Looney Tunes Christmas albums/recordings

[Matthew Hunter]

I have to wonder-over the years, how many times did Warner Bros. release songs or albums with Looney Tunes siging Christmas carols?

I know there was a very popular one in the mid 90's called "Have Yourself A Looney Christmas", which was later edited down into a shorter album called " Christmas With The Looney Tunes". In 2001, they came up with "Looney Tunes Kwazy Christmas", a sort of audio Christmas special with the characters all gathering for a caroling party. All this is okay, but out of two entire albums I think only a handful of song renditions were anything special, mostly because some of the voices were terrible. Daffy's "We Need A Little Christmas" is one of my all time favorites, though.

I know there's one floating around out there with Mel Blanc as Speedy Gonzales, siging "The Hat I Got For Christmas Is Too Beeg", and the infamous Elvis-singing Porky Pig impersonator billed as "Sylvester Swine".

Is there anything else?

-Matthew

[Sogturtle]

I have to wonder-over the years, how many times did Warner Bros. release songs or albums with Looney Tunes siging Christmas carols?

I know there was a very popular one in the mid 90's called "Have Yourself A Looney Christmas", which was later edited down into a shorter album called " Christmas With The Looney Tunes". In 2001, they came up with "Looney Tunes Kwazy Christmas", a sort of audio Christmas special with the characters all gathering for a caroling party. All this is okay, but out of two entire albums I think only a handful of song renditions were anything special, mostly because some of the voices were terrible. Daffy's "We Need A Little Christmas" is one of my all time favorites, though.

I know there's one floating around out there with Mel Blanc as Speedy Gonzales, siging "The Hat I Got For Christmas Is Too Beeg", and the infamous Elvis-singing Porky Pig impersonator billed as "Sylvester Swine".

Is there anything else?

-Matthew

I have to wonder-over the years, how many times did Warner Bros. release songs or albums with Looney Tunes siging Christmas carols?

I know there was a very popular one in the mid 90's called "Have Yourself A Looney Christmas", which was later edited down into a shorter album called " Christmas With The Looney Tunes". In 2001, they came up with "Looney Tunes Kwazy Christmas", a sort of audio Christmas special with the characters all gathering for a caroling party. All this is okay, but out of two entire albums I think only a handful of song renditions were anything special, mostly because some of the voices were terrible. Daffy's "We Need A Little Christmas" is one of my all time favorites, though.

I know there's one floating around out there with Mel Blanc as Speedy Gonzales, siging "The Hat I Got For Christmas Is Too Beeg", and the infamous Elvis-singing Porky Pig impersonator billed as "Sylvester Swine".

Is there anything else?

-Matthew


Hey Matthew~

You pretty much covered the Warner records of Looney Tunes at Christmas time (more on that in a sec).

I'm still working on the Looney Tunes records... A small correction is in order, the "Blue Christmas" by the Elvis/Porky Pig impersonator was actually billed as Seymour Swine and The Squeelers (Seymour=see more swine :eek: = pork-y pig :rolleyes: ) [it was released as a 45 without a company label or logo but (c) 1985 Swine Productions]

Mel Blanc also recorded "Pancho's Christmas" (and co-wrote it) and it was the flip-side of "The Hat I Got For Christmas Is Too Beeg". Then there's the hyper "I Can't Wait Till Quithmuth Day" in a voice midway between Bugs and Tweety ;)) It's flipside was "Christmas Chopsticks"... There's also a possibility that he played Bugs as Santa in a promo record for Capitol early on, this was released as a picture-record no less, with Bugs in Santa regalia! (I still haven't gotten a copy of it so can't comment further).

It's very sad that during Mel's lengthy Capitol recording career nobody (Foster, Pierce) ever thought to write a Christmas story for him (the three songs above are as close as he got). In I believe 1960 he ALMOST rectified that situation by recording (and co-writing) two unique songs for Warner Bros. Records... The titles??? "Tweety's Twistmas Twouble" (just Tweety) and "I Keep On Hearing Those Bells" (Sylvester :sylvester and Tweety :tweety: ). These were as close as Mel Blanc as the Warner characters ever got to early Rock and Roll, but in a Christmas setting (twist-mas).

Lastly (at least that I can think of right now) much later in his career Mel cut FOUR Christmas stories for Peter Pan Records, "Bugs The Red Nose Reindeer", "Santa Claustrophobia", "Holly Daze", and "The Sight Before Christmas". Mel's voicing is fine (as always), but the lack of a real band or orchestra is marked. Personally the little bit I can remember of them I like. They were released two different times in album form, once as "Holly Daze" and the other as "Christmas With Bugs Bunny"

Is this enough for you or are you sorry you asked?? :p

(P.S. As incredible or in-crud-ible ;) as this may sound back in the Fifties MGM's Tom and Jerry :tomcat: :jerry: even had a Christmas record, titled "Tom And Jerry Meet Santa Claus").

[Jon Cooke]

Mel also recorded an odd little holiday tune called "Yah Das Ist Ein Christmas Tree". He does this German professor-type voice and a lot of the sound effects. It pops up on some of the holiday novelty CDs.


...Or is the same as the same thing as "Christmas Chopsticks"?


-Jon

[Sogturtle]

Mel also recorded an odd little holiday tune called "Yah Das Ist Ein Christmas Tree". He does this German professor-type voice and a lot of the sound effects. It pops up on some of the holiday novelty CDs.

...Or is the same as the same thing as "Christmas Chopsticks"?

-Jon


Excellent point Jon!! (And my sorry omission! Oh wellllll...Didn't have my Blanc-in' ;) recordography handy last night). And noooo it's different from "Christmas Chopsticks"... "Yah Das Ist Ein Christmas Tree" was released with picture sleeve depicting a roly-poly cartoon German Herr (smokin' a pipe!) and pointing out all the features of a Christmas tree on a wall chart. To completely confuse record lovers (and researchers) IT'S flipside was... "I Tan't Wait Till Christmas Day". Apparently Mel didn't have any other Christmas-comedy tunes handy so... just recycle. But it WAS Bozo approved!! ;) I believe the release of "I Tan't Wait Till Christmas Day" (backed with "Christmas Chopsticks") was in 1951, and I know that the music was by Buddy Cole. "Yah, Das Ist Ein Christmas Tree" features music by Van Alexander.

Amusingly enough the quasi-German title "Yah Das Ist Ein Christmas Tree". features a critical spelling error... "Yah" in German is always spelled with a "J"... Thus spelling it phonetically (for us) as "Yah" ended up not creating the German for "Yes" but instead the shortened form of the Hebrew personal name of God, namely "Yah" (short for Yhwh, Yahweh, Jehovah which translates as "The I am that I am", "The Self-existent one", "The Self-causing one"). As such this title spelling ends up saying something very akin to "LORD, that is a Christmas tree".
Hmmmm... unintentional semi-theology from Mel Blanc!