February 6, 2025 • 27 mins
35 years ago–well before orchestras performing film scores became popular–George Daugherty and his husband and producing partner David Wong developed Bugs Bunny at the Symphony. The concept was new at the time: a world-class orchestra would play full cartoon scores live alongside the films. It was an instant hit.
Of course, what makes Looney Tunes music different from many of the film scores played live is that it's based on some of the most famous classical repertoire in history. In fact, pieces by composers like Wagner and Rossini were not only the basis for Looney Tunes scores, but also provided plotlines for Bugs, Elmer, Daffy and the gang.
New Jersey Symphony Orchestra will perform Bugs Bunny at the Symphony February 14th, 15th, and 16th, so Jersey Arts spoke with creator George Daughtery (who tours with the program, conducting symphonies all over the world), and NJSO’s Vice President of Artistic Planning, Erin Norton, about their upcoming concerts.
Musical clips from "Warner Bros. Discovery Presents Bugs Bunny at the Symphony" used in this episode were performed by Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House, conducted by George Daugherty. LOONEY TUNES and all related characters and elements are © & ™ Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Maddie Orton (00:02):
Hi, I'm Maddie Orton and this is the Jersey
Arts Podcast.
Thirty-five years ago, wellbefore symphonies performing
live scores became popular,George Doherty and his husband
and producing partner, DavidWong, developed Bugs Bunny at
the Symphony.
The concept was new at the timeA world-class orchestra would
play full cartoon scores livealongside the films, and it was
(00:26):
an instant hit.
Of course, what makes LooneyTunes music different from many
of the film scores played liveis that it's based on some of
the most famous classicalrepertoires in history, and
pieces by composers like Wagnerand Rossini were not only the
basis for Looney Tunes scoresbut also provided plot lines for
Bugs, Elmer, Daffy and the gang.
(00:48):
The New Jersey SymphonyOrchestra will perform Bugs
Bunny at the Symphony February14th, 15th and 16th.
So I spoke with creator GeorgeDaughtery, who tours with the
program conducting symphonyorchestras all over the world,
and New Jersey SymphonyOrchestra's Vice President of
Artistic Planning, Erin Norton,about their upcoming concerts.
Take a listen, George, Erin.
(01:13):
Thank you so much for your timetoday.
George Norton, vice Presidentof Artistic Planning, New Jersey
Symphony Orchestra.
I was so excited when I sawBugs Bunny at the Symphony would
be performed by New JerseySymphony Orchestra and I hoped
that what I thought that meantis what that meant.
Am I right to say that thesymphony will play the classical
music featured in Looney Tunesalongside the video?
George Daughtery (01:36):
Well, we are playing actually the original
scores that were created forthese iconic Looney Tunes
animated shorts were created forthese iconic Looney Tunes
animated shorts.
So the concert consists rightnow of 17 Looney Tunes cartoons
or animated shorts, which willbe projected on a giant screen
right above the orchestra.
And then we play the originalscores, fabulous scores by Carl
(02:04):
Stalling and Milt Franklin,which are based on Wagner,
Rossini, Johann Strauss, Smetana, Van Stuppe all of the great
composers.
So, yeah, it's exactly what youthought it would be.
Maddie Orton (02:16):
That's terrific, and, George, this program Bugs
Bunny at the Symphony was yourbrainchild, right Along with
your husband and producingpartner, David Wong.
George Daughtery (02:24):
Right, we've been doing it for 35 years.
Believe it or not, this is our35th year.
It was started in 1990 whenBugs turned 50.
And I just had this idea aboutI love these cartoons as a kid,
sitting on the living room floorwatching them on Saturday
morning, eating bowls ofgigantic sugary cereal.
(02:46):
And then, as an adult conductor, I was reintroduced to them
because these were sort ofunless you were getting up on
Saturday morning, still into the90s, these were sort of not
that easy to see Because,remember, we didn't have
(03:07):
downloading, we didn't havestreaming, we didn't have
devices, we didn't have anything.
And so then, suddenly, in 1989or so, this thing called home
video suddenly was there and wecould see these cartoons again.
I saw them all again and now, asan adult conductor, I realized
how absolutely brilliant andphenomenal these scores were and
(03:30):
I really had the desire toconduct them in a concert, and
at that time I was living in NewYork City, in Chicago I was
conducting for American BalletTheater and lots of opera and
ballet companies in Europe.
But I wanted to do this, but weimmediately saw that we had to
show the cartoon at the sametime that we played the scores,
(03:52):
and that was a really big dealbecause no one had ever done
that yet in 1989.
We were the very first.
You know now there are hundredsof film and orchestra concerts
out there, but we were the first.
So, yeah, that's how it allstarted.
I was going to do it for maybea year and then go back to
conducting opera and ballet inEurope and in New York and
(04:15):
everything, and I'm still doingthis.
Maddie Orton (04:18):
35 years later.
You're a real trailblazerbecause this is such a
phenomenon.
Now I was speaking with Aaronbeforehand about how I, maybe 10
or so years ago, saw New JerseySymphony Orchestra perform the
score to Casablanca and it wasjust incredible and I know that
you know so many of theseorchestras now do so many of
(04:38):
these other.
You know John Williams scoresand things like that Williams
scores and things like that.
George Daughtery (04:43):
No, I mean, the other day I counted I just
made a quick count of myself foranother interview and there are
over 250 film concerts outthere in the marketplace in the
US.
Wow, that's amazing.
But nobody knew what this wasgoing to be like.
And we did it for the firsttime in 1989, 1990 was the first
(05:05):
performance.
It was a test performance inSan Diego to see if it was even
going to be something thatpeople would come to.
And Warner Brothers wanted itclose enough to LA that they
could come to it, but theywanted it far enough from LA
(05:26):
that, if it, was a disaster thatthe stench wouldn't reach the
Warner.
Brothers lot in Burbank.
So we did it in San Diego andit immediately sold out.
Wow, the first day that the adwas in the San Diego newspaper
it sold out.
So we thought, okay, there'ssomething here.
And then the performances.
The performances then weremostly all adult audience,
mostly all adult Interesting.
(05:47):
This is not a kiddie show,although it's perfect for kids,
but it's not a kiddie show.
