Little Toot

This is a short that was used to make up the full-length film from Disney, "Melody Time". Following WWII, Disney Studio was a mess--a terrible strike and the war (where many of the workers were drafted and many more were assigned to wartime animation work) decimated the studio and many of the old animators were gone. As a result, Disney did not get back to making traditional animated feature films for several years. In the meantime, their 'full-length' films were really odd compilations of shorts--and of a rather lackluster quality compared to earlier and later work.

Little Toot is a rather rambunctious and annoying little anthropomorphic tugboat. His goofy ways get him in trouble with other ships, such as his Dad, Big Toot. As a result of his bad ways, he's banished far off-shore and is frightened. Can he somehow redeem himself?! While this short is like the others in "Melody Time" because of all the singing (this time by the Andrews Sisters), it is quite different when it comes to the animation. The backgrounds and characters are much more detailed and richly animated--making this an exceptionally fine looking short film. In fact, it's almost too good for the otherwise lackluster film! I did not love the singing, but otherwise it was a lovely film.

This cartoon was originally part of Melody Time, an animated anthology of musical cartoons made by Disney. It's probably my favorite cartoon from that film. It's the absolutely adorable story of a little tugboat who wants to be like his father. He causes an accident in the harbor but gets the chance to redeem himself and make his papa proud. Great animation and wonderful singing from the Andrews Sisters. I just love their sound. I always have. Try to see Melody Time but if you don't have that much time, definitely watch this one. It's a few minutes out of your life and you'll get a big smile on your face in return. Little Toot is too cute!

Memorable (for me) simply because it was the first time my parents had taken me to a major London Theater - the Odeon, Leicester Square, if I remember correctly.

Little Toot was a baby tugboat, a strong-willed if not pesky little guy who just plain refused to listen to his dad and ended up causing all sorts of maritime mayhem before being grounded. The thrill of that day, looking up seeing Little Toot battling the waves in pursuit of glory, circumstances causing him to be the last hope of rescue for an adrift liner in "the perfect storm," was seared on my mind for all time. I remember less about THE MATRIX!

I fell in love with movies that day. Grab a child and start the cycle again!

I've loved reading the other comments because it was my dad (Hardie Gramatky) who wrote and illustrated the book from which Walt Disney made the animated feature that was part of "Melody Time" (I believe it was in 1948, by the way).

Walt Disney was like a father to my dad (who had lost his father in Dallas from tuberculosis when Dad was only 10, and then he and his mom and two brothers moved out to South San Gabriel, CA), and when Dad and Mom moved to NYC after six years working as an animator for Disney, Dad was one of only one or two former employees with whom Walt maintained a good relationship. In fact, after Little Toot was published in 1939, Walt really wanted to take a ride on a tugboat, and Dad arranged that with Eugene Moran (of Moran Towing) in 1945.

Walt Disney was a genius and he really understood why this mischievous little tugboat would continue to please generations of children 69 years later (2008). People still write me about how much the original book (a beautiful restored edition was published by Penguin Putnam last September, restoring the colors and art to what Dad created in the first edition) meant to them and how they can still remember the "Little Toot" song from "Melody Time".

One thing that the Gramatky family didn't learn until after Dad died (1979) is that Capitol Records wanted to bring out a record with the song from "Melody Time", but the Andrew Sisters weren't interested. A children's record??? Well, Alan Livingston, president of Capitol Records at the time, told us that he got other singers instead ... and the record was the FIRST children's record to go platinum ever, and every time Alan saw the Andrews Sisters at a party, they would say how they were kicking themselves that they passed on this opportunity!

Wonderful memories. Linda Gramatky Smith (Connecticut)

Little Toot is my all time favorite character from Melody Time & he is very cute. This segment served as the basis for a show called Tugs, which happens to be the criminally underrated sister show of Thomas & friends that was made in 1989 by the former maker of Thomas, David Mitton. The series Tugs, involves two fleets known as the Star tugs & the Z stacks. Sadly the series lastest with only 13 episodes & a single season, due to bankruptcy of it's distributor, Television South. I believe that Little Toot looks very similar to the protagonist of Tugs, Ten Cents, due to his hat, color & whistle.