Edgar Allan Pooh . . . for Best Animated Short of 1957, but voice artist Mel Blanc's contract with Warner Bros. stated that only cartoons giving Blanc a voice credit would be submitted for Academy Award consideration. (Since it was Warner's "turn" to win this category that year--under the genteel practice of the 1900s for the Hot Houses of Hollywood to rotate the Golden Statuettes according to the "Studio System"--the Oscar went to an inferior Warner effort called BIRDS ANONYMOUS, in which Mr. Blanc participated.) THREE LITTLE BOPS illustrates the Truism that Death (preferably by suicide) helps many artists to "hit their stride," (such as John Kennedy Toole, whose CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES was published by his Mom 11 years after he killed himself, or Vincent van Gogh, whose brother sold hundreds of his paintings after Vinnie failed to sell even one, and blew his brains out in that corn field). Often people who collected only rejection slips when they were alive enjoy their greatest success once they buy the farm, especially if they have Moms and Brothers like Toole and Van Gogh. But, because his medium is Jazz, the Big Bad Wolf of THREE LITTLE BOPS doesn't even require the services of such an immediate-family-member-turned-posthumous-business-manager to finally earn a coveted ensemble gig. As the Three Little Pigs observe, "You Gotta get Hot (in Hades) to play Real Cool."

ccthemovieman-1 Jazz, 1950s style, takes precedence in this cartoon of the "The Three Little Pigs" who are jazz musicians. They're good, too, on sax, drums, piano with a bass handy, if needed. The whole cartoon is told in song, with Stan Freberg doing his best to sound jazzy as he sings the story. It actually sounds more like very early rock 'n roll.The story is basically a hip-dressed wolf who enters the club, hears the pigs and wants to join in with his trumpet. The pigs are nice guys and can't say "no" but when the wolf starts blowing his horn, well, it ain't' good. As Fregerg sings, "The three little pigs were really gassed; they never heard such a corny blast."The pigs tell the wolf, "We've played in the West; we've played in the East, we've heard 'the most,' but you're 'the least!' They escort the wolf out. He winds up blowing the house of straw down!This happens in several places as the pigs entertain elsewhere, each time the wolf coming in and getting thrown out for his horrible playing until the pigs finally build a place made out of bricks ("made in 1776" - each line is rhyme in this cartoon.)It's this kind of dialog and singing (along with the dress-ware of the musicians) that makes this cartoon just a huge hoot to watch and hear. I loved it! It was different from anything else I've seen on these Looney Tunes collections. I felt like I was in a jazz club back in the '50s or at a Bill Haley rock 'n roll concert. This is one cartoon I will play over and over.

slymusic "Three Little Bops" is one of my favorite Warner Bros. cartoons, and not just because I am a jazz musician. This cartoon, under the direction of Friz Freleng, is a delightfully funny jazz adaptation of the Three Little Pigs story. The three pigs play some hard-driving swing music that cannot be resisted by anyone wishing to dance, but the trumpet-blowing Big Bad Wolf repeatedly tries to sit in uninvited, and he proves he can't play worth beans. After getting kicked out of the first two jazz clubs (made respectively of straw and sticks), the wolf succeeds in blowing them down with his trumpet. Since he cannot blow down the third club (made of bricks), he tries to blow it up with a TNT keg, and he ends up blowing himself up instead. While burning inside a cooking pot in Hades, he is finally able to play the trumpet satisfactorily! So many things about this cartoon are funny: the musical narration throughout, as well as the rhythmic dialogue of the pigs and the wolf (all vocal characterizations well-performed by Stan Freberg); the wolf dancing, turning pages in the music, and playing the trumpet badly (a challenge for the great jazzman Shorty Rogers); the piano-playing pig forming a square to indicate the quality of the wolf's trumpet playing; the numerous sound effects created by different instruments; the crowd of people all in sync on the dance floor; the wolf in a marching band uniform pounding a bass drum and in a woman's coat playing the Charleston dance on the ukulele; and the wolf finally playing a fine jazz trumpet solo while boiling in a pot in Hades.Friz Freleng was a music lover, hence he incorporated music as a vital component in his cartoons. "Three Little Bops" is a definite musical gem in the Warner Bros. cartoon library, and I must highly recommend this film for all fans of cartoons and music.

bob the moo The three little pigs are a city jazz combo who play to adoring crowds. When they are joined by a trumpet player by the name of `big bag wolf'. However the wolf is not a very good player and he threatens to spoil the career of the pigs. However when they kick the wolf out of the band, he blows down their gig at the Straw House. Despite their insistence that he is rubbish, he follows them to the Wood Club to try and get in again.I have seen other Warner twists on the Three Little Pigs story, some of which have also been set to music but this one is a lot different as it totally changes the story. Sadly it is interesting enough to only watch once and then it will have lost it's novelty value and will expose it's many flaws too readily. The film is set to a constant jazzy/bebop style song and basically sees the wolf trying to play with the pigs and then taking revenge in the time honoured fashion when he is rebuffed. The material is not very funny and relies too much on the juxtaposition of the music and action. In this regard it is worth seeing once as it is a clever idea, albeit it one that needed better delivery.The singer is not all that he could have been and doesn't sound like he is someone who sung that type of music for a living - I may be wrong but it sounded like the emphasis was on clear pronunciation of the words rather than an authentic feel to the music. On top of that the animation was too broad and colourful for me - lacking it's own feel. The characters also struggle over this and they feel too basic and blocky. Once the basic humour of the music and the action has gone the film has nothing left and didn't endear itself to me after this point.For all it's flaws it is worth seeing once for it is a clever idea and is cool and jazzy enough to keep you happy for several minutes. However repeat viewings will not have this novelty value and you'll be left with nothing much else to replace it. Clever idea but needed better delivery.