This is.
Adults loved this from theirown childhood.
And then, by an act of fate,warner Brothers had a Broadway
musical playing on Broadway atthe Gershwin Theater at that
time, which is now where Wickedis and has been forever.
(06:08):
But that musical closed andthey suddenly decided to put us
in there.
So the phone rang and it wasWarner Brothers saying can you
open this on Broadway in twoweeks?
Erin Norton (06:19):
Oh my gosh.
George Daughtery (06:21):
And we did, and it was sold out.
Every performance was sold out.
There were lines around theblock, so we knew okay, this is
something.
Maddie Orton (06:35):
Well, I think that the question that would come to
a lot of people's mind is howdo the musicians stay in sync
with the videos?
George Daughtery (06:43):
Well, I'm there, I'm a conductor, I'm the
conductor and I'm the GPS.
Well, I'm the pilot, I guess,or the driver.
But we use something called aclick track.
And a click track is a audiotrack that me, as the conductor,
and the musicians listen to inone ear with a little headphone,
(07:04):
and it's like a metronome.
And this is essential becausethese cartoons are incredibly
fast and incredibly complicated.
But even more than that, themusic is 100% in sync with the
sound effects and dialogue thatis coming from the film audio
(07:25):
itself.
So the audience is hearing thesound effects from the original
cartoons and then they'rehearing us with the music.
Those things have to betogether.
We only have a one or two framewiggle room, which is only
about a, let's say, 40th of asecond, to be correct.
The cool thing about the cliptrack is that the clip track was
(07:48):
actually invented by carlstalling, who was the composer,
because he had to figure out in1930, 1940, whatever, when these
cartoons were first being madehow to keep the music with the
film when they recorded it.
So it was was actually LooneyTunes that actually contributed
this incredible technology tothe film world in general, and
(08:11):
every film score to this day isstill recorded with a click
track, and it was Carl Stallingwho invented it.
So thank you, carl.
Thank you Bugs Bunny.
Maddie Orton (08:19):
Wow, that's incredibly full circle.
I never would have thought thatIf you haven't seen one of
these performances full circle,I never would have thought that
If you haven't seen one of theseperformances.
Basically, what happens is thatthe video is projected with all
of the dialogue, all of thesound effects, as you said, and
the music is essentiallystripped out right, so it's not
like the music is duplicated.
George Daughtery (08:37):
We also had to figure out how to do that,
which was laborious, and it wasdone by hand.
I won't go into the way weinvented to do it.
Now they have all thesecomputer programs.
You basically just load thecartoon into the computer, tell
(08:58):
it to strip out the music andcome back in the morning and
it's done.
We had to do it manually.
We had a whole team of 16people that was doing this and
sometimes we could only stripout one or two seconds of music
a day.
Wow, oh my gosh.
So, like I said, it was aninvention process.
When you have an amazing,incredible, world-class
(09:20):
orchestra like the New JerseySymphony, which is one of my
favorite orchestras in the worldand I've been able to
collaborate with them many timesover the years this is like
because the original WarnerBrothers Orchestra was one of
the greatest orchestras in theworld.
It's very interesting that in1930s and 40s there were more
classical musicians in Hollywoodthan any other city in the
(09:43):
world, including New York,london, paris, whatever.
Because tons of Europeanimmigrants musicians had fled
World War II and the horrendousmost of them, jewish musicians,
had fled World War II.
They came to the US to work.
All the East Coast orchestrasalready were full.
So they all ended up inHollywood and every studio had
(10:05):
its own orchestra.
It wasn't one orchestra thatwas playing all over the place.
Every studio had its ownorchestra Warner Brothers, mgm,
20th Century Fox, universal,paramount all of them had these
world-class orchestras.
And so when you have aworld-class orchestra playing
them, the audience is seeingbasically what it was like to
(10:27):
record them in the first place.
The difference is that when theyrecorded these scores back in
the old days of the studios,they would only do one or two
minutes of music at a time.
Exactly, they were called cues.
So cue one, cue two, cue musicat a time.
Exactly, they were called cues.
So cue one, cue two, cue three,cue four.
And then a music editor wouldassemble it all.
(10:49):
After the fact.
What we have to do with the NewJersey Symphony, the incredible
musicians of the New JerseySymphony, is play these cartoons
from beginning to end, whichare seven minutes long with no
pauses, and do 17 of them in oneconcert.
When you see an orchestra likethe new jersey symphony, which
is one of the great orchestras,I mean you know, I just love
(11:11):
this orchestra.
I've and um, you have so muchappreciation for what the
musicians, what the individualmusicians and the orchestra
itself bring to the mix here,because you can not only, first
of all, you hear them in a wayyou didn't hear them before,
when we were all listening tothem on television long before
(11:32):
either of you were 30, 40 yearsbefore either one of you were
born, it was coming through areally tinny speaker.
They were only recorded in monoand they were.
It wasn't easy to hear all themusic.
Now you can hear the music inall of its unbelievable full
(11:53):
spectrum glory and you realizehow much the music adds to this.
People who come to theseconcerts but I like to think
especially our concert say thatthey are never able to look at
film music the same way againafter they see this.
Maddie Orton (12:09):
I believe that, and Erin, for the musicians, I
mean this does sound like quitean undertaking.
It is how?
Erin Norton (12:16):
what is the experience like for them.
I mean, it's exactly whatGeorge said, that these scores
were often designed to be playeda minute at a time, and so and
this is something thatorchestras are asked to do time
and time again Now in the modernage, we play entire, you know,
cinematic scores, from beginningto end.
We play the Star Wars films.
Those are two hour movies thatare just through composed, but
(12:39):
they were never meant to beplayed that way.
So I think this show and all ofthese movie shows that we do
really show off the stamina andthe virtuosity of the orchestra.
And, you know, playing with aclick track too is it is kind of
an a different skill for amusician.
I mean, we're, we're used to.
It is exactly.
I mean, musicians are used tobeing able to have this like
(13:01):
push and pull and haveinitiative and how exactly
they're going to phrasesomething.
Or are they going to take alittle time here?
Are they going to kind of pushforward here?
Not so here, whereas you knowGeorge says there's like one to
two frames of wiggle roomthere's.
