Today’s long-awaited release of the Shout Factory DVD Mr. Magoo – The Theatrical Collection 1949-1959 calls to mind two soundtrack records featuring the master of myopic misadventures.
1001 ARABIAN NIGHTS
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Colpix Records SCP/CP-410 (Stereo/Mono / 12” 33 1/3 rpm / 1959)
Vinyl Reissue: Varese Sarabande Records STV-81138 (Stereo / 12” 33 1/3 rpm / 1980)
CD Reissue: Film Score Monthly Vol. 9 No. 1/Rhino (Stereo / 12” 33 1/3 rpm / 2006 /
CD also includes Bell, Book and Candle)
Available on iTunes.
Composer: George Duning. Conductor/Music Supervisor: Morris Stoloff. CD Reissue Producer: Lukas Kendall. Liner Notes: Howard Berk. Running Time: 31 minutes.
Performers: Jim Backus, The Clark Sisters, The Jud Conlon Singers.
Songs: “Magoo’s Blues,” “You Are My Dream,” “Three Little Maids from Damascus,” “You Are My Dream (Reprise)” by George Duning and Ned Washington.
Instrumentals: “Main Title,” “Sultan’s Parade,” “Palaquin Chase,” “Wedding Celebration,” “Bar Fly Magoo,” “You Are My Dream (Reprise),” “Unhappy Magoo,” “Dream Ballet,” “Crazy Carpet,” “End Title” by George Duning.
UPA’s first animated feature may not have caught fire at the box office, but its soundtrack album has had a long and steady success among audiophiles, especially since its first reissue. (You can get this film now on the spectacular new Mr. Magoo Theatrical Cartoons 1949-1959 DVD set from Shout! Factory.)
1001 Arabian Nights (1959) is not a musical – perhaps a conscious decision to make it less “Disney,” even though there are two extended showpieces dedicated to the feature’s breakout hopeful, “You Are My Dream” composed by Duning with lyrics by Ned Washington (lyricist of Disney’s Oscar-winning signature song, “When You Wish Upon a Star,” which was being heard at the time every week on the Disneyland TV show. A lovely song that deserves more attention, “You Are My Dream” bears a resemblance to Sleeping Beauty’s “Once Upon a Dream” in composition and execution. Ironically, when UPA fully embraced the “book musical” form, they had their greatest non-theatrical success, Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol.
Aladdin and Princess Zasminda have so little to do in 1001 Arabian Nights that “You Are My Dream” is the closest the viewer gets to knowing them—the film belongs to Backus and Hans Conried as the Wicked Vizier (here we go again: Conried had voiced Captain Hook for Disney earlier in the same decade).
The big “however,” though, is that the overall score of George Duning (not to be confused with Yellow Submarine director George Dunning) does not suggest the Disney house sound of the period. According to the album cover, Duning was striving for authenticity by employing such instruments as boo bams, crotales, rhythm logs and ceremonial bells. Duning handles the 1001 Arabian Nights score in the manner of a live-action film (Bell, Book and Candle, which accompanies Nights on CD, shares a lot of similar Duning touches).
The music also puts one in the mind of a Star Trek episode. Duning underscored William Shatner’s acting for eight episodes. Even though he didn’t score “The Cage,” much of the music in 1001 Arabian Nights could easily fit alongside scenes of Susan Oliver as Vina, dancing around as the verdant Orion slave girl.
“Three Little Maids from Damascus” could qualify as a “bonus track,” as it didn’t make the final cut between the making of the album and the film’s premiere. Shreds of the intro can be heard early in the film, and then it stops. I love the thumping bass lines in Morris Stoloff’s orchestration, a popular musical style of the late ‘50s to mid-‘60s. You can hear it in everything from Doris Day’s single version of “Pillow Talk” to the graveyard scene in Disney’s Haunted Mansion.
UPA’s 1001 Arabian Nights makes a terrific album, with that rich, full fidelity so fully realized in early stereophonic records (which had just been introduced in late 1957). The album’s only flaw is its lack of Backus. The cover promises his presence—which also might have nudged the decision to buy the album – yet he only sings the very short “Magoo’s Blues,” a tune that comes across as a better background theme than a legitimate song (was it originally longer but shortened for time?).
