Tubby the Tuba is about a tuba who feels sad because he never gets the melody in songs, even though he really wants the melody. Whenever he tries to play something other than the same two notes (of the base line) that he usually plays, the rest of the instruments in the orchestra yell at him and tell him to stop playing. It makes him feel down.
On his way home after the rehearsal he sadly walks to the river. A bull frog jumps out and surprises Tubby. At first Tubby doesn’t realize that he’s there but when the bull frog leaves, Tubby apologizes so that he would come back. He tells the bull frog that no one pays any attention to him and when he sings at night, he realizes that he’s good. The frog tells Tubby to play his Tuba and he too realizes how good Tubby is. When the frog tells tubby that he is really good, Tubby feels good about himself and tells the frog that he will try playing a melody the next day at rehearsal.
The next day Tubby goes to rehearsal ready to play his melody. The conductor come by and tells everybody to get ready. After they start, Tubby plays his new melody. The conductor and the whole orchestra love it and he is as happy as can be.
“Tubby the Tuba” is the title of a 1945 song. The lyrics were written by Paul Tripp and the music was composed by George Kleinsinger. The song takes its origin back to World War II, following the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was not until after the war when “Tubby the Tuba” became a hit. Once it became big, George Pal made a 1947 puppetoon based on it, which was nominated for a Best Animated Short Oscar. It was followed by a 1975 animated feature, which was the first of it kind to take advantage of computer technology. Since then, there have been many spinoffs for Tubby the Tuba. Even though it’s been recreated dozens of times, it will always be a classic. I am glad that I got the chance to see the Symphony of the Southwest play this piece.
– Mr. Muñoz