You have to be right on.
Remember the first time I sawBugs Bunny at the symphony when
(13:22):
I was in high school, at theNorth Carolina Symphony was the
first time I saw it.
So my mom played in thatorchestra and I remember I
didn't grow up with the.
Yeah, I grew up around thatorchestra.
It's a very special group forme and I remember my mom came
home I would.
I was not a Looney Tunes kid,like I had kind of seen the
cartoons and passing the waythey're so important in pop
culture that they're ubiquitousin a way.
But I hadn't.
(13:42):
I never sat down and watchedthem.
But my mom was like you have tocome to this, like we're
playing on a click track.
It's one of the craziest gigsI've ever played in my life.
And I showed up and I was justI had.
I don't think I'd ever seen afilm in concert before, maybe
just one.
This was around the time wherethey were like just barely
starting to get going Meanwhile,where they were just barely
starting to get going MeanwhileBugs Bunny at the Symphony had
(14:03):
been going for a while.
At this point you guys werereally pioneers in this space.
But I just remember beingcompletely in awe of the way the
orchestra was able to line upwith the cartoon, but also the
way that the music just leapsout of the cartoon in this live
setting that you notice allthese things that you never
would have noticed if you'rejust watching it on TV.
You really have an appreciationfor what the music lends to the
(14:26):
storytelling.
So it's a really special thingand I've always been very fond
of this show for that reason.
George Daughtery (14:37):
You know people say, like, why did Carl
Stalling put classical music inthese cartoons, and why was
there so much classical music?
And it wasn't just because itwas cheap, it wasn't because it
was public domain.
Carl Stalling and his othercomposer associate, milt
Franklin, and Chuck Jones, thedirector, fritz Freeling, the
(14:59):
director, they love the world ofclassical music.
And so it's not just the music,it's the plot of these cartoons
that are based on classicalmusic.
Oh, that's interesting.
So one of my very favoritecartoons that we are doing with
the New Jersey Symphony is LongHaired Hare, where Bugs is
conducting the Hollywood BowlOrchestra or the Los Angeles
(15:22):
Philharmonic at the HollywoodBowl Orchestra or the Los
Angeles Philharmonic at theHollywood Bowl.
And you actually see theHollywood Bowl, you see an
animated Hollywood Bowl in thecartoons.
Bugs starts out on a hillsidejust singing to himself and
playing his own music and thisbombastic baritone named
Giovanni Jones is trying torehearse in his house and Bugs
(15:43):
keeps disturbing him andGiovanni Jones decides he's
going to get Bugs and this thingescalates until now we are at
the Hollywood Bowl, giovanniJones is on stage and Bugs comes
dressed as Leopold Stokowskiand as Bugs makes his entrance
into the pit, and this istotally audible.
(16:05):
All the cartoon musicians aregoing Leopold, leopold, leopold,
leopold, leopold, leopold,leopold, and it's just a totally
iconic moment.
Two things about that are socool.
In the 1950s, when that cartoonwas made, leopold Stokowski was
(16:29):
appearing on television all thetime, so general audiences knew
who Leopold Stokowski was.
He's also Anderson Cooper'sstepfather, if you never knew
that.
Oh, that's interesting.
That's a whole other thing.
But the other cool thing wasthat when we first started doing
this with the PhiladelphiaOrchestra, the Philadelphia
Orchestra was still a prettytight-laced orchestra in many
(16:52):
ways in terms of onstagebehavior, but even they would
start screaming out Leopold,leopold, leopold.
Maddie Orton (17:00):
That's so cute, I love that this happens
everywhere.
George Daughtery (17:04):
What's Opera Doc is the entire ring cycle.
Feel the rabbit, feel therabbit, feel the rabbit.
Of four ring cycle operas DieValkyrie, siegfried,
götterdammerung and DasRheingold.
And if wait, if that's notenough, let's add the Flying
Dutchman, tannhäuser, lohengrinand Rienzi Eight Wagnerian
(17:30):
operas which would normally takea week to perform, literally a
week to perform.
We do in six minutes and 20seconds, and the entire plot is
the Ring Cycle Bugs is Brunhildeand Elmer is Siegfried.
Almighty warrior of greatfighting stock.
(17:51):
Might I inquire to ask himwhat's up, doc?
The Rabbit of Seville is thebarber of Seville Overture, with
Bugs as Rosina and Elmer asFigaro.
So it's the plots of these thatalso take on this classical
(18:21):
music world.
Maddie Orton (18:22):
It was partly that they were inspired by the
classical music and by thestorytelling, totally inspired.
George Daughtery (18:26):
Totally inspired and totally respectful.
I love that this music is notcartoony.
If you listen to what's Opera,doc, it is done in complete
Wagnerian grandeur.
It's huge, it's gigantic.
It's gigantic.
It's five French horns.
Normally there are eight, butwe five, okay, but it's huge.
(18:49):
The Rabbit of Seville isorchestrated with the same
minimal Rossini orchestration asthe Barber of Seville.
Long-haired Hare is full ofgigantic major opera excerpts
that are played in their fullglory.
So they didn't reduce thismusic to cartoony.
(19:09):
You know comic sound.
The original music has thisgrandeur, which makes it all the
more funny.
Maddie Orton (19:17):
So when you were curating this program, how did
you pick the pieces?
I mean, there are some that areso obvious, right, like if you
didn't include Kill the Wabbit,people will be upset.
George Daughtery (19:29):
And we can never take it out of the concert
.
No, of course, if you walked outanywhere on the street with a
bunch of concert goers and wentbum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum,
bum, bum, bum, most people wouldsing kill the rabbit.
But um, I think that's right.
Absolutely, it's totally true.
The great ones were obvious.
What's opera, doc, the rabbitof Seville, long haired hare, um
(19:53):
, but there were others that Ididn't know so well because I
hadn't seen everything.
We opened the concert with acartoon called Baton Bunny,
which is absolutely fabulous.
Bugs in a yellow tuxedo,conducts the orchestra in in Von
Supe's morning, night, and andand morning, morning, noon and
night in Vienna overture.
(20:14):
And it's the real overture,it's the real thing.
And Bugs doesn't say a word inthis.
There is not one word ofdialogue in this cartoon.
