Cartoons/etc to inspire young people to play the piano (or music in gen) ?

[m1469]

Hi, I have a little six year old whom has just started taking lessons with me.  She is very interested and she is learning quite well.  Everytime she comes over, after we are done, she goes directly over to a Calvin and Hobbes book and starts "reading" it (completely mesmerized by it). 

So this gave me an idea... I am wanting to collect some things that I can show her and give to her that will further inspire her progress.  I know of one video clip here on the forum of a youngster playing the piano, and I will try to hunt that down, but I am wondering if people have any other specific suggestions regarding inspiring tools for the youngies (sorry if I simply missed a thread about this already  :- ).

Cartoons ?  Comics ?  Videos ? 

Books  ? (I know Bernhard asked about this one a little while ago, but I am trying again, perhaps I should get writing  )


I want her to feel immersed in the piano/music world and pull from things she is already interested in. 

Thanks for you help 

m1469

[allthumbs]

Hi m1469

"The Far Side" cartoons by Gary Larson are quite funny, although they may be over the head of a 6 year old.

I have save a few music related ones, so if you e-mail me, I'll send them to you.

Cheers

allthumbs

[thalbergmad]

When i was young, what inspired me was the award winning Tom & Jerry cartoon called "Johann Mouse".

I still watch it now. Any youngster will love it.

[m1469]

Oh thank you both allthumbs and thalbergmad !!  This is good stuff so far.  I forgot about the far side... perhaps I will find some and put it in my studio and send some with her if I find something she could really get and relate to.

Thalbergmad :

I just googled Johann Mouse (I LOVE Tom and Jerry, btw).  From what I understand it is a single episode, and not a series, is this correct ?  I will try to get my hands on this right away !


Thanks, 

m1469

[maryruth]

I recently came across a great book about Saint-Saens "Carnival of the Animals".

It's an illustrated story book that comes with a full-length recording of the orchestra playing it.   Each movement of the piece is illustrated with a description.  The artwork is great.  The animals are good and in just about every picture there are grand pianos!  Hee-hee...

Just for example for the "Hens and Roosters" movement there's a full two page illustration of a chicken yard with the hens and roosters all around and there's a grand piano in the middle with a rooster crowing from the upraised lid....Just great.

It's from the Classical Music for Kids series.  Commentary by Barrie Carson Turner.  Illustrations by Sue Williams.  I ordered mine through Amazon.com

[thalbergmad]

Yes, it is just a single episode.

I love Strauss Waltz transcriptions and when you see the video, you will hear echos of friedman, godowsky. shultz evler,cziffra etc.

The music was actually put together by Joseph Gimpel. I have written a couple of times to his son to try and obtain the score, but never had a reply.

There was another piano related Tom and Jerry cartoon where Tom played the Liszt Rhapsody no 2 whilst Jerry dodged the hammers inside the piano. I think it was called "Concerto Cat"

Finally, try to find a cartoon called "Sparkey's Magic Piano". It is a story ofa little boy who has a piano that will play anything itself. It is lovely with an important message at the end.

I must be going throught a second chilhood, or perhaps i am still in the first.

[eastcountypiano]

Wow, that brings back memories.  I too remember the T&J cartoon with the Rhapsody 2  and was mesmorized with that cartoon AND how well Tom played-LOL.
Didn't Bugs Bunny do some piano playing, too?

[allthumbs]

Greetings

Wow, that brings back memories.  I too remember the T&J cartoon with the Rhapsody 2  and was mesmorized with that cartoon AND how well Tom played-LOL.
Didn't Bugs Bunny do some piano playing, too?

I don't know about playing the piano, but Bugs Bunny did do some conducting. I remember a cartoon where a tenor was on stage singing and Bugs gets up there on the podium, looks towards the TV audience, raises his eyebrows a couple of times and grins mischievously. He then proceeds to raise his hand high and low in the air with the tenor following him in pitch. Bugs then raises his hand way up in the air and holds it there waving it in time to the tenors vibrato. The tenor eventually starts to look in discomfort. Bugs pulls his hand out of the glove (which remains suspended in the air waving - don't you just love cartoon's suspension of the laws of gravity!) and goes away to do something else while the hapless tenor continues to hold the note.