GIVE A LITTLE LISTEN
“Sultan’s Parade” & “You Are My Dream”
The Sultan’s Parade piece is not only a clever blend of authenticity with sass, it also puts one in the mind of a Star Trek episode. “You Are My Dream,” besides being a lovely song, exemplifies UPA’s conflicted acquiescence to the Disney style.
MR. MAGOO
Original Soundtracks
Wonderland Records WLP-318 (12” 33 1/3 rpm / Mono / 1975 / 31 minutes)
Album Producer: Ralph Stein. TV Series Producer: Glan Heisch. Story: Bob Ogle, George Atkins, Al Bertino, Dick Kinney, Dave Detiege. Dialogue Director: Jerry Hausner.
Voices: Jim Backus, Jerry Hausner, Mel Blanc, Paul Frees, Frank Nelson, Howard McNear, John Stephenson.
Magoo Cartoons:
Choo Choo Magoo (aka Chug Chug Magoo) – Magoo tangles with an outlaw as he engineers a train through the west.
Gasser Magoo – An oil baron needs Magoo’s last share of stock, but Magoo thinks he’s interested in buying his car. Funny gag about Magoo having a file copy of his fan letter to Clara Bow.
Safety Magoo – An ad agency randomly chooses Magoo as the safest citizen in the world at the same time he goes to take his driving test.
Life Can Be Miserable – See “Give a Little Listen” below.
Waldo & Prezly Cartoons:
“Magoo’s Vacuum Caper”
“Oh, Waldo! My favorite nephew. What? You and Prezly are in the vacuum cleaner business? You’re cleaning up?”
Foxy Magoo
Magoo accompanies Waldo and Prezly to the great outdoors, and then we don’t see him again for three and a half minutes.
Who would have thought that, out of the blue, Wonderland Records (formerly Golden) would produce an album of TV soundtracks from The Mr. Magoo Show? The cartoons were running in syndication at the time, so maybe UPA’s licensing people were giving a little push to potential toy, book and record makers in 1975.
Veteran children’s record producer Ralph Stein (he did those “April Fool” records covered a few weeks back) must have selected the six cartoons—either from the entire 130 or whatever quantity UPA sent him in New York—based on how well they played without seeing the visual gags. All of them are on Shout! Factory’s Mr. Magoo: The Television Collection 1960-1977. I might have chosen to open the album with a Magoo story rather than one with Waldo and Prezley.
Even though the TV Magoo shorts have more dialogue than their theatrical cousins, much is still lost without the picture when compared to, say, Jay Ward or Total TeleVision cartoons. A narrator might have been employed to supply the unseen details, but pauses would have had to be inserted because there’s not enough time between the dialogue and sound effects.
Still, it’s highly wonderful to have cartoon soundtracks on vinyl records. With home video just around the corner, there would be precious few more of them.
Fun fact: Glan (Glanville) Heisch, who produced UPA’s Mr. Magoo and Dick Tracy TV shows, wrote the beloved 1937 radio fantasy The Cinnamon Bear, which featured such voice acting greats as Gale Gordon, Verna Felton, Joseph Kearns, Frank Nelson, Howard McNear and Martha Wentworth.
GIVE A LITTLE LISTEN
“Life Can Be Miserable”
Howard McNear plays an ethically challenged motivational speaker. Magoo, thinking he’s Waldo, wants to save him from being a juvenile delinquent. Even without the visuals, this snappy cartoon works in audio. It’s interesting to hear “Floyd the barber” go ballistic.
GREG EHRBAR is a freelance writer/producer for television, advertising, books, theme parks and stage. Greg has worked on content for such studios as Disney, Warner and Universal, with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars. His numerous books include Mouse Tracks: The Story of Walt Disney Records (with Tim Hollis). Visit 
Greg:
I absolutely love both examples.I’m a Howard Mcnear fan as well as a Magoo fan And it was a little weird hearing “Floyd” go bonkers!
Kind of wish they had put “People Are A Scream” on the album, so you could also hear Frank Nelson go bonkers (the animation may have been extremely limited on the Magoo TV shots, but the voice casting was excellent, and the soundtracks often made the cartoons),.
It’s really a shame that “Three Little Maids from Damascus” didn’t make it into the finished picture. The lyrics are clever and delightful. Without the song, the presence of the Three Little Maids in the film seems unjustified.
The song “You are My Dream” can be heard in the background in the film “Pepe,” which was released in the early 60’s. If I recall correctly, it’s somewhere in the last third of the film, right around the part where Pepe pays a visit to Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis. If you listen closely, it’s definitely that song.