Bugs' conducting patterns 3-4,4-4, all are totally accurate.
Wow, any orchestra could watchBugs conducting from the screen.
No, seriously, because ChuckJones studied conductor patterns
(20:38):
.
I love just a thought of that.
Yeah, so I barely have to doanything during this concert.
Erin Norton (20:44):
Yeah, just watch this yeah.
George Daughtery (20:47):
I didn't know this cartoon but another one
that came to light which is justonce again I've got to find
another word besides brilliant,spectacular, extraordinary,
whatever is one where none ofthe famous characters are.
Even in this cartoon All of thecharacters are notes and rests
and treble clefs and bass clefsand staff lines from a musical
(21:12):
score.
And the musical score is theBlue Danube Waltz and one of the
notes from the Blue Danubefalls off the score page and
lands in the score for how dry Iam and becomes drunk and he
goes back to the Blue Danube andwreaks havoc on the score and
(21:36):
all of the notes are getting outof the ways.
And it is so brilliant.
I didn't know this cartooneither.
And another one of my greatfavorites is Cordy Concerto.
Cordy Concerto was a send-off onFantasia.
(21:58):
When Disney did Fantasia, theWarner Brothers guys felt they
had to do their own version, sothey did Corny Concerto.
In Corny Concerto all thebackgrounds are these florid,
gorgeous sort ofneo-impressionist backgrounds
and trees waving in time to themusic and stuff like that.
And then it's Bugs and Elmerdoing Tales of Vienna and then
(22:24):
once again we hear the BlueDanube.
It's brilliant also.
And again, this cartoon now istotally Johann Strauss
Orchestration, the way it'sperformed, the way we delay the
second and third beats, bop, bop, bop.
All those things Totallygenuine, totally legit.
Maddie Orton (22:46):
Looney Tunes ended up being a major entry point to
classical music for a lot ofpeople, myself certainly
included.
Is that a feedback you getoften when you perform the show?
Erin Norton (22:57):
Yes, I mean absolutely.
And I think, like the wonderfulthing about Looney Tunes, I
think it's a an illustration ofa broader kind of pop culture
consciousness around classicalmusic.
It was more steeped in oureveryday lives back then.
And I think without theseLooney Tunes cartoons, I think a
(23:17):
lot of these really famousmelodies Kill the Wabbit
included, barber of Tunescartoons, I think a lot of these
really famous melodies Kill theWabbit included, barber of
Seville included I'm not surethey would have the cultural
staying power that they've had.
And when we do these programs Imean it's been the last Bugs
Bunny at the Symphony I did wasgosh, like nine years ago or so
when I was at the Utah SymphonyPeople just really you almost
(23:38):
hear like when one of thecartoons comes up, if they're
not looking at the program, theydon't know what's coming next.
A lot of people don't evenbother picking up the program
and you'll hear these likenostalgic sighs in the audience,
like what?
The title comes up or the firstscene comes up and they're like
, oh, it's this one.
Like people really know thesecartoons at an innate level and,
(23:58):
like I said, I wasn't a LooneyTunes kid either and I knew them
, like my music teacher showedthem to me, if I hadn't seen
them just in my day to day life.
So these cartoons have been suchan important way that classical
music stays alive in popularculture and I think the this
concert, this program everywhere, I've done it across the
(24:21):
country now Utah, north Carolina, now here.
It's amazing that there's acertain cohort of people who are
older now who come for thenostalgia of the original
cartoons, but there's alwayskids in the audience who are
seeing these for the first time.
And so having that kind ofcombination of, you know,
nostalgia and remembrance anddiscovery and excitement of
(24:43):
these, this new thing, I think,is what makes this so special.
It's continually recyclable andit crosses generational lines
in a way that not a lot of otherthings that we do can do.
It's really special in that way.
Maddie Orton (24:58):
And Erin, I know a focus of yours and New Jersey
Symphony Orchestras is bringingin new audiences and families.
Do you anticipate this being anentry point for classical music
for people who might not be?
Erin Norton (25:10):
symphony regulars?
Yeah, absolutely, I really hopethat it is.
And you know, our Popsprogramming over the last few
years has been very.
We focus very heavily on someof these blockbuster films.
We've done a lot of the StarWars and I think those are great
.
But I think this program feelsvery different in that it really
celebrates the music that theorchestra already plays all the
time.
This is music that you'rehearing in this concert, that
(25:33):
you can come hear again andagain and again.
These are pieces thatorchestras play all the time and
again and again.
These are pieces thatorchestras play all the time and
I think for me it's reallyexciting to think about, you
know, especially kids cominginto this concert and maybe they
haven't seen these cartoonsbefore and maybe this will
awaken something in them.
I think seeing an orchestra playany score with film for the
(25:55):
first time especially that's thefirst time you're seeing the
actual film itself this hashappened to me a couple of times
.
There've been a couple of filmswhere the first time I saw it
was orchestra like live inconcert it's just a transcendent
experience that's hard todescribe.
I mean it just really makes youunderstand the power of music
to tell stories and to kind ofcarry the narrative.
(26:16):
I'm just very excited for thenew people that we'll bring in,
because I know there will be alot and I hope that they'll kind
of this will spark something inthem and they'll want to come
back and hear the orchestraagain and again.
Maddie Orton (26:29):
That's all folks.
Thanks to George Doherty andErin Norton for joining me.
Warner Bros Discovery presentsBugs Bunny at the Symphony will
be performed by New JerseySymphony Orchestra at Count
Basie Center for the Arts in RedBank on February 14th NJ PAC
in Newark on February 15th andthe State Theater in New
Brunswick on February 16th.
(26:50):
For more information on theconcert, visit njsymphonyorg.
Musical clips from Warner BrosDiscovery Presents Bugs Bunny at
the Symphony used in thisepisode were performed by the
Sydney Symphony Orchestra at theSydney Opera House, conducted
by George Daughtery.
Looney Tunes and all relatedcharacters and elements are
copyrighted and trademarked byWarner Bros Entertainment Inc.
(27:12):
If you liked this episode, besure to give us a review,
subscribe and tell your friends,or review, subscribe and tell
your friends.
A transcript of this podcast,as well as links to related
content and more about the artsin New Jersey, can be found on
jerseyartscom.
