It is about Tubby, a tuba in an orchestra who is fed up with playing the same two notes all the time and follows his adventures as he goes in search of a real melody to play for once in his life. Sounds fun? Not really. Tubbys journey is full of sorrow, disappointment and yet more disappointment along the way. Just as soon as you think, OK enough now, whens the happy part coming? Something sad happens again. There is a token happy ending however which is quite unconvincing. On a more objective note, I personally felt the tempo of the story changed unnaturally at times. However, the directors did very well in creating real depth to the character of Tubby. He is very believable and we are led to feel genuine pity for him. It's a shame a lot of cartoon characters are so one-dimensional these days. Kids really do have an intuitive understanding of emotions and character depth. It is probably mainly for this reason that I never forgot the story since I saw it when I was 7 or 8 yrs old as it left such an impression. Disney's, The Incredibles is another great example of a good cartoon. Anyway, it is kind of a musical, and some of the songs are pleasant and hummable. The drawing of characters is alright for it's time I guess. It's good that it can encourage a simple interest in classical music in young children as well. Ya know what would be great, Dick van Dyke would play a great real life Tubby..wait a minute he does the voice! What a bonus!
Review of Tubby the Tuba
Tubby the Tuba
(1975)
a touching tale that reminds us ..life isn't fair, so stop smiling.
17 August 2006