Like the tornado that blows through at the conclusion, The Band Concert is a whirlwind of animation and an incredibly entertaining artistic marvel in the extensive catalog of Disney short subjects.
This year marks the 90th anniversary of this milestone cartoon. Not only is it the first Mickey Mouse short produced in color, but it’s also brimming with character animation that would help solidify the famous Disney characters’ personalities, as well as sight gags and effects that allow the talents of the Disney artists to be on full display.
The Band Concert, directed by Wilfred Jackson, opens with conductor Mickey and his orchestra, which includes Goofy, Clarabelle Cow, and Horace Horsecollar, who have just finished playing a segment from Zampa by Louis Joseph Ferdinand Hérold and are receiving thunderous applause.
They then break into “The William Tell Overture,” by Gioachino Rossini, which is soon interrupted by vendor Donald Duck, who sells popcorn and peanuts. Mischievous Donald breaks out his flute and decides to join in, but as Mickey and the gang continue with the “Overture,” Donald plays “Turkey in the Straw” on the flute.
The orchestra joins in with Donald instead of continuing with “William Tell,” which angers Mickey, who breaks Donald’s flute. But the crafty Duck has other flutes up his sleeve and continues to break them out, distracting the orchestra, and Mickey continues to break them.
Donald still tries to change the orchestra’s tune, but Goofy hooks him with the trombone. A bee buzzes around Mickey, and as he attempts to swat it, the orchestra takes this as a musical cue.
Mickey then comes to “The Storm” section of the overture just as a tornado rips through the park. The audience, along with the anthropomorphic benches, run for cover. Mickey and his orchestra keep playing, getting swept in the whirlwind of the storm, soaring high in the air, and then, one by one, coming back down to earth, each landing on the branch of a tree.
All the while, they never stop playing. After Horace sounds the final symbol crash, the only one left to applaud is Donald, who pulls out his flute and begins in on “Turkey in the Straw” again until the band members throw their battered instruments at him.
It’s perfect that Jackson directed The Band Concert, as the short is almost a preview of how the Disney artists would combine music and animation five years later in Fantasia. Jackson played a major role in that groundbreaking feature, directing the indelible “Night on Bald Mountain” segment.
With legendary Disney Studio talents, such as Wolfgang Reitherman, Les Clark, Clyde Geronimi, and Jack Hannah, among others, working on The Band Concert, the music (adapted here by Leigh Harline) is paired perfectly with the animation.
This is seen early on, as Mickey cues up the “Overture,” the characters sway and bounce in perfect time with the musical notes. Later, when Mickey has an ice cream cone thrown down the back of his shirt, he shimmies to the background music of a snake charmer dance.
The artists also incorporate great sight gags in between the music cues. When Mickey turns the page of the music to “The Storm” section of “The William Tell Overture,” an overwhelming amount of music notes appear on the page, spilling off onto added pieces of paper that hang off the side.
That moment of comedy hints at the tremendous finale that’s to come in The Band Concert. Mickey and the gang are swept up into the tornado, with the maestro in the middle of the funnel and the musicians swirling around him as the tornado rears up.
They all continue to play, and the music continues on the soundtrack in a moment of animation that truly is, well, a force of nature. In the center, Mickey stays focused on the music, waving his baton as he soars through windows and doors of houses that have been sent into the sky. The orchestra members swirl by him and past the camera, layer upon layer of action that is overwhelming and exhilarating to watch.
Since its release in February of 1935, The Band Concert has secured its place as an iconic moment in Mickey Mouse’s filmography and has a tremendous legacy in animation history.
In 1994, the short rightly earned a spot in Jerry Beck’s book, The 50 Greatest Cartoons, at number three.
In the book, noted author and film historian Leonard Maltin sums up why this Disney short is still remembered: “The Band Concert is a perfectly realized cartoon that manages to blend music, comedy, personality animation, dramatic action, and storytelling into a seamless whole. I’ve always felt that it was the natural drama of “The William Tell Overture” that inspired Walt Disney and his staff to such incredible heights. It’s certainly one of their finest achievements – a great, great cartoon.”
• You can watch THE BAND CONCERT online if you CLICK HERE.