The Jersey Arts Podcast ispresented by Art Pride New
Jersey, advancing a state ofcreativity since 1986.
(27:33):
The show is co -founded by andcurrently supported by funds
from the New Jersey StateCouncil on the Arts.
This episode was hosted,produced and edited by yours
truly Maddie Orton.
Executive producers are JimAtkinson and Isaac Serna-Diez.
Special thanks to the NewJersey Symphony Orchestra.
I'm Maddie Orton for the JerseyArts Podcast.
Thanks for listening.
Hi, I'm Maddie Orton and this is the Jersey
Arts Podcast.
Thirty-five years ago, wellbefore symphonies performing
live scores became popular,George Doherty and his husband
and producing partner, DavidWong, developed Bugs Bunny at
the Symphony.
The concept was new at the timeA world-class orchestra would
play full cartoon scores livealongside the films, and it was
(00:26):
an instant hit.
Of course, what makes LooneyTunes music different from many
of the film scores played liveis that it's based on some of
the most famous classicalrepertoires in history, and
pieces by composers like Wagnerand Rossini were not only the
basis for Looney Tunes scoresbut also provided plot lines for
Bugs, Elmer, Daffy and the gang.
(00:48):
The New Jersey SymphonyOrchestra will perform Bugs
Bunny at the Symphony February14th, 15th and 16th.
So I spoke with creator GeorgeDaughtery, who tours with the
program conducting symphonyorchestras all over the world,
and New Jersey SymphonyOrchestra's Vice President of
Artistic Planning, Erin Norton,about their upcoming concerts.
Take a listen, George, Erin.
(01:13):
Thank you so much for your timetoday.
George Norton, vice Presidentof Artistic Planning, New Jersey
Symphony Orchestra.
I was so excited when I sawBugs Bunny at the Symphony would
be performed by New JerseySymphony Orchestra and I hoped
that what I thought that meantis what that meant.
Am I right to say that thesymphony will play the classical
music featured in Looney Tunesalongside the video?
George Daughtery (01:36):
Well, we are playing actually the original
scores that were created forthese iconic Looney Tunes
animated shorts were created forthese iconic Looney Tunes
animated shorts.
So the concert consists rightnow of 17 Looney Tunes cartoons
or animated shorts, which willbe projected on a giant screen
right above the orchestra.
And then we play the originalscores, fabulous scores by Carl
(02:04):
Stalling and Milt Franklin,which are based on Wagner,
Rossini, Johann Strauss, Smetana, Van Stuppe all of the great
composers.
So, yeah, it's exactly what youthought it would be.
Maddie Orton (02:16):
That's terrific, and, George, this program Bugs
Bunny at the Symphony was yourbrainchild, right Along with
your husband and producingpartner, David Wong.
George Daughtery (02:24):
Right, we've been doing it for 35 years.
Believe it or not, this is our35th year.
It was started in 1990 whenBugs turned 50.
And I just had this idea aboutI love these cartoons as a kid,
sitting on the living room floorwatching them on Saturday
morning, eating bowls ofgigantic sugary cereal.
(02:46):
And then, as an adult conductor, I was reintroduced to them
because these were sort ofunless you were getting up on
Saturday morning, still into the90s, these were sort of not
that easy to see Because,remember, we didn't have
(03:07):
downloading, we didn't havestreaming, we didn't have
devices, we didn't have anything.
And so then, suddenly, in 1989or so, this thing called home
video suddenly was there and wecould see these cartoons again.
I saw them all again and now, asan adult conductor, I realized
how absolutely brilliant andphenomenal these scores were and
(03:30):
I really had the desire toconduct them in a concert, and
at that time I was living in NewYork City, in Chicago I was
conducting for American BalletTheater and lots of opera and
ballet companies in Europe.
But I wanted to do this, but weimmediately saw that we had to
show the cartoon at the sametime that we played the scores,
(03:52):
and that was a really big dealbecause no one had ever done
that yet in 1989.
We were the very first.
You know now there are hundredsof film and orchestra concerts
out there, but we were the first.
So, yeah, that's how it allstarted.
I was going to do it for maybea year and then go back to
conducting opera and ballet inEurope and in New York and
(04:15):
everything, and I'm still doingthis.
Maddie Orton (04:18):
35 years later.
You're a real trailblazerbecause this is such a
phenomenon.
Now I was speaking with Aaronbeforehand about how I, maybe 10
or so years ago, saw New JerseySymphony Orchestra perform the
score to Casablanca and it wasjust incredible and I know that
you know so many of theseorchestras now do so many of
(04:38):
these other.
You know John Williams scoresand things like that Williams
scores and things like that.
George Daughtery (04:43):
No, I mean, the other day I counted I just
made a quick count of myself foranother interview and there are
over 250 film concerts outthere in the marketplace in the
US.
Wow, that's amazing.
But nobody knew what this wasgoing to be like.
And we did it for the firsttime in 1989, 1990 was the first
(05:05):
performance.
It was a test performance inSan Diego to see if it was even
going to be something thatpeople would come to.
And Warner Brothers wanted itclose enough to LA that they
could come to it, but theywanted it far enough from LA
(05:26):
that, if it, was a disaster thatthe stench wouldn't reach the
Warner.
Brothers lot in Burbank.
So we did it in San Diego andit immediately sold out.
Wow, the first day that the adwas in the San Diego newspaper
it sold out.
So we thought, okay, there'ssomething here.
And then the performances.
The performances then weremostly all adult audience,
mostly all adult Interesting.
(05:47):
This is not a kiddie show,although it's perfect for kids,
but it's not a kiddie show.
This is.
Adults loved this from theirown childhood.
And then, by an act of fate,warner Brothers had a Broadway
musical playing on Broadway atthe Gershwin Theater at that
time, which is now where Wickedis and has been forever.
(06:08):
But that musical closed andthey suddenly decided to put us
in there.
So the phone rang and it wasWarner Brothers saying can you
open this on Broadway in twoweeks?
Erin Norton (06:19):
Oh my gosh.
George Daughtery (06:21):
And we did, and it was sold out.
Every performance was sold out.
There were lines around theblock, so we knew okay, this is
something.
