Popeye the Sailor snores while he sleeps, which disturbs Mouse, who is also trying to sleep. A war breaks out between Popeye and Mouse which Mouse eventually wins.

KS3 idea: Focus pupils' attention on the music that suggests sleep immediately after the opening credits. It's sometimes difficult to hear clearly with all the superimposed sound effects - they'll have to concentrate really hard. Ask what musical features of this suggest sleep [slow tempo, simple 3-note melodic phrases, subdued bassoon timbre, quiet dynamic, delicate accompaniment figure]. Divide the class into groups, tell them the first 3 melody notes are E, G, D, and give them 10 minutes to extend this into a really, really simple 4-phrase idea of their own to suggest sleep (the simpler the better). Give them advice about accompaniment figures as you think appropriate. After 10 minutes ask the class to vote for the group whose sleep music sounds most promising. Then give a further 10-15 minutes during which the voted group can refine their music further, while the other groups all develop an entirely new short section of very contrasting 'wake-up' music. When the time is up, get them to perform their sections as a Rondo (sleep, wakeup1, sleep, wakeup2, sleep, etc.) with each group taking its turn in the structure. This will bear some resemblance to the structure of the cartoon, where bouts of sleep are interspersed with various woken antics. So you could either play the whole cartoon through before they start, pointing this out as a model, or maybe leave it until after the creative work is finished and draw out any similarities/differences then.

An animated version of the Mother Goose Story of Little Miss Muffet, using 3 dimensional or 'stop-motion' animation, familiar through the popular Wallace and Gromit films.

KS2/3 idea: Using common educational ICT equipment, it is quite easy (though time consuming) for pupils in schools to make their own stop-motion animations (see www.filmeducation.org/staffroom/film_in_the_classroom/animation/stop_motion.php for further information). They might choose a different nursery rhyme, or contemporary poem, and make their own animation, with scenes separated by showing the words, as in this example. They could then add their own soundtrack using whatever degree of musical sophistication is appropriate to age/ability, from plain sound effects through to musical compositions incorporating clichés. This animation could either be played for discussion before embarking on such a project, or for comparison with their own work after it is completed. In fact, the music track to this animation leaves plenty of room for pupils to suggest how it could have been improved.

Little Audrey, in the schoolroom, is sent to the corner stool to memorize Mother Goose rhymes. She falls asleep and dreams that she gets a tour of Mother Goose Land by Mother Goose herself.

KS3/4 idea: The juvenile subject matter makes it unlikely that secondary pupils will identify with this movie. But as an individual moment in the soundtrack, the place where Little Audry goes into her dream (about a third of the way through) is an interesting example of the use of non-diatonic harmony (whole tone chords etc.) to suggest that reality is moving to fantasy. There are also good examples of close-harmony vocals in both the opening titles and when a cow and 2 sheep perform during the fantasy.

Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer cartoon.

KS3 idea: Could be used for an end of term 'Christmas Quiz' covering the musical concepts below (all questions about the main theme at the beginning)
1. The opening sound is an... ascending scale / ascending arpeggio / descending scale / descending arpeggio [Ans: ascending arpeggio]
2. The line "Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer" is sung... solo / in unison / in 2 parts / in more than 2 parts [Ans: more than 2 parts]
3. The line "Then one foggy Christmas Eve" is sung... solo / in unison / in 2 parts / in more than 2 parts [Ans: 2 parts]
4. The line "Rudolph with your nose so bright" is sung... solo / in unison / in 2 parts / in more than 2 parts [Ans: solo]
5. The song is in a... major key / minor key / pentatonic key / variety of keys [Ans: major]

This is a specially restored version of a very old (1922) silent black and white cartoon movie. Felix wants to go swimming and asks a boy (Willie) to go with him. But Willie has to do piano practice. Things go wrong when they get some mice to play the piano instead and a goat eats their clothes while they swim!

KS2/3/4 idea: All the dialogue is shown onscreen as speech bubbles. This is an ideal opportunity to get students to make a soundtrack for this old silent film, with plenty of opportunity for easy sound effects. They could include speech (optional), sound effects and music to suit their age and ability. The whole movie lasts less than 3 minutes and with some groups it might be appropriate to divide it into shorter sections and get different groups to work on music for the different sections.

KS3 idea: The soundrack to this cartoon (by Carl Stalling) is crafted in extraordinary detail, often reflecting individual character gestures, footsteps, camera moves etc. The music enhances the action with far more precision than, say, the soundtrack to Mother Goose: Little Miss Muffet. Watch the first few minutes of the action and get pupils to discuss the intricacy of the soundtrack. For example, you might watch the opening minute of the action (not titles) with the volume turned right down (up to the point where Bugs Bunny's fingers walk across the snow in snow shoes). Ask pupils what their ideas would be for a soundtrack (possibly improvising some of these as the section is played silently again). Then play them Carl Stalling's soundtrack and ask what they notice. The following 30 seconds contain some of the most intricate 'one-to-one' musical composition ever written for the cartoon soundtrack genre - a real cartoon music treat!

Cartoon characters spend a silly day at the Kalama Zoo.
This vintage cartoon is accompanied by a soundtrack right through. Sometimes the texture is thin and quiet, at other times it is full and loud.

KS3 idea: The first half could be played as a stimulus for discussion about why the composer decided to match different textures with the various sections in the animation.

Betty Boop goes to see the fearsome Old Man of the Mountain for herself.

KS3 idea: There are examples of authentic blues call and response, both in Cab Calloway's introduction and in the cartoon itself. Be aware that in several places in the main cartoon the old man behaves in a way that would these days be construed as sexual harassment.

KS2/3 idea: As hinted in the introductory non-cartoon shot of violinist Rubinoff, violin techniques feature prominently in this cartoon soundtrack. First, by demonstration if possible, make sure that pupils know of violin techniques pizzicato, glissando, tremolando and double-stopping (choose fewer where appropriate). Get each pupil to draw their own 'flash card' for each (with both the word and a graphic suggesting its sound) and as the cartoon plays through ask them to hold up the appropriate flashcard whenever they hear that technique being used in the soundtrack. Can they focus on the listening task or will they be distracted by the cartoon visuals? They may sometimes have to hold up more than one card! (There is only one very obvious place where double-stopping is used - some other techniques are debatable, but it's good to hear different opinions!)

Upon hearing of the evil deeds of the bandit Abu Hassan, Popeye, accompanied by Olive Oyl and J. Wellington Wimpy, flies to Arabia. Olive is kidnapped by Abu Hassan, who forces her to do the laundry for his Forty Thieves.

This cartoon is significantly longer (over 16 minutes) than other clips in our collection and there are some sections without music at all. It opens with Abu Hassan (Bluto) singing with a very deep bass voice and this returns several times during the cartoon.

Director:Dave Fleischer