There seems to be a tradition in American animated cartoons, shared by nearly all the major animation studios: whenever cartoon characters decide to guy an opera, it's almost invariably 'The Barber of Seville'. Even more specifically, it's got to be the barber's aria 'Largo al Factotum': the song in which he sings 'Figaro, Figaro, Figaro'. I suppose that kids (and lowbrow adults) with no real experience of genuine opera must find some humour in the notion of a character singing 'Figaro' over and over. Here we have Heckle and Jeckle sneaking into a performance of an opera that could just as easily have been 'Aida' or 'Carmen', but it happens to be Rossini's popular comedy. I wonder if Terrytoons director Connie Rasinski was inspired to choose Rossini because of their similar surnames. No; more likely it was all those Figaros.
'Off to the Opera' is one of the more distinctive Heckle and Jeckle cartoons, featuring a visual style unlike most of their toons ... or, indeed, unlike most toons from the Terrytoons studio. The background cels are much more elaborately detailed and coloured than usual. Unfortunately, this extra effort doesn't entirely pay off, because many of the background elements are orchestra musicians or audience members: figures that ought to be moving at least slightly, yet which remain static because they're merely painted into background cels rather than animated characters. The resulting effect gives an impression of cheapness, since it's clear that Terrytoons simply weren't going to spend money to animate these background figures. Refreshingly, the soundtrack features a couple of original variations on Rossini's score rather than merely the familiar Terrytoons stock music.
As in so many other Heckle and Jeckle toons, here the magpies cross paths with that nameless bulldog. For some reason, this time he's drawn and costumed to look like a house detective in an hotel, but he's apparently meant to be the security manager of the opera house. It felt distinctly strange to see the familiar bulldog in dapper spats and a bowler.
One sequence marks this cartoon as a period piece, with theatre-goers rushing out into the lobby for a smoke during the interval. Not any more!
'Off to the Opera' is one of the funnier Heckle and Jeckle epics, although it concludes with a gag that Leo McCarey used in several Hal Roach shorts dating far back into the silent-movie era. I'll rate this one 8 out of 10. Feeeee-gaaaaaah-rohhhh!
'Off to the Opera' is one of the more distinctive Heckle and Jeckle cartoons, featuring a visual style unlike most of their toons ... or, indeed, unlike most toons from the Terrytoons studio. The background cels are much more elaborately detailed and coloured than usual. Unfortunately, this extra effort doesn't entirely pay off, because many of the background elements are orchestra musicians or audience members: figures that ought to be moving at least slightly, yet which remain static because they're merely painted into background cels rather than animated characters. The resulting effect gives an impression of cheapness, since it's clear that Terrytoons simply weren't going to spend money to animate these background figures. Refreshingly, the soundtrack features a couple of original variations on Rossini's score rather than merely the familiar Terrytoons stock music.
As in so many other Heckle and Jeckle toons, here the magpies cross paths with that nameless bulldog. For some reason, this time he's drawn and costumed to look like a house detective in an hotel, but he's apparently meant to be the security manager of the opera house. It felt distinctly strange to see the familiar bulldog in dapper spats and a bowler.
One sequence marks this cartoon as a period piece, with theatre-goers rushing out into the lobby for a smoke during the interval. Not any more!
'Off to the Opera' is one of the funnier Heckle and Jeckle epics, although it concludes with a gag that Leo McCarey used in several Hal Roach shorts dating far back into the silent-movie era. I'll rate this one 8 out of 10. Feeeee-gaaaaaah-rohhhh!
