Best Bill Lava music

[angilbas]

This could also be called a "Best Directed 1963-1966 Cartoon" poll, because Lava was unfamiliar with the Termite Terrace house style and needed more guidance from the cartoon's director than Franklyn did.

-Tony

[J Lee]

"To Beep or Not To Beep"

While it has the requisite Lava clangs, dings and screetches (mainly during the Coyote's spring-and-boulder sequence) I give it the nod for Lava's deliberately mechanical music during the extended catapult gag, which I actually prefer to the original music by Franklyn from "Adventures of The Road Runner."

Lava's music was far more attuned to the quality of cartoon than Stalling or Franklyn were. Those two could still write up a good score for a sub-par short; with Lava, if he didn't get a cartoon with good gags, he didn't seem to be able to motivate himself to furnish a good score to go with it.

[Lonestarr]

Easy: the stuff he did for the 'toons not featuring the classic characters. Though the score for "The Unmentionables" was okay, the main title is unlistenable. I voted for "Other".

[angilbas]

I'm surprised that no one has voted for "Claws in the Lease," which has (along with its music) received favorable comments in earlier versions of the TTTP.

BTW, my choice was "War and Pieces."
-Tony

[lislebartman]

Since I don't believe that there is 'good' Bill Lava music, I just had to vote for "other". One of his better scores was for the Daffy/Speedy Short "Snow Excuse", the last DePatie-Freleng cartoon he scored. Walter Greene stepped in for the remaining WB toons produced by D-F. Bill Lava then returned to score the Bill Hendricks-produced WB toons.

Gimme Carl Stalling, Milt Franklyn or Scott Bradley anyday!!

[Emmanuel Cruz]

I don't like Lava's music at all. Stalling and Franklyn all the way.