I Love to Singa (1936)

Sadly Over-hyped

Expected more

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Here we have an 8-minute cartoon by Tex Avery early in his career. He was actually not even 30 when he made this. The animal characters are owls this time, not too common in the world of animation and cartoons. Father Owl is a renowned classical musician and is delighted to see baby owls with talent for opera, violin and flute see the light of day. However, owl number 4 seems to have a talent for jazz and no teaching lessons in more traditional singing make a difference. So he chases him out of the house. Really over the top, mother Owl is right. And then everything goes as expected: the little owl shows up at a talent show and impresses the juror so much that he gets first prize. Father Owl comes to the event too with the rest of the family and everybody bonds again and the little owl is allowed back into the family. The animation is fine for almost 80 years ago, the music is okay and the story isn't bad either, but very generic. Yet there is nothing somewhat impressive or surprising in this short film and it just vanishes into the mass of cartoons made in the 1930s and 1940s. Nothing stands out here. Not recommended. Avery certainly got better with age.

Tex Avery's 'I Love to Singa' is a cartoon which confounds expectations about both Avery's work and Warner Bros. cartoons in general. At this early stage in their development, the Merrie Melodies series of cartoons were an attempt to rival the prestige colour cartoons of Walt Disney, often by emulating them. Thus 'I Love to Singa' is full of cute, wide-eyed characters and a sweet, slow-moving plot. However, it's what Avery does with these character that makes 'I Love to Singa' a mini-masterpiece. A parody of 'The Jazz Singer', 'I Love to Singa' stars a baby owl named Owl Jolson, a jazz lover born into a family of classical musicians. When an over-zealous Papa Owl throws his son out for insisting on singing jazz, Owl Jolson goes on to win a radio talent contest and, subsequently, the approval of his family. This thinnest of plots is infused with enormous appeal through Avery's mixture of strikingly handsome, warm visuals and hilarious character comedy. The cartoon is nearly stolen by a stammering hillbilly bird and his laboured rendition of Simple Simon but ultimately 'I Love to Singa' belongs to Owl Jolson, a character who manages to be cute without being cloying. Every time he opens his mouth to sing, 'I Love to Singa' positively lights up. While you won't find any of the anarchic humour associated with Warner Bros. or the 100mph pacing and exaggerated reaction shots associated with Avery here, what you will find is an exceptional example of great storytelling and charming character comedy. 'I Love to Singa', while too sweet for some viewers, is a true classic in my eyes and I adore it more ever time I see it.

I hate to burst anyone up there on Cloud 9 with the love for this short. But the simple fact of the matter is that this is just a slightly above average Looney Tune short. It's far more cute than it is funny and it's far indeed from Tex Avery's best work. Now that being said I do enjoy this short up to a point, but come on doesn't the Owl know another song? I know Al certainly did. I have no clue why this Looney Tunes short above others seems to be praised to the high heavens. I'm sure someone will fill me in on something i'm missing though. This animated short can be seen on Disc 4 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2.My Grade: C+

I saw this cartoon for the first time when I was under the age of ten, didn't know it was a "movie spoof" (which is mentioned in other sources)until I became an adult. It is one of my favorite cartoon shorts of all time (and I'm over 50, though not as old as this 'toon!) The "tune" sung by "Owl Jolson" gets stuck in your head once your mind wanders that way! I haven't seen the cartoon in several years, but I find myself remembering it fondly! Love it! Love it! Love it! I was also surprised to find that one of the voices is done by a former child star who was part of the "Our Gang/Li'l Rascals" films. If you are a "baby boomer" like me and haven't seen this classic cartoon, you are truly missing a gem...another "obscure" music-related cartoon favorite: "Russian Rhapsody" (with "Gremlins from the Kremlin")