Photo: “I Love to Singa”. Owl Jolson. Merrie Melodies directed by Tex Avery. (1936)
“I Love to Singa”, a 1936 vintage episode of Merrie Melodies, follows a story of a young owlet under the moniker Owl Jolson that enters a radio show contest under the radar of his parents.
The episode has left a lasting impact as one of the most endearing moments in Merrie Melodies because the episode begins with Owl Jolson singing the traditional song “Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes” in order to win the approval of his parents. The owlet secretly likes to sing jazz songs and enters a contest where Owl Jolson performs “I Like to Singa”. His family hears his familiar voice on the radio and rush to the radio station to watch the performance. Once Owl Jolson notices his parents are present, he switches back to singing “Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes” until his father fully encourages him to continue the song by saying,
“You wanna sing’a, like your moon’a and a June’a and a spring’a. Go on an sing’a.”
Along the theme of Merrie Melodies, the music notes for “Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes” can be found in decades old piano books for older beginners starting to learn how to read piano music. The message that the owlet wanted to sing music that was of interest to him instead of the music that his parents approved is a relatable situation that is still relatable today that applies to every generation no matter which decade.
Take some time to enjoy vintage cartoons. They contain a couple of gemstones of nostalgia.
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“I Love to Sing’a, Like the Moon’a and the June’a and the Spring’a”
kawaiidaigakusei at 12:00AM, Jan. 15, 2024
6 likes!
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JohnCelestri at 8:04AM, Jan. 17, 2024
My young generation 2D animators studied these older cartoons to figure out how those masters did it!
TheDeeMan at 7:50AM, Jan. 16, 2024
"About a sky of blue-ah, and a tea for two-ah, anything, with a swing, and an I-love-you-ah, I luv-ah to, I luv-ah to, siiinnnggg" God, I just love those old cartoons. Dee - Succubus writer dude
JohnCelestri at 1:25PM, Jan. 15, 2024
Early Warner Bos. Merrie Melodies cartoons were used to promote their sheet song business (it was common for families to strive to have a small upright piano in their living room, thus the market for sheet music). In this particular case, Warner Bros was the studio that gambled on Jolson and the "Jazz Singer". (Born in 1949, I'm a first generation TV Baby. Many, many years ago, I described to my mother my earliest memory; she verified it as sitting on my grandfather's lap watching a TV circus show on our family television set. He passed away before my first birthday.)
PaulEberhardt at 9:23AM, Jan. 15, 2024
These cartoons never get old, really, and Tex Avery was a true master of animation.
J_Scarbrough at 8:03AM, Jan. 15, 2024
And then, many, many ages and moons later, they expanded on this story and lesson with a movie called HAPPY FEET, about a colony of penguins that sing, but one young penguin can't sing at all, and instead, expresses himself through Savion Glover-choreographed tap dancing, which the rest of the colony see as practically sinful.
PyThomas at 5:42AM, Jan. 15, 2024
I remember that song from an old South Park episode... I always wondered where they got that from. :D
bravo1102 at 1:13AM, Jan. 15, 2024
It's also a tribute to the movie The Jazz Singer starring Al Jolson.