Crying Eyes of the Walrus

Walter Lantz’s Musical Miniature series holds its own with any cartoons produced in Hollywood at the time.

Kiddie Koncert (released by United Artists, Apr. 2, 1948) puts Wally Walrus front and centre as a conductor, with some fine animation by Ed Love. He’s responsible for a good portion of the cartoon, including a cute gag timed to a movement in Von Suppe’s “Morning Noon and Night in Vienna.”

The audience starts crying during a violin and harp passage, tears from the audience overflowing the small schoolhouse where the concert is taking place. There’s a cut to Wally conducting while wiping his nose. Director Dick Lundy comes in for a close-up, then cuts to Wally’s eyes. They fill up, and the pupils swim to safety. You can see some frames below. I like how the pupils congratulate each other, then go back to where they started.



Alas, only one other Musical Miniature followed, Pixie Picnic, released May 28, 1948. Lantz' deal with U.A. started to sour, and to save money, he virtually shut down his studio. Lundy, Love and musical director Darrell Calker did not return when the studio re-opened in 1951.

Here’s what Boxoffice had to say about the cartoon on Apr. 17, 1948.

Kiddy Concert [sic]
United Artists (Lantz Cartune) 7 Mins.
Very good. Wally Walrus conducts the school orchestra in a concert. The orchestra is composed of chickens, penguins, pigs, turtles, seals, a bloodhound and a skunk, who plays a trumpet outside the window. All the performances are novel. A centipede plays five violins, while the dog drummer beats out the rhythm with a pair of knitting needles. A pig trumpet player runs into trouble when he attempts to chew bubblegum and play his instrument at the same time. The musical score is excellent.

The ad to the right is for a theatre in Houston on the day of release.