Cartoons and Classical Music — Bringing Bach the good stuff

Remember (Remember) the epic symphony in V for Vendetta? Complete with the glorious booming of cannons and ringing of church bells, the 1812 Overture filled us with the same fervour as our anarchist heroes. Arguably one of Tchaikovsky’s most famous compositions, it found its way into the world of pop culture like many others before it.

Presumably like most of you, I had my first brush with the genre in the cartoons I watched as a child. Like most middle-class kids in the pre-internet 90s, television was my primary link to the world beyond. My perspective of western culture was defined by a set number of cable channels and the content they provided. Had shows like Looney Tunes not been a part of the mix, I would have had a low chance of stumbling upon the likes of Mozart by myself.

Coming back to shows like Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry — In retrospect, they did a great job of adapting the masterpieces of Bach, Brahms and Beethoven to their shows. The synchronization of music and visuals was so seamless, that as a child I just assumed it was tailor-made. The Barber of Seville by Rossini is inextricably associated with the iconic scene from Bugs Bunny where he shaves Elmer Fudd. Tom’s (Cat, not Cruise) brief stint as an orchestra member introduced me to the infectious Toreador Song by Bizet. Brahms’ Lullaby has been used liberally across shows to underscore scenes of cartoon characters in blissful sleep.

Besides the significant knowledge that it’s impossible to outsmart a roadrunner, these shows fostered within me a subconscious appreciation of classical music. They also took away some of the inaccessibility associated with the genre. Linking classical music to mass-appealing, slapstick-y, and on occasion obscene cartoons, stripped it off its loftiness. The Marriage of Figaro was no longer just high art that could be appreciated only by the elite. On the contrary, I can’t think of many 5-year olds with access to Cartoon Network who couldn’t sing along to ‘Figaro Figaro Fiiiiiiiigaro’.

I guess in the end, it boils down to the effect popular culture can have on a person. In the grand scheme of things, amongst a sea of countless positives and negatives, this stands out as one of its better consequences. Sure, my musical spectrum may start with Britney on one end, but it’s inarguably widened by Beethoven on the other!