The Tune (1992)

Sorry, this movie sucks

Sadly Over-hyped

A Major Disappointment

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

I should point out that I love Bill Plympton's work. His animated shorts are funny and anarchic--just the sort of things I love to watch when I am in the mood for a laugh. So, when I say that I hated "The Tune", this needs to be kept in perspective. I wish Mr. Plympton all the luck in the world--but this sort of film just didn't work for me--and I doubt if it would work for many people.The movie is a bizarre stream of consciousness animated musical film. Instead of being a short film, it often plays like a series of bizarre shorts all strung together with a plot that never interested me. Because of this, I really think it's best to look for the good bits and try to ignore the tedious stuff between. Now this is hard, because so much of the music is just god-awful. I noticed some other reviewers did not like the music as well, but I go a lot further--I truly hated it and felt irritated by it--and feel it pretty much ruins the film. It's all a real shame, as I am sure it took years for Plympton to make the film and I DO want to see his work grow in popularity--but I just can't see this film appealing to wider audience than his shorts. In fact, it might just drive away potential fans--and that's a real shame. I wanted to love this film but just couldn't. And, uncharacteristic for me, I couldn't finish the film--it was THAT hard to watch.

"The Tune" is amazing, a fantastic blend of low-quality animation and hilariously ridiculous songs. The characters are the most amazing ever seen-- doggy Elvis, a cab driver without a nose, a bellhop with a very large streak of sadism... they're all memorable head to toe. Perhaps the best moment in the movie involves Del's girlfriend Didi filing music notes ("C sharp... B flat....") What's not to like? Any movie that features a hot dog and a hot dog bun running towards each other in a meadow in slow motion is okay by me. The movie ranks in the pantheon of great cartoons with "Dilbert," "Family Guy," and even "The Sword in the Stone." If you're looking for a safe, boring, sane award-winner, "The Tune" is definitely not for you!

Del (voiced by Daniel Nieden) is a songwriter searching for inspiration, especially because if he doesn't find any soon, his boss Mr. Mega (voiced by Marty Nelson), of Mega Music, is going to fire him. On his way to the Mega Music office, he takes a wrong turn and ends up in a song-filled land that just might provide a muse.The most frustrating aspect of The Tune is that it easily has the potential to be a 10. The animation is charming and effective, with absorbing surrealistic touches. Writer/director Bill Plympton (along with writers Maureen McElheron and P.C. Vey) has a knack for crafting a disarmingly simple but twisted fantasy tale. However, my initial enthusiasm was brought down a few notches by the songs. And as this is basically an animated musical, if there is a problem with the music, it seriously affects the film.It's not that the music is bad, although some of the recordings of music are bad from an engineering perspective. Rather, for a work that's otherwise so imaginative--visually and plot-wise--the music and most of the lyrics are boilerplate. The music is like a survey of generic, older pop styles (tin pan alley jazz, 70s country, rockabilly, blues, and so on). It reminded me of a cross between those "rhythm accompaniment" presets on older Casio keyboards and an audition tape for a cruise ship musician (the latter, because quite a few songs had decent guitar work on top of otherwise formulaic music). When everything else about the film is so creative and rule breaking, I want music that's creative and rule breaking, too. Most of the songs follow the same structural formula, and at their worst, slow the film down because they feel like padding.Still, Plympton and his animation crew frequently come to the rescue during the songs with excellent visuals--the hotel manager's song and the surf/dance song particularly stand out in my mind. The Tune is definitely worth viewing, and I can't wait to see more of Plympton's work. I would just like to see him paired with a composer who is as inventive aurally as he is visually.A 7 out of 10 from me.

Celebrated cartoonist Bill Plympton's first feature film is a surreal musical fantasy with some inspired animation. He financed it entirely by himself, raising extra money by doing work for a few television commercials (see "Plymptoons: Complete Works" on DVD). He also released early portions of the film as shorts to help generate funds ("Dig My Do" in 1990, "Push Comes To Shove" and "The Wiseman" in 1991), even winning the 1991 Prix du Jury at the Cannes Film Festival for "Push Comes To Shove." Working again with Maureen McElheron (she scored his 1988 Oscar-nominated short "Your Face"), Plympton pieces together the story of a songwriter who, after receiving a 47-minute deadline to deliver a hit song or get fired, finds himself lost in the town of Flooby Nooby. Through the course of ten musical numbers (touching on various popular music genres) and some outstanding animation sequences, he learns to pen songs from the heart rather than by the book. This film is classic Plympton, but the light-hearted theme and often silly songs contrast greatly with the bizarre sex and violence of his second feature-length film "I Married A Strange Person."