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Symphony in Slang

  • 1951
  • Approved
  • 7m
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
1.1K
YOUR RATING
Symphony in Slang (1951)
Screwball ComedyAnimationComedyFamilyShort

At the gates of Heaven, the admitting officials have a hard time understanding a newcomer's life story with all his contemporary slang.At the gates of Heaven, the admitting officials have a hard time understanding a newcomer's life story with all his contemporary slang.At the gates of Heaven, the admitting officials have a hard time understanding a newcomer's life story with all his contemporary slang.

  • Director
    • Tex Avery
  • Writer
    • Rich Hogan
  • Star
    • John Brown
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.6/10
    1.1K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Tex Avery
    • Writer
      • Rich Hogan
    • Star
      • John Brown
    • 16User reviews
    • 2Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos12

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    Top cast1

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    John Brown
    • The Hipster
    • (voice)
    • (uncredited)
    • …
    • Director
      • Tex Avery
    • Writer
      • Rich Hogan
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews16

    7.61K
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    Featured reviews

    1063x927is58401

    Tex Avery's Symphony In Slang Is my All-Time Favorite. It is An Animation Masterpiece

    Tex Avery is my all-time animation writer & director. Symphony In Slang is my all-time favorite cartoon. If I could , I would rate it one-hundred stars. Cartoon writer, Rich Hogan done the best work in Symphony In Slang, putting together at least sixty slang clichés & the animation that shows as the voice, John Brown, perfectly said numerous slang terms, throughout this all-time classic cartoon. Tex Avery's mind of continuous & numerous creations throughout his career, at any studio, is definitely that of an animation genius. Tex Avery's works & animation creations are extremely unique, especially during his fourteen plus years at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In my dictionary, Symphony In Slang is Extremely & Hysterically Humorous, from beginning to end!
    8SnoopyStyle

    fun and imaginative

    A new fellow arrives at Heaven's Gate. The guardian is unable to understand his new slang and brings him to Noah Webster, the master of the dictionary.

    This Tex Avery short reminds me that he's the one who coined the phrase What's Up Doc, a local teen slang from his school days. This is fun and imaginative. I love the cat closing.
    JohnnyJohnHildegaard

    A very funny short.

    Symphony in Slang is a clever MGM cartoon created by the surrealtic Tex Avery. Which also the short is also surrealistic. They find a dead guy on heaven tell his story to Noah Webster and they don't get his language (slang). Things like "I was with a silver spoon in my mouth" or "I was really in a pickle, the proprietor drew a gun on me, but I gave him the slip, and hid in the foot hills". It's very creative. Tex Avery has always been a great creator of animation.
    9tavm

    Watch all the literal gags fly by in Symphony in Slang!

    I had first seen this Tex Avery cartoon from M-G-M on the Tom & Jerry show on weekday afternoons during the late '70s. In this one, a man enters Heaven puzzling St. Peter and Noah Webster with his various slang terms when telling his life story. I'll just now say that the literal gags come fast and furious with each slang word the guy mentions and one would have to watch this cartoon more than once to get all of them! Anyway, this was one of the most hilarious of Avery's shorts I've ever seen! So on that note, Symphony in Slang is highly recommended.
    9boblipton

    Greetings, Gate

    A jitterbugger shows up at the Pearly Gates, and tries to tell St. Peter the story of his life. But he speaks only in slang, which Peter interprets literally.

    It's a very nice example of Tex Avery's ability to fill a cartoon with so many gags that you can't help but laugh. Some are good, some are unremarkable, some are very funny, but the sheer volume keeps you laughing throughout.

    Like many of Avery's cartoons, you get the impression that the structure of the story is determined by the fact this is a six-minute cartoon, and he could keep it up for hours on end.

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    Related interests

    Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal in What's Up, Doc? (1972)
    Screwball Comedy
    Daveigh Chase, Rumi Hiiragi, and Mari Natsuki in Spirited Away (2001)
    Animation
    Will Ferrell in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
    Comedy
    Drew Barrymore and Pat Welsh in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
    Family
    Benedict Cumberbatch in The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (2023)
    Short

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's animation Producer, Fred Quimby, originally was opposed to making this cartoon. However, animation director, Tex Avery, used his witty vocabulary and convinced Quimby by telling him that there was nothing else ready at the time for animation production.
    • Quotes

      The Hipster: I died laughing.

    • Connections
      Featured in Toon in with Me: Hazardous Henry (2021)
    • Soundtracks
      On Green Dolphin Street
      Music by Bronislau Kaper

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 16, 1951 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Nimm's wörtlich!
    • Production companies
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Cartoon Studios
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 7m
    • Sound mix
      • Mono(Western Electric Sound System, original release)
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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