George Pal’s acclaimed and very popular Tubby the Tuba was the last of his puppetoon shorts. Based upon a book by
Paul Tripp and an orchestral piece created by George Kleinsinger,
Tubby tells the simple story of a young tuba, who is happy and exited to be part of an orchestra but also feels sad because he never gets to play a melody. The rest of the orchestra makes fun of his desire, saying that tubas aren’t meant for melodies. Depressed by their mockery, Tubby makes hi way to a nearby pond, where he encounters a frog. The frog asks Tubby what is wrong, and when Tubby tells him, the frog sings a strange but beautiful melody. With the frog’s encouragement, Tubby adopts the melody as his own. The next day, the orchestra has a new conductor, Signore Pizzicato, for whom Tubby plays his tune. The conductor is quite taken with it, and soon all of the orchestra joins in, delighted with Tubby’s discovery, and all ends happily. In 1975, a feature-length cartoon remake would be created by Tripp, who was better known to children of the 1950’s as television’s Mr. I. Magination. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide