Gerald McBoing-Boing's Symphony (1953)
Gerald McBoing Boing, a little boy who can't talk but can imitate any sound, is working as a one-man sound effects department for a radio station. When a scheduled symphony orchestra does not show up, Gerald replaces them. He is doing fine until he mixes up the score with the sound effects script, and creates an original symphony. He is fired, but the critics hail his work as that of a genius.
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One of the wrost movies I have ever seen
A Masterpiece!
To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.
Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.
In this, the second Gerald McBoing Boing animated short from UPA, the title character is asked by his radio station manager to voice an entire symphony orchestra when the scheduled performers fail to show up. Unfortunately, it seems Gerald has the music sheets mixed up with the sound effects one...Not as good as the first one written by creator Dr. Seuss (who is referenced as one of Gerald's doctors here) but pretty entertaining nonetheless. Bobe Cannon did the direction and one of the animators was Bill Melendez. Loved when Gerald did a real loud explosion noise and the adults around him just jumped in the air and froze! In summation, Gerald McBoing Boing's Symphony comes highly recommended. P.S. Spike Jones is also referenced here.
Excellent second outing for Gerald McCloy "the noise-making boy", which, although not based on Dr. Seuss material this time, manages to be faithful in style to his original vision whilst also bringing in some slightly more sophisticated humour. We join Gerald where we left him at the end of the original story, working for a radio station making sound effects. When a symphony orchestra fails to turn up for a performance, the station manager turns to Gerald out of desperation... A simple idea is fleshed out beautifully - in the absence of a Dr Seuss original to base the script on, the writer (T. Hee) takes some entertaining liberties with the rhyming couplet style and the result is witty and amusing - the animation is stylish (and at times strikingly stylized) and the music and sound effects are once again superb.
Gerald McBoing Boing is probably the second most recognizable continuing character created by UPA, after Quincy Magoo. There were only four theatrical shorts made, but there was also a television series done, which is the likely reason there were only four theatrical shorts. While all are good, they're uneven, with this one being somewhat predictable in a sense, to anyone who saw the first cartoon, at any rate. Fascinating and fun to watch anyway, which is the point of making the shorts to begin with. Well worth watching. Recommended.