Maddie Orton (06:35):
Well, I think that the question that would come to
a lot of people's mind is howdo the musicians stay in sync
with the videos?
George Daughtery (06:43):
Well, I'm there, I'm a conductor, I'm the
conductor and I'm the GPS.
Well, I'm the pilot, I guess,or the driver.
But we use something called aclick track.
And a click track is a audiotrack that me, as the conductor,
and the musicians listen to inone ear with a little headphone,
(07:04):
and it's like a metronome.
And this is essential becausethese cartoons are incredibly
fast and incredibly complicated.
But even more than that, themusic is 100% in sync with the
sound effects and dialogue thatis coming from the film audio
(07:25):
itself.
So the audience is hearing thesound effects from the original
cartoons and then they'rehearing us with the music.
Those things have to betogether.
We only have a one or two framewiggle room, which is only
about a, let's say, 40th of asecond, to be correct.
The cool thing about the cliptrack is that the clip track was
(07:48):
actually invented by carlstalling, who was the composer,
because he had to figure out in1930, 1940, whatever, when these
cartoons were first being madehow to keep the music with the
film when they recorded it.
So it was was actually LooneyTunes that actually contributed
this incredible technology tothe film world in general, and
(08:11):
every film score to this day isstill recorded with a click
track, and it was Carl Stallingwho invented it.
So thank you, carl.
Thank you Bugs Bunny.
Maddie Orton (08:19):
Wow, that's incredibly full circle.
I never would have thought thatIf you haven't seen one of
these performances full circle,I never would have thought that
If you haven't seen one of theseperformances.
Basically, what happens is thatthe video is projected with all
of the dialogue, all of thesound effects, as you said, and
the music is essentiallystripped out right, so it's not
like the music is duplicated.
George Daughtery (08:37):
We also had to figure out how to do that,
which was laborious, and it wasdone by hand.
I won't go into the way weinvented to do it.
Now they have all thesecomputer programs.
You basically just load thecartoon into the computer, tell
(08:58):
it to strip out the music andcome back in the morning and
it's done.
We had to do it manually.
We had a whole team of 16people that was doing this and
sometimes we could only stripout one or two seconds of music
a day.
Wow, oh my gosh.
So, like I said, it was aninvention process.
When you have an amazing,incredible, world-class
(09:20):
orchestra like the New JerseySymphony, which is one of my
favorite orchestras in the worldand I've been able to
collaborate with them many timesover the years this is like
because the original WarnerBrothers Orchestra was one of
the greatest orchestras in theworld.
It's very interesting that in1930s and 40s there were more
classical musicians in Hollywoodthan any other city in the
(09:43):
world, including New York,london, paris, whatever.
Because tons of Europeanimmigrants musicians had fled
World War II and the horrendousmost of them, jewish musicians,
had fled World War II.
They came to the US to work.
All the East Coast orchestrasalready were full.
So they all ended up inHollywood and every studio had
(10:05):
its own orchestra.
It wasn't one orchestra thatwas playing all over the place.
Every studio had its ownorchestra Warner Brothers, mgm,
20th Century Fox, universal,paramount all of them had these
world-class orchestras.
And so when you have aworld-class orchestra playing
them, the audience is seeingbasically what it was like to
(10:27):
record them in the first place.
The difference is that when theyrecorded these scores back in
the old days of the studios,they would only do one or two
minutes of music at a time.
Exactly, they were called cues.
So cue one, cue two, cue musicat a time.
Exactly, they were called cues.
So cue one, cue two, cue three,cue four.
And then a music editor wouldassemble it all.
(10:49):
After the fact.
What we have to do with the NewJersey Symphony, the incredible
musicians of the New JerseySymphony, is play these cartoons
from beginning to end, whichare seven minutes long with no
pauses, and do 17 of them in oneconcert.
When you see an orchestra likethe new jersey symphony, which
is one of the great orchestras,I mean you know, I just love
(11:11):
this orchestra.
I've and um, you have so muchappreciation for what the
musicians, what the individualmusicians and the orchestra
itself bring to the mix here,because you can not only, first
of all, you hear them in a wayyou didn't hear them before,
when we were all listening tothem on television long before
(11:32):
either of you were 30, 40 yearsbefore either one of you were
born, it was coming through areally tinny speaker.
They were only recorded in monoand they were.
It wasn't easy to hear all themusic.
Now you can hear the music inall of its unbelievable full
(11:53):
spectrum glory and you realizehow much the music adds to this.
People who come to theseconcerts but I like to think
especially our concert say thatthey are never able to look at
film music the same way againafter they see this.
Maddie Orton (12:09):
I believe that, and Erin, for the musicians, I
mean this does sound like quitean undertaking.
It is how?
Erin Norton (12:16):
what is the experience like for them.
I mean, it's exactly whatGeorge said, that these scores
were often designed to be playeda minute at a time, and so and
this is something thatorchestras are asked to do time
and time again Now in the modernage, we play entire, you know,
cinematic scores, from beginningto end.
We play the Star Wars films.
Those are two hour movies thatare just through composed, but
(12:39):
they were never meant to beplayed that way.
So I think this show and all ofthese movie shows that we do
really show off the stamina andthe virtuosity of the orchestra.
And, you know, playing with aclick track too is it is kind of
an a different skill for amusician.
I mean, we're, we're used to.
It is exactly.
I mean, musicians are used tobeing able to have this like
(13:01):
push and pull and haveinitiative and how exactly
they're going to phrasesomething.
Or are they going to take alittle time here?
Are they going to kind of pushforward here?
Not so here, whereas you knowGeorge says there's like one to
two frames of wiggle roomthere's.
You have to be right on.
Remember the first time I sawBugs Bunny at the symphony when
(13:22):
I was in high school, at theNorth Carolina Symphony was the
first time I saw it.
So my mom played in thatorchestra and I remember I
didn't grow up with the.
Yeah, I grew up around thatorchestra.
It's a very special group forme and I remember my mom came
home I would.
I was not a Looney Tunes kid,like I had kind of seen the
cartoons and passing the waythey're so important in pop
culture that they're ubiquitousin a way.
But I hadn't.
(13:42):
I never sat down and watchedthem.
