The Bandmaster

. . . the Overture to Z-a-m-p-a is one of the most famous in all of Music History. THE BANDMASTER brilliantly relocates the action of this box office dud from the pirate realm to a circus big top tent. The sibling rivalry plot is wittily represented by the two-headed canine violinist here. Alice, the marble statue playing the female lead in the original version of this story, now becomes a hapless tightrope artist who initially loses her teeth, and later her hair, in a series of hilarious mishaps. The opera's buccaneer title character finds himself transformed into Benjamin, "the world's greatest high diver," who--despite Andy's best efforts--STILL plunges to his doom in the Underworld, in keeping with the beta trial's finale.

This short shows clear influences on the animators by the Disney short, The Band Concert. The styles of the two studios, however, were so markedly different that the two cartoons are both quite different and can both be enjoyed on their own merits. Excellent short well worth the time and effort to track down. Most recommended.