Seeing Music (Russian: Видеть музыку) is a 26-minute cartoon put out in 2014 with the intention of educating children on the instruments of the orchestra. It can be viewed online (with English subtitles) here
.
One day, a pair of (unnamed) siblings are taken out to a concert by their parents. During the concert’s intermission, they sneak into the orchestra pit and cause chaos- until the boy grabs the conductor’s baton, waves it, and the lights go out.
A candle is struck, being held by a cricket-man by the name of Antonio Innocento Cricketson. He tells the children that they’ve made a dreadful mistake messing with the baton- and, sure enough, his candle’s light reveals that all of the instruments have vanished from the pit. According to him, they’ve come to life, and taken off in a huff to the City Of Music.
One opening of a door via a musical key later, and the children are in the City of Music, where they now have to convince each and every instrument- which have taken on humanoid forms- to return to the concert hall.
Seeing Music provides examples of:
- Always Male: The militaristic percussion instruments are all men, as opposed to the other instrument families which are presented with at least one female member. Because “obviously” women have no place in a military environment.
- Animate Inanimate Object: All the instruments in the City Of Music are alive (and very humanoid).
- Band Land: The City Of Music, populated by living instruments (see Animate Inanimate Object above) and accessible via a magic door in the orchestra pit.
- Brawn Hilda: This is how the Tuba looks in humanoid form.
- By the Lights of Their Eyes: When the power goes out after the boy waves the baton, only the characters’ eyes can be seen; they’re then shocked when a third pair of eyes appear, which turn out to belong to Antonio Innocento Cricketson.
- Calming Tea: The Brasses are seen enjoying some when the siblings meet them.
- Cool Shades: The Piano sports a pair.
- A Dog Named "Dog": All the musical instruments in the City Of Music seem to be named for what they are, even including a Spell My Name with a "The".
- Drama Queen: The Violin. Good god, the Violin.
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: The Bass Drum, although he does turn out to have a sense of humor.
- Duels Decide Everything: The Piano suggests dueling the boy, although they convince him to play Checkers instead.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Loads.
- The humanoid forms of the Harp, Bassoon, Cello, and Tuba appear on posters in the orchestra pit near the beginning of the film.
- The Violin also can be seen for a split second as a picture in the Bassoon’s newspaper
- The Piano appears in a poster on the bus stop next to the Harp’s castle (a photograph of him also appears on her table).
- The Flute can be seen fainting in a demonstration of the Trumpet’s volume.
- Finally, an odd alternate design of the Bass Drum appears with the podium with the Violin and Viola
- Easter Egg: The film is littered with these, from the posters in the orchestra pit, to the signs in the City Of Music, to the newspaper the Bassoon is holding during his introduction, to portraits of famous composers making appearances, to The Persistence of Memory being hung up in the Woodwind’s house.
- Edutainment Show: The cartoon was made to teach children about the instruments of the symphony orchestra.
- Extremely Short Timespan: The whole short film takes place during the intermission of a concert.
- Faint in Shock: The Flute does this in a cutaway card about how loud the Trumpet is.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The boy and the girl, respectively, although she does decide eventually to join in the chaos he’s creating in the orchestra pit.
- Funny Animal: Antonio Innocento Cricketson, custodian of music and human-sized anthropomorphic cricket. Apparently, he comes from an entire lineage of these.
- Gratuitous English: One of the posters in the background during Cricketson’s introduction is an English advertisement for Paramount Theater.
- High-Class Fan: The Flute is equipped with a sheet music-patterned one.
- High-Class Glass: The Bassoon’s got a monocle.
- High-Class Gloves: The Harp has a pair of these.
- Hot-Blooded: The Brasses’ personalities are described this way, although it’s mostly an Informed Attribute.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: The Bass next to the Cello, as well as the Viola next to the Violin.
- Implausible Deniability: When Cricketson asks the boy what he was doing in the (trashed) orchestra pit:Boy: We were just walking by and accidentally fell in.
Cricketson: Please understand that one doesn’t just fall into an orchestra pit. Otherwise it would be overrun by trespassers just dropping in. - Lantern Jaw of Justice: The Piano’s got one, although it’s more a “lantern jaw of general importance and hamminess.”. The Bass Drum also has a rather prominent one as well.
- Mood-Swinger: An Informed Attribute of the Violin.Cricketson: Violins have such mood swings that we’d better go before she changes her mind.
- No Name Given: We never find out the names of the brother and sister who drop into the orchestra pit, make a mess, and get sent to the City of Music.
- Physical Fitness Punishment: As punishment for what they did to the orchestra pit, the Bass Drum makes the siblings march. They’re not very good at, and elicit laughter from the Percussions- which turns out to have been the point of the exercise.
- Proper Lady: The Flute has shades of one, as does the Harp.
- Reused Character Design: The kids’ mother and father look an awful lot like the humanoid forms of the Tuba and the Trombone, respectively.
- Sequel Hook: After the adventure is over and the two kids are back in the concert hall, Cricketson mentions that he’ll see them again soon… in “music school”. Although, no sequel has yet been produced.
- Species Surname: Antonio Innocento Cricketson.
- Turn the Other Cheek: While the instruments put on a show of pretending that it will be hard for the kids to earn their forgiveness, in practice the kids end up being this every time.