But my mom was like you have tocome to this, like we're
playing on a click track.
It's one of the craziest gigsI've ever played in my life.
And I showed up and I was justI had.
I don't think I'd ever seen afilm in concert before, maybe
just one.
This was around the time wherethey were like just barely
starting to get going Meanwhile,where they were just barely
starting to get going MeanwhileBugs Bunny at the Symphony had
(14:03):
been going for a while.
At this point you guys werereally pioneers in this space.
But I just remember beingcompletely in awe of the way the
orchestra was able to line upwith the cartoon, but also the
way that the music just leapsout of the cartoon in this live
setting that you notice allthese things that you never
would have noticed if you'rejust watching it on TV.
You really have an appreciationfor what the music lends to the
(14:26):
storytelling.
So it's a really special thingand I've always been very fond
of this show for that reason.
George Daughtery (14:37):
You know people say, like, why did Carl
Stalling put classical music inthese cartoons, and why was
there so much classical music?
And it wasn't just because itwas cheap, it wasn't because it
was public domain.
Carl Stalling and his othercomposer associate, milt
Franklin, and Chuck Jones, thedirector, fritz Freeling, the
(14:59):
director, they love the world ofclassical music.
And so it's not just the music,it's the plot of these cartoons
that are based on classicalmusic.
Oh, that's interesting.
So one of my very favoritecartoons that we are doing with
the New Jersey Symphony is LongHaired Hare, where Bugs is
conducting the Hollywood BowlOrchestra or the Los Angeles
(15:22):
Philharmonic at the HollywoodBowl Orchestra or the Los
Angeles Philharmonic at theHollywood Bowl.
And you actually see theHollywood Bowl, you see an
animated Hollywood Bowl in thecartoons.
Bugs starts out on a hillsidejust singing to himself and
playing his own music and thisbombastic baritone named
Giovanni Jones is trying torehearse in his house and Bugs
(15:43):
keeps disturbing him andGiovanni Jones decides he's
going to get Bugs and this thingescalates until now we are at
the Hollywood Bowl, giovanniJones is on stage and Bugs comes
dressed as Leopold Stokowskiand as Bugs makes his entrance
into the pit, and this istotally audible.
(16:05):
All the cartoon musicians aregoing Leopold, leopold, leopold,
leopold, leopold, leopold,leopold, and it's just a totally
iconic moment.
Two things about that are socool.
In the 1950s, when that cartoonwas made, leopold Stokowski was
(16:29):
appearing on television all thetime, so general audiences knew
who Leopold Stokowski was.
He's also Anderson Cooper'sstepfather, if you never knew
that.
Oh, that's interesting.
That's a whole other thing.
But the other cool thing wasthat when we first started doing
this with the PhiladelphiaOrchestra, the Philadelphia
Orchestra was still a prettytight-laced orchestra in many
(16:52):
ways in terms of onstagebehavior, but even they would
start screaming out Leopold,leopold, leopold.
Maddie Orton (17:00):
That's so cute, I love that this happens
everywhere.
George Daughtery (17:04):
What's Opera Doc is the entire ring cycle.
Feel the rabbit, feel therabbit, feel the rabbit.
Of four ring cycle operas DieValkyrie, siegfried,
götterdammerung and DasRheingold.
And if wait, if that's notenough, let's add the Flying
Dutchman, tannhäuser, lohengrinand Rienzi Eight Wagnerian
(17:30):
operas which would normally takea week to perform, literally a
week to perform.
We do in six minutes and 20seconds, and the entire plot is
the Ring Cycle Bugs is Brunhildeand Elmer is Siegfried.
Almighty warrior of greatfighting stock.
(17:51):
Might I inquire to ask himwhat's up, doc?
The Rabbit of Seville is thebarber of Seville Overture, with
Bugs as Rosina and Elmer asFigaro.
So it's the plots of these thatalso take on this classical
(18:21):
music world.
Maddie Orton (18:22):
It was partly that they were inspired by the
classical music and by thestorytelling, totally inspired.
George Daughtery (18:26):
Totally inspired and totally respectful.
I love that this music is notcartoony.
If you listen to what's Opera,doc, it is done in complete
Wagnerian grandeur.
It's huge, it's gigantic.
It's gigantic.
It's five French horns.
Normally there are eight, butwe five, okay, but it's huge.
(18:49):
The Rabbit of Seville isorchestrated with the same
minimal Rossini orchestration asthe Barber of Seville.
Long-haired Hare is full ofgigantic major opera excerpts
that are played in their fullglory.
So they didn't reduce thismusic to cartoony.
(19:09):
You know comic sound.
The original music has thisgrandeur, which makes it all the
more funny.
Maddie Orton (19:17):
So when you were curating this program, how did
you pick the pieces?
I mean, there are some that areso obvious, right, like if you
didn't include Kill the Wabbit,people will be upset.
George Daughtery (19:29):
And we can never take it out of the concert
.
No, of course, if you walked outanywhere on the street with a
bunch of concert goers and wentbum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum,
bum, bum, bum, most people wouldsing kill the rabbit.
But um, I think that's right.
Absolutely, it's totally true.
The great ones were obvious.
What's opera, doc, the rabbitof Seville, long haired hare, um
(19:53):
, but there were others that Ididn't know so well because I
hadn't seen everything.
We opened the concert with acartoon called Baton Bunny,
which is absolutely fabulous.
Bugs in a yellow tuxedo,conducts the orchestra in in Von
Supe's morning, night, and andand morning, morning, noon and
night in Vienna overture.
(20:14):
And it's the real overture,it's the real thing.
And Bugs doesn't say a word inthis.
There is not one word ofdialogue in this cartoon.
Bugs' conducting patterns 3-4,4-4, all are totally accurate.
Wow, any orchestra could watchBugs conducting from the screen.
No, seriously, because ChuckJones studied conductor patterns
(20:38):
.
I love just a thought of that.
Yeah, so I barely have to doanything during this concert.
Erin Norton (20:44):
Yeah, just watch this yeah.
George Daughtery (20:47):
I didn't know this cartoon but another one
that came to light which is justonce again I've got to find
another word besides brilliant,spectacular, extraordinary,
whatever is one where none ofthe famous characters are.
