From "Make Mine Music"

Release Date August 15, 1946

Synopsis

A mysterious operatic voice is heard by mariners far out at sea. Professor Tetti Tatti goes to investigate and finds Willie, singing beautifully, sometimes with three voices at once. But the Professor assumes he has swallowed an opera singer, who he proceeds to try to rescue.

Characters

Willie the Whale

Whitey the Seagull

Professor Tetti Tatti

Isolde

Credits

Directors

Hamilton Luske

Clyde Geronomi

Story Adaptation

T. Hee

Richmond Kelsey

Music : Ken Darby

Layout

A Kendell O'Connor

Hugh Hennesy

Al Zinnen

John Hench

Ed Benedict

Background

Ralph Hullett

Ray Huffine

Thelma Witmer

Art Riley

Animation

Ward Kimball

John Lounsberry

Hal King

Hugh Fraser

John Sibley

Fred Moore

Effects Animation

Josh Meador

George Rowley

Original Story : Irvin Graham

Vocals : Nelson Eddy

Videos

Walt Disney Mini-Classics : Willie, the Operatic Whale

United States Release

German Release

Italian Release

United States

Make Mine Music

Italy

Musica Maestro

Laserdiscs

United States

The Prince and the Pauper / Willie the Operatic Whale / Peter and the Wolf

Japan

Make Mine Music

DVD

Region 1 : United States

Make Mine Music

Technical Specifications

Color Type : Technicolor

Animation type : Standard

Sound mix : Mono

Aspect ration : 1.37 : 1

Negative format : 35mm

Print format : 35mm

Cinematographic process : Spherical

Original language : English

Released by RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.

Comments

Released as part of the Disney feature "Make Mine Music"

From Angie : This is one cartoon that I really remember from being a kid. I recently heard one of the songs he sang in this show and it brought back memories. Now I MUST see it again!

From Keith Thrash : I consider this Disney's greatest short film, a taut, highly inventive, and very amusing parody of "Citizen Kane" (especially with the shot of the fence at the end). It presents the opera selections in a respectful way, yet is playful with the subject in way that resembles Warner Brothers, rather than with the solemn treatment in Fantasia (with the exception of the hippo/alligator ballet). I get chills near the end when the snippet of Wagner is heard, and with the clouded heaven finale, it soars from the ridiculous to the sublime -- one of the most emotionally sweeping sequences on film, animated or live. I rate it a 10.

From Grace : This is another best "Make Mine Music" short that Walt Disney has ever created. Its very interesting and it'll imagine a real whale singing at a opera huouse around the world. Its very funny and brings you the spirit of opera.

From Mary Anne : I have two VCR tapes I would like to have transferred to a DVD. One is of photos of my parents set to music. The other is my Willie the Whale video. I have loved that piece since I saw it in my childhood. I wish I had the whole soundtrack of that wonderful voice of Nelson Eddy singing all three of Willie's voices. It was and still is a thrill to hear. And the story still can almost bring tears to my eyes.

From Keith B. : I first remember seeing Willie the Whale at least 42-43 years ago on The Wonderful World of Color. I was about 4 years old and I loved whales! (brace yourselves for this one). Here I was sitting on the floor watching this cartoon about this wonderful singing whale when suddenly I was hit right between the eyes with a trauma that made Bambi's mother pale in comparison. I looked up and my mother and older sister were crying their eyes out as well. Years later, I was about 12 and I saw it again and sure as Pavlov, it hit me again! MANY years later, I was at a party of a cartoon collector who had hundreds of cartoons on 16mm reels and I asked him if he had this cartoon. About 15 minutes later, I was responsible for ruining the party because I requested a cartoon that had everyone in tears! Excuse me, I have to find some kleenex.

From Laura Cross : I absolutely adore this cartoon. Do you know why? Because I myself enjoy opera. You know despite the film's tragic ending, there are some lighter moments. For example, Willie the Whale is first heard singing his own rendition of "Shortenin' Bread." Also, in one of Willie's dreams, while playing Pagliacci, the impressario and musicians are all wearing raincoats and umbrellas. And when Willie gets harpooned, the sailors attack Tetti Tatti. I'd say that serves the impressario right, not understanding Willie's miracle voice. But at the very end, Willie is shown singing in heaven. That's good to know, because I think that's where all the great opera stars, say Caruso for example, went when they passed away.

From drrichardh : I'm 68 years old and back when I was a child one of my aunt's owned a 78 rpm record set (three disks) by RCA that contained the full soundtrack of this short. The inside cover contained the complete script including thumbnail frames from the film and citations for the operatic pieces being sung. The only problem was that one of the disk was missing. This missing disk covered sides 2 and 5 so when listening there was a big gap in the story. (Thank heavens for the printed script) My aunt was sure she had the missing disk somewhere and promised to give it to me when she found it.

It took two years for her to find it but when she did she remembered me and saw that I got it.

As a child I had not seen Make Mine Music so I was always curious as to why the end music for the recording suddenly changed character. It wasn't until, as an adult, I was able to buy the DVD of Make Mine Music that I discovered the recording included not only the ending of the short but the end credit playout for the feature!

Nelson Eddy does an outstanding job as narrator and singer. I was captivated by his work on the records so when I finally was able to see the animation that accompany his work, it became clear that this is a masterpiece. This wonderful cartoon IS an mini-opera. It relates a tale of many emotions and like most operas ends tragically for the hero. But for me it helped engender a life long appreciation of opera and great storytelling.

Why do I love "The Whale that Wanted to Sing at the Met"? It is one of the most sincere tearjerkers of all the animated shorts I have ever seen. The way the water was animated and the montage method they used towards the end were very effective, but the key to the success of this piece, to my mind, is the music, namely the exceptional voice of the late great Nelson Eddy. Supplying all of the human voices, Nelson sang a variety of difficult popular and operatic pieces in his own voice, then added even more that were also his voice, but sped up to get high tenor and even soprano, still recognizably singing opera. Utilizing what was rather state-of-the-art techniques, he sang duet and trios with himself and finished the whole thing with his voice multiplied a hundred time to create an entire choir. From a recording standpoint, it was a technological masterpiece.

That's my opinion and I'm sticking with it.

-- Stephanie Lloyd

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