Three Little Bops

Through many of the Looney Tunes cartoons, I've derived that the creators probably had a way with jazz, and it plays out in "Three Little Bops", as a trio of jazz-playing pigs perform in clubs, but a square wolf keeps interrupting and blowing the clubs down. But then, they find a place built out of bricks.

Not only is this a jazz-centric cartoon, but I notice that the narration sounds like "Rock Around the Clock". But that shouldn't be any surprise; after all, rock 'n' roll was pretty much based in jazz and blues. All in all, this is a very fine cartoon. I can say with certainty that Stan Freberg was as great a voice artist as Mel Blanc was.

Every muso you speak to knows this cartoon. When I was in year 10 my school music teacher showed us this video. I'm now a high school music teacher myself and I want to share it with my students too. Unfortunately my old teacher has lost it and I can't find a copy of it anywhere. I've described it to my students and they have named their jazz band "House of Bricks". I may sound slightly obsessed but to me watching this cartoon was a defining moment in my musical career.

This is a jazzy little cartoon, taking the Three Little Pigs and making them a Jazz combo, consisting of a guitar, drums and piano. The Big Bad Wolf wants to join in on a jam session. He's really bad and a square, so the Pigs tell him to scram. The cartoon focuses on his attempts to join in. The music is great, the narration is sung (by Stan Freberg) and the ending is excellent. The crowd goes wild and the land saw much rejoicing! They just don't make 'em like this anymore! Great cartoon and more than worth your time. Highly Recommended.

Why this absolutely brilliant 1957 "Looney Tunes" entry was not nominated for an Academy Award, I'll never know. In a 1992 television viewers' poll, it was deservedly voted one of the best twenty cartoons in the whole Warner Brothers' repertoire.

For once, the UPA cartoon style isn't employed by the Warner artists simply because it's flavor of the month, but because it's highly suited to the subject matter. The backgrounds and the character animation all perfectly compliment the up-beat vocal.

No matter how many times you watch and listen to "The Three Little Bops", repeated viewing does little to lessen the impact of its cleverly off-beat visual and verbal humor.

The Three Little Pigs are a performing trio playing at the House of Straw. The Big Bad Wolf tries to join the band, but he plays badly. The Pigs call him square and rejects him. He leaves and blows down the place. The Pigs' next gig is the House of Sticks. The Big Bad Wolf tries again and the audience is disgusted with his playing. He gets thrown out and once again, he blows the place down. Finally, the Three Little Pigs are playing at The House of Bricks. This one has a sign that reads, "No Wolves Allowed". The wolf keeps trying, but he can't ever blow it down.

The Three Little Pigs are Looney Tunes favorites despite not being uniquely to them. I really like doing this take. Mostly, I love the narration mixed with this song. It is loads of fun and I love the ending.