Even in this cartoon All of thecharacters are notes and rests
and treble clefs and bass clefsand staff lines from a musical
(21:12):
score.
And the musical score is theBlue Danube Waltz and one of the
notes from the Blue Danubefalls off the score page and
lands in the score for how dry Iam and becomes drunk and he
goes back to the Blue Danube andwreaks havoc on the score and
(21:36):
all of the notes are getting outof the ways.
And it is so brilliant.
I didn't know this cartooneither.
And another one of my greatfavorites is Cordy Concerto.
Cordy Concerto was a send-off onFantasia.
(21:58):
When Disney did Fantasia, theWarner Brothers guys felt they
had to do their own version, sothey did Corny Concerto.
In Corny Concerto all thebackgrounds are these florid,
gorgeous sort ofneo-impressionist backgrounds
and trees waving in time to themusic and stuff like that.
And then it's Bugs and Elmerdoing Tales of Vienna and then
(22:24):
once again we hear the BlueDanube.
It's brilliant also.
And again, this cartoon now istotally Johann Strauss
Orchestration, the way it'sperformed, the way we delay the
second and third beats, bop, bop, bop.
All those things Totallygenuine, totally legit.
Maddie Orton (22:46):
Looney Tunes ended up being a major entry point to
classical music for a lot ofpeople, myself certainly
included.
Is that a feedback you getoften when you perform the show?
Erin Norton (22:57):
Yes, I mean absolutely.
And I think, like the wonderfulthing about Looney Tunes, I
think it's a an illustration ofa broader kind of pop culture
consciousness around classicalmusic.
It was more steeped in oureveryday lives back then.
And I think without theseLooney Tunes cartoons, I think a
(23:17):
lot of these really famousmelodies Kill the Wabbit
included, barber of Tunescartoons, I think a lot of these
really famous melodies Kill theWabbit included, barber of
Seville included I'm not surethey would have the cultural
staying power that they've had.
And when we do these programs Imean it's been the last Bugs
Bunny at the Symphony I did wasgosh, like nine years ago or so
when I was at the Utah SymphonyPeople just really you almost
(23:38):
hear like when one of thecartoons comes up, if they're
not looking at the program, theydon't know what's coming next.
A lot of people don't evenbother picking up the program
and you'll hear these likenostalgic sighs in the audience,
like what?
The title comes up or the firstscene comes up and they're like
, oh, it's this one.
Like people really know thesecartoons at an innate level and,
(23:58):
like I said, I wasn't a LooneyTunes kid either and I knew them
, like my music teacher showedthem to me, if I hadn't seen
them just in my day to day life.
So these cartoons have been suchan important way that classical
music stays alive in popularculture and I think the this
concert, this program everywhere, I've done it across the
(24:21):
country now Utah, north Carolina, now here.
It's amazing that there's acertain cohort of people who are
older now who come for thenostalgia of the original
cartoons, but there's alwayskids in the audience who are
seeing these for the first time.
And so having that kind ofcombination of, you know,
nostalgia and remembrance anddiscovery and excitement of
(24:43):
these, this new thing, I think,is what makes this so special.
It's continually recyclable andit crosses generational lines
in a way that not a lot of otherthings that we do can do.
It's really special in that way.
Maddie Orton (24:58):
And Erin, I know a focus of yours and New Jersey
Symphony Orchestras is bringingin new audiences and families.
Do you anticipate this being anentry point for classical music
for people who might not be?
Erin Norton (25:10):
symphony regulars?
Yeah, absolutely, I really hopethat it is.
And you know, our Popsprogramming over the last few
years has been very.
We focus very heavily on someof these blockbuster films.
We've done a lot of the StarWars and I think those are great
.
But I think this program feelsvery different in that it really
celebrates the music that theorchestra already plays all the
time.
This is music that you'rehearing in this concert, that
(25:33):
you can come hear again andagain and again.
These are pieces thatorchestras play all the time and
again and again.
These are pieces thatorchestras play all the time and
I think for me it's reallyexciting to think about, you
know, especially kids cominginto this concert and maybe they
haven't seen these cartoonsbefore and maybe this will
awaken something in them.
I think seeing an orchestra playany score with film for the
(25:55):
first time especially that's thefirst time you're seeing the
actual film itself this hashappened to me a couple of times
.
There've been a couple of filmswhere the first time I saw it
was orchestra like live inconcert it's just a transcendent
experience that's hard todescribe.
I mean it just really makes youunderstand the power of music
to tell stories and to kind ofcarry the narrative.
(26:16):
I'm just very excited for thenew people that we'll bring in,
because I know there will be alot and I hope that they'll kind
of this will spark something inthem and they'll want to come
back and hear the orchestraagain and again.
Maddie Orton (26:29):
That's all folks.
Thanks to George Doherty andErin Norton for joining me.
Warner Bros Discovery presentsBugs Bunny at the Symphony will
be performed by New JerseySymphony Orchestra at Count
Basie Center for the Arts in RedBank on February 14th NJ PAC
in Newark on February 15th andthe State Theater in New
Brunswick on February 16th.
(26:50):
For more information on theconcert, visit njsymphonyorg.
Musical clips from Warner BrosDiscovery Presents Bugs Bunny at
the Symphony used in thisepisode were performed by the
Sydney Symphony Orchestra at theSydney Opera House, conducted
by George Daughtery.
Looney Tunes and all relatedcharacters and elements are
copyrighted and trademarked byWarner Bros Entertainment Inc.
(27:12):
If you liked this episode, besure to give us a review,
subscribe and tell your friends,or review, subscribe and tell
your friends.
A transcript of this podcast,as well as links to related
content and more about the artsin New Jersey, can be found on
jerseyartscom.
The Jersey Arts Podcast ispresented by Art Pride New
Jersey, advancing a state ofcreativity since 1986.
(27:33):
The show is co -founded by andcurrently supported by funds
from the New Jersey StateCouncil on the Arts.
This episode was hosted,produced and edited by yours
truly Maddie Orton.
Executive producers are JimAtkinson and Isaac Serna-Diez.
Special thanks to the NewJersey Symphony Orchestra.
I'm Maddie Orton for the JerseyArts Podcast.
Thanks for listening.
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