By now the tenor is starting to turn deeper shades of red and now looks in deep distress. His shirt collar pops undone, his clothes start to unravel and eventually the concert hall falls down around him. Bugs comes back, slips his hand back into the glove and finishes the piece. Great stuff!

Cheers 

[abell88]

Another great Bugs Bunny episode is the Wagner one...with Elmer Fudd singing, "Oh, Bwunnhiwde, you'we so wuvewy," and Bugs (all dolled up and on the back of an amazing horse) answering, "Yes, I know it, I can't help it." Etc. It makes me happy just to think about it (even though it does have a suitably operatic tragic end).

Bugs also has the overture to the Barber of Seville: "Welcome to my shop, let me cut your mop, let me snip and chop, Daintily, daintily..."

By the way, I think Bugs is impersonating Leopold Stokowski in the one that was already mentioned. (Everyone excitedly whispers, "Leopold!" as he comes in.)

Wow, I guess we watch a lot of Bugs Bunny around here...it does use a lot of classical music.

[thalbergmad]

I complete forgot to mention Fantasia. No piano if i remember but every child should watch it.

I am sure there is also a good animated version of Peter and the Wolf narrated by Peter Ustinov.

[m1469]

Oh, thank you so much everyone.  I have ordered these so far :


Carnival of the Animals : Classical Music for Kids (Classical Music for Kids)

Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf : With a Fully-Orchestrated and Narrated CD

Tom and Jerry's Greatest Chases, Including: The Cat Concerto (1946), Johann Mouse (1952)

Pictures at an Exhibition


I did find Sparky's Magic Piano, but I wasn't clear on what I would be ordering, but I think I will get it next time.  I also forgot about Fantasia, thanks for the reminder.  These other ones regarding Bugs Bunny are also great ideas, I will look into fiding them.


Thanks a lot, and I am happy to hear more if people think of other good ones.


m1469 
 

[dinosaurtales]

And Woody Woodpecker did a piano bit as I recall - I think he also did the Hungarian #2.

Where can you find these things on a video?  Some of them are classics!

[abell88]

I complete forgot to mention Fantasia. No piano if i remember but every child should watch it.

Fantasia 2 has Rhapsody in Blue, I believe -- one of the best episodes of the DVD.

[sleepingcats]

I have the 5 comic books at the site below. They're so funny! I don't know if they'd be too hard for a 6 year-old - I don't know much about kids (I have cats)

https://petercoraggio.com/illustrated-books/index.htm

[m1469]

I have the 5 comic books at the site below. They're so funny! I don't know if they'd be too hard for a 6 year-old - I don't know much about kids (I have cats)

https://petercoraggio.com/illustrated-books/index.htm

Thanks, sleepingcats, for your suggestion.  These look interesting.  I will look into getting them and checked out a little snippet on the site.  Hmmmmm, that piano teacher is a bit babed out , wouldn't you say ? .... LOL.


m1469


ps-  I hope I did not wake you 

[kghayesh]

Did anybody mention the great Bugs Bunny's Rhapsody Rabbit???

It is the best piano cartoon ever. I am sure most of you know it, it is when he plays Hungarian Rhapsody #2 (It seems that cartoon makers were Liszt fans  )

I would really recommend this one.

[BoliverAllmon]

daffy and donald duck play the HR2 in who framed roger rabbit. Fantasia 2000 has first mvt. to the shostakovich PC 2 and the Rhapsody.

[allthumbs]

Greetings

Another great Bugs Bunny episode is the Wagner one...with Elmer Fudd singing, "Oh, Bwunnhiwde, you'we so wuvewy," and Bugs (all dolled up and on the back of an amazing horse) answering, "Yes, I know it, I can't help it." Etc. It makes me happy just to think about it (even though it does have a suitably operatic tragic end).

Man, I loved that one, Elmer Fudd with his eloquent diction. Bugs Bunny with the overdone lipstick and wig.

Bugs also has the overture to the Barber of Seville: "Welcome to my shop, let me cut your mop, let me snip and chop, Daintily, daintily..."

Another great cartoon!

By the way, I think Bugs is impersonating Leopold Stokowski in the one that was already mentioned. (Everyone excitedly whispers, "Leopold!" as he comes in.)

Yes, I forgot that part.

Wow, I guess we watch a lot of Bugs Bunny around here...it does use a lot of classical music.