Had no idea of that! I have to watch when it pops up on TCM again. There’s a Donna Reed show in which the Stones visit Hollywood– and the set of “Pepe,” where Mary is particularly excited about this film.
Just checked iTunes and James Darren also recorded “You Are My Dream,” naturally because his label was Colpix and he was under contract to Columbia.
A tad frustrating to be sure, especially as the song is listed in the opening credits and we see what was probably some animation for the song in the finale.
For the impure minds among us: There’s a scene where Aladdin climbs through a window into the princess’s bedroom. We then have a lengthy shot of the static background with light show effects and soaring romantic music. Just what were we meant to infer was happening in the middle of this family movie?
As an aside to Greg’s mention of the Donna Reed Show’s visit to Hollywood to the set of Pepe, that was done since DR has a cameo in that movie along with some other Columbia/Screen Gems actors like Jay North. The scene she watches is the dance of Cantinflas and Debbie Reynolds in Mexican garb dancing in front of an oversized jug-that jug was later on view at Pacific Ocean Park amusement park and was a refreshment stand know as “Pepe’s Pizza” http://waterandpower.org/Historical_DWP_Photo_Collection_LA_Public_Library/POP4.jpg
In addition to these, there was also an RCA Victor 1950’s LP, “Magoo In Hi-Fi,” with Jim Backus’s voice and music by Dennis Farnon. Here’s a link to the LP cover:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DCBQ3nptxo0/TOVx74bau_I/AAAAAAAADoM/EB55MwsBrJg/s1600/LP_magoo.JPG
Jim Backus made other records as well, including the comedy hit “Delicious!” in which he and an uncredited female friend get progressively plastered on Champagne. Maybe his most unusual recording was “Truth Of Truths: A Contemporary Rock Opera,” released in 1971 on an obscure label called Oak Records, in which he portrayed “The Voice Of God!” (“Oh, Magod, you’ve done it again…”)
I’m saving the fascinating “Magoo in Hi-Fi” for a future Animation Spin. Cool album — the “Mother Magoo Suite” appeared on CD again, but without Magoo himself.
I’ve had that thanks to a SoulSeek user…Butler uses the Frank Fontaine voice that he used at WB, HB, Lantz, and Jay Ward among others….
The album also features Marni Nixon,who did ghost singing on many movie musicals.
My dad had the “Magoo in Hi-Fi” LP! (and I inherited it and still have it in a quite fair condition) It was my introduction to the character before I saw it on T.V. In addition to Backus, it has Daws Butler as Waldo. This ought to be reissued on CD!
I had no idea there was a Magoo feature released in 1959. I don’t remember it back then and this is the first I’ve heard about it. Is it dismal? I attended puh-lenty of kiddie matinees in the early 60s and I don’t remember this feature at all. There was a LOT of kiddie crap out then (See ‘The Magic Sword’), so I’m shocked that this next got rerun as the feature, surrounded by a crapload of classic cartoons. And I don’t remember it being shown on television. So what happened to this film?
it did get run on television, though I’m guessing not very often — certainly not on network TV to my knowledge (though “Gay Purr-ee” was). I first saw it on a Saturday afternoon on a local station, and it was edited. Columbia released on in VHS. The Warner Archive DVD-R came out in 1012. It seems that the soundtrack album really got more exposure than the film itself.
The UPA-Magoo feature, 1001 Arabian Nights, is included on the aforementioned Mr. Magoo – The Theatrical Collection 1949-1959 from Shout Factory – which was released just this week.
I saw it on the big screen in ’59 and I liked it! Never could find it on Amazon or anywhere else – until now, I guess.
“Who would have thought that, out of the blue, Wonderland Records (formerly Golden) would produce an album of TV soundtracks from The Mr. Magoo Show? The cartoons were running in syndication at the time, so maybe UPA’s licensing people were giving a little push to potential toy, book and record makers in 1975.”
Does seem like a quickie but at least they were still getting the character out in the public eye I guess.
“I might have chosen to open the album with a Magoo story rather than one with Waldo and Prezley.”
Certainly lacking in the planning dept. here.
The stock music at 3:06 is a stock cue, “Grotesque” by Heinrich Feischner.
When i was a child, I loved Jim Backus narrating Mary Rodgers’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice script. It was on a Reader’s Digest record set called The Wonderful World of Music for Children. I’d love to hear it again.