Three Little Houses

Friz Freleng directed cartoons based on popular music in the ‘30s and classical music in the ‘40s. In the ‘50s, he put together another based on a jazz/rock tune. “The Three Little Bops” (released in 1956) isn’t as broad as, say, Freleng’s “Pigs in a Polka” made over a decade before but it sure shows the Freleng sense of timing and rhythm, set to one song with a great little arrangement (the song was written by Shorty Rogers and Warren Foster, and owes something to “Rock Around the Clock” released in 1954).

Since it’s based on the Three Little Pigs, there are houses of straw, sticks and bricks (appropriately stylised for the ‘50s). They’re all nightclubs, of course. Here are Irv Wyner’s backgrounds showing each house; the latter one isn’t free of dancing characters in the windows.



The designs, as usual, are by the fine Hawley Pratt. The animation was done by Gerry Chiniquy and his assistant, Bob Matz.