Rhapsody in Rivets is a 1941Merrie Melodies cartoon directed in by Friz Freleng, and produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. It is the first Warner Bros cartoon to feature the "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2" by Franz Liszt. It has no dialogue. The cartoon was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1942 alongside another Warner Bros. production by Freleng, Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt, but both lost to Walt Disney's Lend a Paw.
At a busy urban construction site in a world of anthropomorphic animals, an appreciative crowd of gawkers watches the foreman (a caricature of the conductor Leopold Stokowski) use the building plans as his score and conduct the workmen in Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, a symphony of riveting, hammering, sawing, and more. Elevators, picks, shovels, and a steam shovel are instruments in music making and construction.
As the clock nears 5:00 PM, the crew works furiously, and the building rises around the clouds. With a flag planted at the top and the work completed, the foreman takes a bow. One of the workers, while leaving, slams the door shut behind him; due to this and the overly hurried construction, the building (labeled the "Umpire State") comes crashing down. The foreman attempts to attack the worker in retaliation, but three bricks hit him on the head for the last three notes, ending the rhapsody and the cartoon.
Laserdisc - The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Vol. 1, Side 6: Friz Freleng
VHS - The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Vol. 6: Friz Freleng
DVD - Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection
Blu-Ray, DVD - Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 3
Trivia
Notes
It was reissued two times; once in 1947 (evident of the closing card) and again in 1955.
This short was one of two shorts that originally credited Schlesinger that was reissued in the 1954-55 season, the other short being "The Trial of Mr. Wolf".
Though this short has no dialogue, the Blue Ribbon ending card is still replaced by the 1947-48 Turner "dubbed" card in the 1995 American and European Turner prints.