Symphony in Slang (1951)

Various saints are logging details of everyone entering Heaven, but because they're a bit out of touch with early 1950s slang, they come up with some very strange impressions of a recently ... See full summary »

Director:

Tex Avery

Writer:

Rich Hogan (story)

Stars:

John Brown

Cast

Uncredited cast:
John Brown	...	The Hipster / Noah Webster (voice) (uncredited)

Storyline

Various saints are logging details of everyone entering Heaven, but because they're a bit out of touch with early 1950s slang, they come up with some very strange impressions of a recently deceased young man's life when he describes it to them.

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Plot Keywords:

slang | heaven | hotfoot | screwball | surrealism | 

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Genres:

Animation | Family | Comedy | Short

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 June 1951 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

7 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's, animation Producer Fred Quimby was originally opposed to making this cartoon. But animation director, Tex Avery, used with his witty vocabulary and convinced him, by telling him that there was nothing else ready, at the time, for animation production, at M-G-M.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Saint Peter: You may enter. Next please.

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Connections

References The Cuckoo Clock (1950)

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Soundtracks

"On Green Dolphin Street"
Music by Bronislau Kaper

User Reviews

a tiny bit dated but such fun!

This is a great Tex Avery cartoon that suffers slightly from its age. That's because the film creates literal representations of all the "hip slang" that the main character says--and I mean LITERAL! The problem is that this guy died and is trying to explain his life to the guys at the Pearly Gates but they have absolutely no idea what he's saying. Phrases such as "chew the rug" and "cat got your tongue" are completely beyond these heavenly beings. And these hip phrases (for the early 1950s) come one after another after another. So much that you barely have time to even think about them because the next one comes so quickly. A few modern kids might be stumped at what these phrases actually mean, so I advise kids to watch this with an old person to act as translator!