Friz Freleng directed cartoons based on popular music in the ‘30s and classical music in the ‘40s. In the ‘50s, he put together another based on a jazz/rock tune. “The Three Little Bops” (released in 1956) isn’t as broad as, say, Freleng’s “Pigs in a Polka” made over a decade before but it sure shows the Freleng sense of timing and rhythm, set to one song with a great little arrangement (the song was written by Shorty Rogers and Warren Foster, and owes something to “Rock Around the Clock” released in 1954).
Since it’s based on the Three Little Pigs, there are houses of straw, sticks and bricks (appropriately stylised for the ‘50s). They’re all nightclubs, of course. Here are Irv Wyner’s backgrounds showing each house; the latter one isn’t free of dancing characters in the windows.
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The designs, as usual, are by the fine Hawley Pratt. The animation was done by Gerry Chiniquy and his assistant, Bob Matz.
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This came right at the end of Friz's and Hawley's 'pill-head' design period, where, post-shutdown, their initial UPA-flavored characters tended to have giant, oval heads. There's still a little of that here, but not to the point where it seems like the characters' neck and shoulders would be in pain from the huge weight they're carrying, and the designs all animate well to Rogers' music (Friz's and Foster's feelings about jazz vs. their feelings about the rise of Elvis over the next two years is also interesting -- both obviously enjoyed doing this musical short, but Elvis and his style would get almost as rough a treatment as Freleng gave Big Crosby 20 years earlier).
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