Симпозиум о популярной музыке: Музыкальная история от Диснея

1962 film by Bill Justice

A Symposium on Popular Songs is a special cartoon featurette made by Walt Disney Productions in 1962. It features songs that were written by the Sherman Brothers, with music arrangements by Tutti Camarata. The Shermans also co wrote the screenplay but are not credited for this. Host Ludwig Von Drake invites his audience into his mansion where he tells all about popular music through the years, introducing several songs illustrated with stop motion photography. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

"The Rutabaga Rag", performed by Paul Frees as Ludwig Von Drake, was not written as a parody of ragtime, but rather as an authentic ragtime song. In the course of the film's narration, Von Drake claims to have invented ragtime music and, specifically, this song. During the song, a variety of stop motion animated vegetables with faces appear and dance to the song.

"Charleston Charlie", performed by Betty Boopie Doop (Gloria Wood), makes direct reference to the singing style exemplified by Helen Kane in her flapper era iconic song "He's So Unusual", which was co written by the Sherman Brothers' Tin Pan Alley songwriting father, Al Sherman in 1929. The subject of both songs is a male college student whom the singer desires. "Charleston Charlie" begins with the Betty Boop esque lyric "Boop boop be doop". In the film, Ludwig Von Drake claims he wrote the song when traveling below the Mason–Dixon line. "Mr. Dixon" approached Drake and asked him to put "Dixie" on the map. For this reason, he wrote a song originally entitled, "Louisville Ludwig", but later changed the name to "Charleston Charlie" in order to protect the innocent, namely himself.

Also known as "Although I Dropped a Hundred Thousand in the Market, Baby (I Found a Million Dollars in Your Smile)", and performed by Rah, Rah Rudy (Frees) and his Megaphone Boys, this song makes a subtle reference to the singing style exemplified by Ted Lewis in "Wear a Hat with a Silver Lining" which was co written by the Sherman Brothers' father, Al Sherman. Throughout the spoken middle part of the song, reference is made to numerous Depression era songs including the iconic Al Sherman/Al Lewis classic "Now's the Time to Fall in Love", "Let a Smile Be Your Umbrella", and "Stormy Weather". According to film critic, Leonard Maltin, this song as well as "Charleston Charlie" are homages to Al Sherman and his songs. Certain segments of the film use stop motion animation. The technique was unusual for a Disney film, but did not mark the first time the studio used it in a film. It had earlier been used in Noah's Ark (1959), a well received animated short. Noah's Ark had actually been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. Lehman finds it remarkable for the time of the film's release, that A Symposium recognizes African American music as part of American musical history in the 20th century. Though he notes that African Americans as an ethnic group are not mentioned in the film, several of the musical styles used have their roots in musical styles developed by Black people. One of the earliest famous songs introduced by Ludwig in the film is a ragtime piece, a genre which Lehman notes was pioneered by African American composer Scott Joplin. Among the last and most modern songs showcased in the film are a couple of rock and roll numbers, a music genre which has its roots in the African American rhythm and blues. Lehman points that in the years preceding the release, rock and roll and its African American roots were still controversial. The music genre had been derisively described as "nigger music". Yet here, not only does Ludwig showcase rock and roll songs, but he plays guitar and sings a rock song for the conclusion; this was seen as an innovative move, since no theatrical star of the time had actually performed as a rock singer. Lehman finds the film to be part of a trend in the Disney animated studio of using more sympathetic portrayals of African Americans, Africans, and African American music over time. During World War II, Disney animated shorts seemed to associate musicians wearing zoot suit and boogie woogie, an ancestor of rock and roll, with threatening forces and the Axis powers themselves. Disney had a long history of portraying animated black characters as buffoons and/or servants. He cites as a late example the portrayal of indigenous Africans in Social Lion (1954). They were depicted as "sleepy eyed" people, wearing grass skirts, and employed as servants of White hunters. A few years later, in Paul Bunyan (1958), Disney gave a more sympathetic portrayal of a black character. In a brief tribute to other American folk heroes besides Paul Bunyan himself, the film depicted among them a black man: John Henry. The Disney staff gave Henry a muscular physique and treated him as a hero. Though Lehman notes that the film never depicted Henry's face, which was hidden between his arms. Disney was apparently becoming more progressive with time and breaking with the traditions of stereotypical portrayal of blacks in animation. Lehman notes that Disney's newfound ethnic sensitivity, when it came to African American culture, did not extend to the portrayal of Asian Americans. The stop motion scenes of A Symposium included a single Asian character: a crudely constructed puppet with slanty eyes.

The short was released on DVD on December 6, 2005, on Walt Disney Treasures: Disney Rarities Celebrated Shorts: 1920s–1960s.