Title: Jasper's Music Lesson
Studio: George Pal
Date: 05/21/43
Credits: Originated and Produced by George Pal
Series: Madcaps Models/Puppetoon
Running time (of viewed version): 7:49
Commercial DVD Availability: -
Synopsis: Jasper and the scarecrow play some piano.
Comments: Interesting camera pull out. Jasper has a bust of Chopin on his piano. The scarecrow comes very near to a screw in the rear. There's a bit about Joe Louis; however, I have trouble hearing the audible jokes due to the dodgy sound quality, the accents, and as I have a misting humidifier going as I write this. "These white keys is alright for dem scales, but you got to get up on de black ones for the hot stuff". The scarecrow is an accomplished pianist. An audience full of tuxedoed Jaspers, and a tuxedoed scarecrow playing the piano. Whenever Pal uses monolithic backgrounds, the shots are impressive. The cluttered sets aren't as satisfying; the big screen may have made the cluttered shots better. The scarecrow seems much less menacing in this entry. Talk of rationing Jasper's bad playing. Pal liked reflections. There is a set of shots pulling out in progression; that is, a shot does not pull out, but there is a shot, then a shot from further away, then another shot from even further away. It feels unusual for the time (I think of it as a late '60s/early '70s technique). I wonder why the mammies in animation are so often headless. White mothers often are as well, but not to the same extent. (Maybe they were to the same extent in kid centered cartoons from the same time period; might be worth looking into).
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