Those were great classics! I'm dating myself here, but no one can beat the Disney cartoons from the 40's, 50's and maybe even the 60's for originality, wit and just plain hilarity.

Mel Blanc, who did a lot of the voices of the characters in those cartoons, was a supreme talent. The story lines and quality of drawing can't be reproduced today, due to the prohibitive production costs that would be required to match the Disney cartoons of that era.

I have to make a confession, I still watch these great cartoons when I get a chance as they were not only meant for children, but had underlying themes and references that adults could have a laugh at as well.



Cheers

allthumbs

[leahcim]

Those were great classics! I'm dating myself here, but no one can beat the Disney cartoons from the 40's, 50's and maybe even the 60's for originality, wit and just plain hilarity.

Mel Blanc, who did a lot of the voices of the characters in those cartoons, was a supreme talent. The story lines and quality of drawing can't be reproduced today, due to the prohibitive production costs that would be required to match the Disney cartoons of that era.

Did Mel Blanc do voices for Disney? The cartoons I associate him with [Bugs Bunny et al] are from Warner Bros. aren't they?

I beg to differ w.r.t to the quality - there's plenty of quality animation these days - Wallis and Gromit, and the computer generated stuff for example.

[allthumbs]

Did Mel Blanc do voices for Disney? The cartoons I associate him with [Bugs Bunny et al] are from Warner Bros. aren't they?

I beg to differ w.r.t to the quality - there's plenty of quality animation these days - Wallis and Gromit, and the computer generated stuff for example.

You're absolutely right, I stand corrected.

Cheers

allthumbs

[diegosmom]

This one is fun too:

Pontoffel Pock & His Magic Piano (a Dr. Seuss cartoon). It's out on DVD. It's a musical cartoon about a pickle factory worker who gets to visit faraway places with a magical flying piano, and he has to play the right key combination to get it to work.

[Jacey1973]

Greetings

I don't know about playing the piano, but Bugs Bunny did do some conducting. I remember a cartoon where a tenor was on stage singing and Bugs gets up there on the podium, looks towards the TV audience, raises his eyebrows a couple of times and grins mischievously. He then proceeds to raise his hand high and low in the air with the tenor following him in pitch. Bugs then raises his hand way up in the air and holds it there waving it in time to the tenors vibrato. The tenor eventually starts to look in discomfort. Bugs pulls his hand out of the glove (which remains suspended in the air waving - don't you just love cartoon's suspension of the laws of gravity!) and goes away to do something else while the hapless tenor continues to hold the note.

By now the tenor is starting to turn deeper shades of red and now looks in deep distress. His shirt collar pops undone, his clothes start to unravel and eventually the concert hall falls down around him. Bugs comes back, slips his hand back into the glove and finishes the piece. Great stuff!

Cheers 

I'm sure there this bugs bunny cartoon was on ITV on Sat (i was baby sitting so watching kids stuff on tv at the time)- but it was just him conducting an orchestra, i only caught the beginning so it might have had a tenor in it later on.

Does anyone remember a cartoon on CBBC a few years ago called "Oscar's orchestra"? I think i was at school at the time so it might have been a while ago, but i used to love it. Oscar was a grand piano who was trying to fight back against this evil dictator type guy who had banned all music - he had other musical instrument characters helping him - just found this link:

https://www.toonhound.com/oscarsorchestra.htm



Lol, i would love to watch it again but it hasn't been on in years i don't think.

[m1469]

OKay, thank you very much for the continued responses and suggestions here.  I have now received the four things that I have ordered and have had some good success with two of them so far (I will be launching the other two shortly). 

I am wondering something along these lines though... I want to introduce these things in ways that are more subtle than me just handing them whatever and saying "here, have a look at this".  Does anybody have any ideas ?  I mean... is that the only way ?  I want my students to somehow just kinda come upon it... and take an interest.  Like it is just everyday, normal life stuff.  hmmmmm.....



m1469



ps- please feel free to continue adding anything you may think of along the lines of stuff I can order and so on... I LOVE this stuff (he he)

[tocca]

Might be a bit over the head of a six year old, but maybe for later. Find some of Victor Borges shows!
I know i loved them as a kid (still do too).

