Magical Maestro is a 1952 animated short film directed by Tex Avery and produced by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio. It tells the story of Poochini, a canine opera singer who spurns a magician. The magician is able to replace Poochini's normal conductor prior to the show through disguise. The cartoon features a story by Rich Hogan, with voices by Daws Butler and Carlos Ramírez. Magical Maestro has been deemed "culturally significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. 1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Frederick Bean Fred/Tex Avery (Wednesday, February 26, 1908 – Tuesday, August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, and director, famous for producing animated cartoons during the Golden Age of Hollywood. ... A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon opening title, from the 1940s. ... Daws Butler in 1976. ... Carlos Ramirez celebrating a goal Carlos Alberto Ramírez Castillo (born November 6, 1976 in Mexico City) is a Mexican football player who, as of 2006 was playing for UANL Tigres. ... The Library of Congress is the de facto national library of the United States and the research arm of the United States Congress. ... The National Film Registry is the registry of films selected by the United States National Film Preservation Board for preservation in the Library of Congress. ...

Plot

Mysto the Magician appeals to a snobbish opera singer, the Great Poochini (a pun on opera composer Giacomo Puccini), to let him perform an opening act at the show that night. Mysto's tricks primarily come from his magic wand, which can summon flowers and rabbits. Poochini kicks Mysto out the door. The Teatro alla Scala in Milan. ... A pun (also known as paronomasia) is a figure of speech, or word play which consists of a deliberate confusion of similar words within a phrase or phrases for rhetorical effect, whether humorous or serious. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (December 22, 1858 – November 29, 1924) was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire. ... Wildflowers A flower is the reproductive organ of those plants classified as angiosperms ( flowering plants; Division Magnoliophyta). ... Genera Pentalagus Bunolagus Nesolagus Romerolagus Brachylagus Sylvilagus Oryctolagus Poelagus Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae, found in many parts of the world. ...

Mysto sees a poster for the performance and is struck with inspiration—he freezes the conductor, steals his tuxedo, nose, and facial hair, then takes his place in front of the orchestra to conduct the Great Poochini. A conductor conducting a band at a ceremony A conductors score and batons Conducting is the act of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. ... Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and U.S. President Ronald Reagan wearing black tie with wives in Quebec, Canada, March 18, 1985. ...

During the performance in which Poochini sings Largo al factotum from Gioacchino Rossini's The Barber of Seville, Mysto unleashes a variety of tricks upon Poochini with his magic wand. He begins by summoning rabbits and flowers. Then he puts Poochini in a ballet tutu. Mysto's revenge gets more brutal as he throws a cymbal on Poochini's head, turning him Chinese (see below), then transforming him into a country singer. After levitating Poochini to the ceiling and slamming him down to the stage, Mysto turns him into a square dance caller. Poochini actually continues his performance for a good 20 seconds after this without interruption, except for the "hair gag" (see below). Poochini is then transformed into a Shirley Temple–esque child, then a Carmen Miranda–looking singer (complete with a rabbit accompanying her on guitar). Unexpectedly, an audience member gets into the act when he sprays black ink on Poochini and drops an anvil on his head (see below). A rabbit hoses Poochini off and the fun continues as he is transformed into a Hawaiian singer with two rabbits for harmony. Mysto's plan comes to an end when Poochini spots his wig falling off. Mysto makes a run for it, but Poochini grabs the magic wand, puts Mysto on stage, and unleashes the same gimmicks on the hapless magician. Largo al factotum is Figaros aria from The Barber of Seville by Gioacchino Rossini. ... Portrait Gioacchino Antonio Rossini (February 29, 1792 – November 13, 1868)[1] was an Italian musical composer who wrote more than 30 operas as well as sacred music and chamber music. ... The Barber of Seville (Il barbiere di Siviglia) is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto (based on Beaumarchaiss comedy Le Barbier de Séville) by Cesare Sterbini. ... Painting of ballet dancers by Edgar Degas, 1872. ... For the Japanese rock band, see Cymbals (band). ... Square dance is often used as a general term for modern Western square dance. ... Shirley Jane Temple (born April 23, 1928) later known as Shirley Temple Black, is an American former child actress. ... Carmen Miranda, pron. ... An ink is a liquid containing various pigments and/or dyes used for coloring a surface to render an image or text. ... If you want the band called Anvil, please go to Anvil (band) A blacksmith working iron with a hammer and anvil An anvil is a manufacturing tool, made of a hard and massive block of stone or metal used as a support for chiseling and hammering other objects, such as... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A wand consists of a thin, straight, hand-held stick of wood, ivory or metal, approximately a foot long and up to an inch in circumference. ...

History

The concept of cartoons with insinuating situations is hardly new—Tex Avery especially featured a few quick jokes of this nature in his cartoons. Magical Maestro, for example, shows Poochini with a male and female rabbit on each arm. He lowers his arms and when he raises them again, he now has a dozen baby rabbits on them.

This cartoon features a gimmick only seen in Tex Avery films, the "hair gag". Because cartoons were shown originally in movie theatres, it was not uncommon for a hair to get caught in the reel or in the projector. Sometimes it would skitter across the projection light, resulting in a gigantic hair appearing on the movie screen. Avery made many a projectionist nuts by simulating one of these random hairs in this and a couple of other cartoons. In this cartoon, the opera singer pauses mid-song to pluck the offending hair from the film and tosses it aside, one of Avery's many ways of his characters breaking the fourth wall. Projectors are used for displaying an image on a projection screen or similar surface for the view of an audience. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Cartoon Network edits

This cartoon was presented uncut until the late 1990s, when Cartoon Network edited out segments considered to be offensive. The two segments cut out of the present television print are: Cartoon Network (commonly referred to as CN) is a cable television network created by Turner Broadcasting which primarily shows animated programming. ...

• The opera singer is transformed into a Chinese stereotype when a cymbal is thrown on his head by the conductor, simulating the coolie hat which is wide and flat, with a point in the top. A repeat of this gag near the end of the cartoon (as the conductor is forced to sing and turns into the characters that the singer was turned to thanks to the magic wand) was also cut.

• An irritated audience member in a box seat right above the stage shows his distaste for the performance by spraying ink from a pen into the singer's face, leaving him looking like a blackface singer in the style of The Ink Spots. When this doesn't shut the singer up, the audience member drops an anvil on the singer's head, squashing him down and rendering him with a deeper voice, turning him into a pygmy.

For the Japanese rock band, see Cymbals (band). ... A wide, round hat of Chinese origin. ... This reproduction of a 1900 minstrel show poster, originally published by the Strobridge Litho Co. ... The Ink Spots were a popular black vocal group that helped define the musical genre that led to rhythm & blues and rock and roll, and the subgenre doo-wop. ...

Influence

The "hair gag" would later be used by English comedian Benny Hill in the closing chase sequence of his April 25, 1984 show. As he is being chased by medical staff and an ambulance in and around a hospital area, he notices a hair moving around the bottom right corner of the screen, and at a certain point stops his pursuers long enough for him to pluck the hair out before the chase resumes. Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto)1 Unified  -  by Athelstan 927 AD  Area  -  Total... A comedian, or comic, is an entertainer who amuses an audience by making them laugh. ... Alfred Hawthorn Hill (21 January 1924 – 20 April 1992), better known as Benny Hill, was a prolific English comic, actor and singer, best known for his television programme, The Benny Hill Show. ... is the 115th day of the year (116th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar). ...

External links

• Magical Maestro at the Internet Movie Database