1947 only saw two Terrytoons cartoons to not feature recurring characters. In a year dominated by the theatrical series of Mighty Mouse, the cartoons being fairly hit and miss this year again if not as much as previous and succeeding years, and Heckle and Jeckle, their cartoons from the year being consistently good. The first was this, 'One Note Tony'. The other is the much better 'The Wolf's Pardon' (much better than its uninspired title indicates).
'One Note Tony's' title sadly is pretty apt. It is not a terrible cartoon, has good points and does get better, too late, but it is one of the lesser 1947 Terrytoons cartoons and is quite dull sadly. On par with the lesser entries from the year of the Mighty Mouse series, which is not the greatest of positions to be in. It is a familiar premise, but one that did appeal to me being a classical musician and singer, with fairly mundane and not particularly memorable execution.
It does have good things and am going to talk about those first. The animation, as usual for Terrytoons during this period, is great. Of all the components of the cartoons from the studio, overtime this was the most improved, the drawing is smoother and more refined and the backgrounds more detailed complete with some vibrant colours that help make the fire visuals look as authentic as possible. The music as to be expected is outstanding, the characterful energy and sumptuousness of orchestration is evident throughout.
The best character by far is Tony the elephant, an amusing and quite adorable character. He also bags 'One Note Tony's' highlight the ending. Really enjoyed the musical note inhalation up the trunk part too.
However, too much in 'One Note Tony' doesn't work and am saying this with a heavy heart. The material for the first third particularly is very stale and is not particularly amusing yet alone funny. Other than Tony, the rest of the characters are rather forgettable due to their personalities not being distinct enough and their material not being particularly interesting. 'One Note Tony' is also rather lacking in energy, with it getting off to a rather dull start and it stays that way until the exciting climax (sad that the excitement comes too late in the game).
Moreover, the story is not really much of one at all and feels rather padded. The first third especially is merely a series of tried and tested sight gags strung together, only at the end does some kind of story kick in.
Summing up, rather lacking in lustre sad to say. 4/10.