I Love to Singa

Voices of: Tedd Pierce, Billy Bletcher, Tommy Bond, Martha Wentworth
Directed by: Tex Avery
Rating: Approved
Genre: Short, Animation, Comedy
Length: 8 minutes
1936

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A young owl rebels against his parents in his desire to sing jazz.

Review:

Tim: I enjoyed I Love to Singa. It's a 1936 short animated film based on the 1927 film, The Jazz Singer. It's not a direct adaptation, but it follows the basic premise. It's somewhat entertaining to see the story reenacted with animated owls. Much of the subtlety of the original story is lost in this short, but it still retains the broad strokes. It's not a bad short film, although I wouldn't quite say I loved it. I did enjoy the little owl was named Owl Jolson. As he's based on Al Jolson, that's pretty funny.

Most of the film's gags come from watching this little animated owl sing jazz. The music is fairly solid and humorous, especially when it changes quickly between different musical styles. That's fairly entertaining and it holds our attention. The whole film feels quickly paced- like everything is sped up, rushing forward to cram the whole story into the short run time. This isn't a bad thing- we never get bored with the story, it's moving too quickly to have any lulls. The story itself is fine, but a bit simplistic. Not everything makes a whole lot of sense, but you just have to go with it.

Perhaps most interesting about this short is understanding the context behind it. It was directed by Tex Avery, a legendary figure in animation. His approach was very different than Walt Disney's and that is on display here. The point of this short might be to entertain, but it's not necessarily focused on making the audience happy. It's challenging and deals with a mix of emotions. It definitely has a more mature feel than many other animated shorts. This is one of Tex Avery's earliest films (his directorial debut was in 1934) but it's a good example of his directorial and storytelling style.

The short prominently features the titular song, "I Love to Singa". It's pretty catchy and no doubt that the film is in many ways a vehicle for this song. It's entertaining and definitely makes the short memorable.

I Love to Singa is an effective short film that was influential when released. It's a short well worth tracking down.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- N/A



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Jazz Singer, Porky's Preview, Porky's Baseball Broadcast