On several of the classic WB cartoons a certain piece of music was often used to give the impression of industry or machinery working. IE: robots appear or hapless character gets sucked into giant automation, city constructed at time lapse speed, etc.
OK, here’s where I try (desperately) to write phonetically how it starts:
“bump buh dah- badada dadah, bump buh dah- bah dah dah…”
I imagine it’s from a classical piece, as much of their music was, and would love to know which one.
Any clue?
Flight of the Bumblebee by Rimsky-Korsakov?
I know the piece is called “Powerhouse,” and Warner Brothers musical director Carl Stalling liked to use it whenever there was a scene inside a factory, or which involved heavy machinery.
Stalling didn’t write it, but he definitely did more to make it famous than anyone, including the actual composer! I’ll have to look up the composer’s name.
Nope. I certainly know that one and I’m afraid that’s not it.
The tune I’m thinking of isn’t as frantic as Flight of the Bumble Bee. Any other guesses?
The composer of “Powerhouse” was Raymond Scott.
Side note: Carl Stalling began his musical career as a pianist at silent movie theaters. SOmetimes he was given sheet music to play along with the films, but more often, he had to make up music as he went along. This was ideal training for his later work, providing cartoon soundtracks. He had to learn to look at a piece of film, quickly figure out the mood, and either improvise a tune that fit the scene, or run through the thousands of tunes in his brain, and instantly find the one that worked best for that scene.
Bingo!
Thanks Astorian, that’s the one. Now I can gloat some more to my friend how resourceful this board is.
again, thanks.
Thufferin’ Thuccotash, astorian beat me to it! You can listen to it here and you want the clip of section B only. And do listen to the whole thing - it doesn’t sound right until the sax comes in.
I got Scott’s name from the Warner Bros. Cartoon Companion.
Is that, by any chance, the same music that’s playing in the opening credits of Honey I Shrunk the Kids?
Ah, it’s good to see another Scott aficionado here on the boards. Though astorian beat me to the punch as to the identity of the song, I would like to point out that there is at least one CD of his works out: “The Music of Raymond Scott” - not a compilation of reworkings by Stalling & Co., but remasterings of his original recordings. I believe it was put out by Columbia but a quick look at Amazon or Barnes & Noble on the Web ought to net you some results. It’s a real hoot, too - listen to Scott’s CD a couple of times straight through and then go watch a WB marathon. You’d be surprised how many times Scott’s work pops up in one cartoon alone.
Man was a genius.
“The Music of Raymond Scott, Reckless Nights and Turkish Twilights”, Columbia CK 53028. It just happens to be sitting next to me here.
There are two completely different themes in Powerhouse, the one used for the industrial feel is refered to in the Carl Stalling Project CD as Powerhouse #2. Powerhouse #1 is also used heavily in the Warner Bros cartoons. They’re both part of the same piece, but wildly different.
YES, Raymond Scott’s “Powerhouse” was also the main theme for Disney’s HONEY I SHUNK THE KIDS – & also used in THE SIMPSONS, REN & STIMPY, ANIMANIACS, etc., etc. Be sure to check out http://RaymondScott.com for details…
Oh yeah – the famous “Powerhouse” tune, which Raymond Scott wrote & first recorded in 1936, is also the theme song of THE CARTOON NETWORK – you’ll hear it like every 6 minutes or so… The CD of the original 1930s recordings was just remastered (on Columbia/Sony). AND when you go to RaymondScott.com, you’ll discover that Raymond Scott was also an important inventor – particularly in the areas of electronic music machines – he tutored a young Robert Moog at Age 20!