Synopsis
After he is rejected by the Great Poochini as an opening act, Mysto the Magician gets his revenge by conducting his next operatic performance.
Magical Maestro
Releases by Date
Theatrical
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USANR
Releases by Country
USA
09 Feb 1952
- TheatricalNR
Popular reviews
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Of the approximately 75 cartoons with the premise of “a magic wand humiliates an opera singer” this is by far the most go-for-broke. Just a nonstop barrage of gags. You almost get the feeling that Avery would’ve preferred to not even bother explaining the premise to make room for about 10-12 more gags. We should’ve let him. You weren’t born yet? Irrelevant. All of us are born with sin.
One of the problems with making a gag a second cartoon in the early fifties if you aren’t an especially sensitive man is that some fucked up racial and cultural stereotypes get in there. You can almost imagine Tex Avery directing his own direction here: a man shoveling every joke he…
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One of the unfortunate things about Tex Avery was there wasn’t a racial stereotype he didn’t find funny, and it’s very apparent in this short. That said, A magician manipulating an opera performance with his wand is such a simple idea and Avery jams it so full of visual and musical gags, I adore it. I saw this one first as a little boy, it’s ingrained in me and I can’t help myself.
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An absolute masterpiece and my favorite Tex Avery cartoon. Those who feign offense at old cartoons that make any play on ethnic or cultural signifiers conveniently forget that the whole premise of a cartoon like this is a dog singing opera. Equality is found under the spell of magic stereotyping. But beyond all that is the ratatat barrage of gags that build into a crescendo of chaos. The way the rabbits keep popping up; the Dadaist attack on class and culture (the opera patron happens to have an anvil in his box seat); the hair in the gate. It is all pitch-perfect. This one shreds me every time.
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There is a moment in which this cartoon breaks the fourth wall that, when it happens, is a delightful surprise in a cartoon that is sullied by racial caricatures and animation that never seems to be as in time with the music as it should, especially when compared to Chuck Jones's tackling of the same piece of music in Long-Haired Hare.
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I've been thinking over what I said a week ago, and the reality is that the short's very outdated moments are still used more than I usually see but I think instead of just not giving it a rating, I should just instead say what's worth watching the short for and being specific about what's up with it.
The gags are at such a fast paced level, Tex Avery was already excellent at comedy pacing but I earnestly think this was some of his best timing. The jokes are essentially just one joke used in different ways thanks to it's set-up being very tight and well executed.
It's laugh out loud funny, something that can happen with Tex Avery but…
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Delightfully silly mix of opera and magic. (And a dash or two of contemporary racism, he added regretfully.)
Part of my effort to watch at least one short film per day. Here is the list I am currently working through, with a random number generator determining the film each day. I will take recommendations for everything that's 40 minutes max.
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Among the many classics of the animation medium that Tex Avery created, ‘Magical Maestro’ might well be my favourite. Once it has quickly set up its situation (a rejected magician replaces the conductor to take his revenge on an opera singer using his wand for a baton), ‘Magical Maestro’ limits itself to just the image of a singing dog on a stage, with the onslaught of laughs coming from the numerous transformation he undergoes. The gags here are inventive, unexpected (aside from a few of the era’s typical racial stereotypes) and hilarious. One joke in particular is unique to Tex Avery’s cartoons. Knowing that hairs often got caught in film projectors if they were loaded wrongly, Avery adds in an artificial hair for several frames. After leaving it there just long enough to drive the projectionist crazy, Avery has the main character pluck it out himself and toss it aside. It’s my favourite joke in a cartoon full of contenders.
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Directed by Tex Avery this is a short animated film which features “Largo al factotum” from The Barber of Seville. After being rejected for being the opening act for a famous opera singer a magician has his revenge during the opera singer's act.
This is a timelessly funny cartoon right up to the point it starts to rely on racial stereotypes for humour and then it instantly becomes dated. I would not say this is one of my all time favourite cartoons but if you can look past the racism it is entertaining. The animation is good but nothing which sets it apart from the cartoons of it's time.
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Has a great, simple premise—wand-wielding magician takes revenge on a snobby opera singer by disguising himself as the conductor—and a solid gag-a-second pace, yet this quickly degenerates into an uncomfortable presentation of every racial/cultural stereotype in America circa 1952 (which, to be fair, includes a guitar-playing white southerner in addition to its more offensive portrayals of Chinese, Hawaiian natives, and, of course, African Americans). Gotta respect Avery, though, for including a fourth-wall-breaking joke so meta that he allows it to overshadow two or three of the traditional gags; considering this cartoon's content, the distraction is more than welcome.
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It was hilarious until it became a bit of a problem. A product of its time, I suppose. Still had funny moments, but the rating has been voided. Check the tags and see why.