Many of his jokes are simple visual stuff, like when he puts the sheet upside down and play backwards or stuff like that which a six year old might appreciate.

[m1469]

I just happend upon this site.  It has a large variety of books made especially for kids, dealing with a number of different aspects of music, including specific composers and a number of other things.  Keep scrolling down through the artwork to find more.  There is also recommended recordings and so on.

I am including the link which goes straight to the bibliography page (complete with midi recordings sounding as you browse... he he), but one can explore the overall site by clicking on other links.

Books and things for kids :

https://www.belmont.k12.ma.us/class_pages/laroche/music/bibliography.htm
(children's books and a lot more)

Thanks for all of your suggestions along these lines, and if you visit this site, I hope you enjoy !


m1469

[m1469]

Okay, I just have to say that what I have purchased of these suggestions here have worked like a charm !  Like a charm I tell ya'.

Now, here is something hilarious to me that I simply have to share with the great beyond... he he.

My little 6 year old watched Tom and Jerry's Yohann Mouse and The Cat Concerto about a month ago, and suddenly this week she breaks out with stretching her arms and hands way out in front of her as she sits down, then reshutting her music (so she can open it herself) and then opening it up again (even if she had done the same thing a little bit before), then further situating it (apparently something like Tom does).  She spent the entire lesson doing this on Tuesday.  I asked her where she learned it from and indeed it was the cartoon.  LOL, what a kick.


m1469 

[danyal]

I never knew there were any video's of Victor Borge. I thought all the records of him and stuff were just audio... Does anyone have it that would be prepared to send it to me??

Thanks,
Danyal

[tompilk]

Either use bittorrent and search for Victor Borge... there is an hour and a half video I downloaded two days ago of him...
Here is the hungarian rhapsody link:
https://rapidshare.de/files/5833261/Victor_Borge_-_Hungarian_Rhapsody__2_duet.avi.html
I was crying with laughter at the end of HR2!!! Lol

[lagin]

I can hear your link, but I can't SEE it

Where can I download the hour and half video??

Help me Tom!  Pleassssssseeeeee

[tompilk]

Seeing the video is 710 mb im sorry that I can't upload it... but download bittorrent or bitcomet https://www.bitcomet.com and use the torrent file:
https://www.torrentreactor.net/download.php?id=5094482
Open it in bitcomet and it should start to download... but it may take a day because it is a huge file... totally legal program as well... hope this helps... tell me if it doesn't...

[tompilk]

For the previous hungarian rhapsody of borge then youll need to download the latest version of media player or the codec to have the picture displayed...

[jamie_liszt]

download eMule, also has alot of great downloads with this kinda stuff, ive downloaded alot of cartoon piano stuff!

[danyal]

aaaaaaaggggghhhhh...

I started downloading the 710MB video... 2 days ago. Its still going to take another week... or so it says anyway. AND I use dsl. hummmmm... 

[tompilk]

It took me 4 days.. the speed will speed up probably!!! Ill seed it for you so that it downloads quicker...

[jamie_liszt]

Yeh it takes me about 4 days do download a 600 mb file, i leave me computer on over night to download, it goes by quicker, but in the end its worth the wait..

[jehangircama]

the CAT CONCERTO is da BEST 
also Johann Mouse and a Tom and Jerry kids show which has the military polonaise. besides there are episodes with the fantaise impromptu and the valse brilliante in the older version.
there is also an orchestral one where die flamederius (forgive the spelling plz) is played

[danyal]

tum tee tum tee tum tee tum.... 14 days downloading time left...

[danyal]

It took me 4 days.. the speed will speed up probably!!! Ill seed it for you so that it downloads quicker...

Please do so... Its not doing anything... and its becoming rather frustrating...

[jamie_liszt]

patience..

lol tom and jerry hungarian rhapsody no 2..

[m1469]

Well, I pulled up a page on Amazon where it lists book after book (children's books) of music related subjects for kids to enjoy.  I just thought I would plop the link here.  By the way, these books have become very popular with my youngies, one of my six year olds does not ever leave a lesson without one (all of her own deciding).  it seems they are a very good investment.



https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/2884/ref=br_bx_c_1_1/103-8778550-3767860
(For Classical Music)

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/2889/ref=br_bx_c_2_0/103-8778550-3767860
(For Jazz)


m1469