sick about him hears him over the radio. They rush to the station.
Jack Bunny has decided Owl Jolson wins First Prize, but when the owlet sees his family watching him from outside the studio, he reverts to singing "Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes". Jack Bunny is about to revoke the prize, but the family bursts through the door and stops him. Professor Fritz, having finally realized both his errors and his son's true potential, allows him to freely sing jazz. Jack Bunny then gives Owl Jolson the prize, and the owl family lives happily ever after.

Music

As with several early Warner cartoons, this cartoon is in a sense a music video designed to popularize the song and increase sales of sheet music and recordings; a major source of income for Warner Bros. The song "I Love to Singa" was first written by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg for the 1936 Warner Bros. feature-length film The Singing Kid. It is performed three times in the film: first by Al Jolson and Cab Calloway, then by the Yacht Club Boys and Jolson, and finally again by Calloway and Jolson. During this period, it was customary for Warners to have their animation production partner, Leon Schlesinger Productions, make Merrie Melodies cartoons based upon songs from their features.

Reception

The cartoon has become a cult classic, with a pervasive impact on popular culture. The short, one of the earliest Merrie Melodies produced in Technicolor's then-new three-color process, is recognized as one of Avery's early masterpieces. Musicologist Daniel Goldmark writes, "I Love to Singa may be one of the most instantly endearing cartoons Warner Bros. ever created. The story combines two themes that are as popular then as they are now—a child breaking away from his parents and contesting chasing the 'rags-to-riches' promise of amateur shows." Animation historian Jerry Beck agrees, "While not as wacky as Tex Avery's later works, I Love to Singa is still the perfect metaphor for the changes this great director brought to the studio. Instead of following stuffy cartoon convention, Tex taught his peers to march to their own drummers."

Legacy

As a short published in 1936 with its copyright renewed, the short will enter the public domain on January 1, 2032.
An audio sample of Owl Jolson singing "I Love to Singa" comes out of Eric Cartman's mouth in South Park's premiere episode, "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe", which originally aired on August 13, 1997.

Home media