“It Ain’t Over Till the Fat Lady Sings” - The Use of Imagery Through Animation and Music

It may seem rather innocuous, but the single image of “the fat lady” has been a recurrent

thorn in the side of classical music, musicians and classical music lovers worldwide. Some

years ago, I asked one or two of my piano pupils to define classical music. One of the

pupils sang his own rendition of Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries. I asked why he chose this

particular piece. All I got was a shrug and the innocent reply of “Bugs Bunny”. It came as

no surprise.

On reflection, it is my belief that most children’s (and some adult’s) first encounter with

classical music may come from cartoons. I myself was inspired to play piano after

watching Tom playing Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in The Cat Concerto (1947). Yet

one thing I find quite odd, talking to non-musicians, is how much they believe classical

musicians (most notably opera singers) are as they are presented in these cartoons:

snooty, pompous, overweight, ego-maniacs and so forth. See figure 1. I still laugh every

time I see Bugs Bunny bringing the house down, literally, on top of Giovanni Jones in Long

Haired Hare (1948) but I am still surprised at the influence animation has in creating a

musical stereotype. What’s Opera, Doc? (1957) lasted just under seven minutes, but it

created an everlasting image which, to many people, personifies opera and classical

music. Yet would we think differently of these animated characters if a different type of

music were used?

Figure 1: Giovanni Jones from Long Haired Hare (1948) and an example of a

stereotypical opera singer from The Simpsons (1990)

Take, for example, Jessica Rabbit from the 1988 comedy Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The

film is set in Hollywood, 1947 and parodies numerous elements of the film noir genre: the

private detective story, the arch-villain and the mysterious yet sexy femme fatale. The

music in this movie essentially shapes Jessica’s character and how we perceive her.

Jessica is the singer in the Ink & Paint Club, a secret club run and operated by Toons. Her

appearance is notably not what one may describe as a “Toon”; she is not an animal of any

kind, nor is she some kind of fictional monster. Her personality is not “Toonish” in that she

is calm and controlled. She is drawn as a normal human, though with noticeably enhanced

differences. Her appearance is clearly trying to mimic that of the femme fatales or the film

noir era and sex symbols, for example, Marilyn Monroe. She is accompanied throughout

the film by “cool jazz”, and, when the audience is first introduced to her, she flirts with the

audience while singing the 1942 hit Why Don’t You Do Right? The song is thought of as a

“woman’s blues” due to its lyrics and themes.1

1 The song, written by Kansas Joe McCoy, is sung from a woman’s perspective. In the song, the character

states how her husband had “...plenty money in 1922...” but he spent it on other women and lovers. They

took advantage of him and left him with nothing. Now that he has nothing, the women show no interest in

him. The song ends with the character telling her husband to go out and get a job to support her “...like some

other men do.”

Yet if Jessica were to sing an aria from a opera, which may have exactly the same themes,

it is likely that we as an audience would perceive Jessica completely differently as the

connotations associated with jazz music and classical music differ greatly.

The idea of using different genres of music to showcase a character differently was carried

into The Aviator animation. While the soundtrack was primarily orchestral and could be

described as a “traditional” animation score, there are sections where by the music

deliberately and quite obviously changes to draw our attention to a different aspect of the

caterpillar’s character, and to highlight a particular situation. When we see the caterpillar

jumping off the table for example, the music takes an extreme turn, going from a delicate

piano and string line to a heavy, percussive driven rock piece. Through a combination of

facial expressions and music, the audience is led to believe that the caterpillar is brimming

with confidence and has no fear about jumping off an incredibly high table. From a film

makers perspective, this sequence’s beginning is a somewhat parody of The Matrix (1999)

when we see the main character, Neo, jumping off of an incredibly tall building. See figure

2. To an audience, this act could be considered “extreme” (or even “cool”) and, by that

logic, can be accompanied by what one could describe “extreme” (or “cool”) music when

compared to what has been heard prior. Had the music remained orchestral, a loud and

rhythmically driven piece of music may have been achieved. However we as an audience

may not have thought of the character or the situation as being a great deal more

dangerous than the first attempt as the music shares a number of stylistic qualities.

Figure 2: Neo jumping form the top of the building (The Matrix, 1999) and the

caterpillar imitating.

In the way the last example was a parody of The Matrix, the second musical example is

also a parody and showcases the associations one particular piece of music can have. As

the caterpillar is attempting to fly the paper plane, the music begins, playing a pastiche of

Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries. While it was a well known piece in the concert hall, it’s use

in Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (1979) catapulted it into the public spotlight

and has consequently been parodied in a number of mediums since. Due to the attention

the piece of music received from being used in Apocalypse Now, it is difficult to

disassociate it from what it represents in the movie; war, fear, and flying. Its use in The

Aviator seems almost essential. While the first two points are not relevant to the animation,

flying plays an important role in The Aviator. By creating a pastiche of this piece, a sense

of power is created, giving the impression that the character is bound to succeed. Alas, he

does not. Yet there are more pieces of music which have been associated with flying over

the years which could have been parodied. Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins was the title

song of the 1986 film Top Gun. Had this piece been parodied in The Aviator instead of the

Ride of the Valkyries, it can be guaranteed that an audience would have approached the

character of the caterpillar differently. We would not have viewed him, or his escape plan,

as powerful and confident. Instead (depending on one’s love of Top Gun) we may have

viewed him as being smooth, cool and confident.

Figure 3: The caterpillar takes flight, while Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries

accompanies the choppers in Apocalypse Now (1979)

When combined with a visual medium, music has an overwhelming ability to influence our

judgement of a person, place or an object. Unlike words or speech, music can instantly

transport an audience to a different time period, country or mindset. It is this ability which

makes music so crucial in films. Animation is no exception. As discussed, the type of music

used can have an overwhelming affect on the film, as each type of music (and even a

single piece depending on its popularity) brings with it certain connotations and semiotics

which, due to their portrayal in the media, an audience associates with and sticks by. It is

ironic in a way that it is largely due to the animated cartoons from the Golden Era, a

medium which primarily used classical and orchestral music, that we still perceive the

image of the fat lady to be the personification of classical music. The connotations

associated with the genre have been parodied and exaggerated so often in animation that

people perceive it to be the norm. If one were to follow this idea literally, then all classical

singers would be stuck up and overweight while jazz singers would be sexy, suave and

mysterious. Obviously, this is not the case and is merely a parody. As Walt Disney stated:

“All cartoon characters are fables must be exaggeration, caricatures. It is the very nature

of fantasy and fable.”

Bibliography

Goldmark, Daniel (2005) Tunes for ‘Toons, Berkeley & Los Angeles, California: University

of California Press

Inglis, Ian (2003) Popular Music and Film, London: Wallflower Press

References

Ann (2011) ‘It ain’t over till the fat lady sings’, Starship Asterisk* [weblog post] 7th June

2011, accessed on 24th April 2012, http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=23887

Apache (2011) Song Progression: Why Don’t You Do Right [weblog] accessed on 24th April

2012, http://taintwhatyoudo.wordpress.com/2011/06/04/song-progression-why-dont-you-

do-right/

Davies, Jim (1996) Q & A With Gary Wolf [online] accessed on 24th April 2012, http://

www.jimdavies.org/roger-rabbit/roger_rabbit_facts.html

MrMetzenator (2011) BUGS BUNNY – LONG HAIRED HARE (1949) [online video]

accessed on 24th April 2012, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5E6CPiMC8n4

TheBlues68 (2007) Apocalypse Now..Ride of the Valkyries [online video] accessed on 24th

April 2012, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz3Cc7wlfkI