Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom
A crash course on the history of Western musical instruments.
1953 | 10m | English
Popularity: 0.6 (history)
| Director: | Charles August Nichols, Ward Kimball |
|---|---|
| Writer: | Dick Huemer |
| Staring: |
| In this short subject (which mostly represents a departure from Disney's traditional approach to animation), a stuffy owl teacher lectures his feathered flock on the origins of Western musical instruments. Starting with cavepeople, whose crude implements could only "toot, whistle, plunk and boom," the owl explains how these beginnings led to the development of the four basic types of Western musical instruments: brass, woodwinds, strings, and percussion. | |
| Release Date: | Nov 10, 1953 |
|---|---|
| Director: | Charles August Nichols, Ward Kimball |
| Writer: | Dick Huemer |
| Genres: | Animation |
| Keywords | adventures in music, music history, cinemascope, short film |
| Production Companies | Walt Disney Productions, Walt Disney Animation Studios |
| Box Office |
Revenue: $0
Budget: $0 |
| Updates |
Updated: Feb 02, 2025 Entered: Apr 20, 2024 |
| Name | Character |
|---|---|
| Bill Thompson | Professor Owl / Bertie Birdbrain |
| Loulie Jean Norman | Penelope Pinfeather |
| Gloria Wood | Susy Sparrow |
| Thurl Ravenscroft | The Mellomen |
| Name | Job |
|---|---|
| Art Stevens | Animation |
| Tom Oreb | Characters |
| Julius Svendsen | Animation |
| Henry Tanous | Animation |
| Xavier Atencio | Animation |
| Joseph Dubin | Original Music Composer |
| Kendall O'Connor | Art Direction |
| Charles August Nichols | Director |
| Eyvind Earle | Color Designer |
| Ward Kimball | Director, Animation |
| Dick Huemer | Story |
| Marc Davis | Animation |
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| Walt Disney | Producer |
| Organization | Category | Person |
|---|
Popularity History
| Year | Month | Avg | Max | Min |
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| 2024 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 3 |
| 2024 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 4 |
| 2024 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 3 |
| 2024 | 7 | 7 | 18 | 3 |
| 2024 | 8 | 6 | 11 | 4 |
| 2024 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 3 |
| 2024 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 3 |
| 2024 | 11 | 5 | 13 | 2 |
| 2024 | 12 | 5 | 9 | 3 |
| 2025 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 3 |
| 2025 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 |
| 2025 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 1 |
| 2025 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2025 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2025 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2025 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2025 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Trending Position
It's the professorial owl who is teaching his class all about musical instruments. It's manna from heaven for an animator as the entertainingly crafted lyrical narration (complete with slightly annoying singing) takes us all on a very basic lesson in musical onomatopoeia! It was the cavemen who star ... ted, rather monotonically, with a dead cow's horn. Next, for the Egyptians it's a different kind of "King Toot" who wants something altogether more sophisticated. Trumpets, dear reader. What happens when trumpets get beaten up; the curvy bits and varying lengths give it flexibility and huzzah, the horn was born. You've got the drift by now and as the other three principal sections of the orchestra: woodwind, strings (quite excruciatingly at times) and finally percussion get an the treatment this leads us to the synchronised, and thankfully more tuneful, modern orchestra. It's a bit too long, this, but it is still quite good fun as they even manage to squeeze the bagpipes in there. The singing doesn't get any better, though - sorry.