One thing I noticed about the Merrie Melodies cartoons were the numerous variations of its famous theme song, Merrily We Roll Along. This was especially true when Carl Stalling was doing the music for the Warner cartoons; during the late 1930s he came out with a NUMBER of variations.\r
This includes most (if not all) of these Carl Stalling arrangements, along with the 1955 Milt Franklyn version, the early 1960s unused Milt Franklyn versions, then several contemporary arrangements of the theme used in newer productions (but I steer away from that strange dissonant version used on The Looney Tunes Show!)\r
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Unlike the logo montages Ive seen, this is only to showcase the evolution of the theme music.\r
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00:00 - First prototype version of the opening theme, only used on Boulevardier from the Bronx (1936)\r
00:18 - Similar to the last version, but with a few of the familiar elements already in place\r
00:35 - Similar to the previous version, but at a slightly slower tempo, early 1937\r
00:54 - Another early variant similar to the last one\r
01:14 - Yet another variant of the last few\r
01:34 - The final piece is added: the zooming shield sound effect at the start, mid-1937\r
01:54 - First closing variation of the theme, mid-1937\r
02:03 - Slightly modified version of the opening theme, with more woodwinds, late 1937\r
02:22 - Second closing variation of the theme, late 1937\r
02:30 - Another experimental opening theme variation, early 1938\r
02:49 - Another alternate take on the opening theme, 1938\r
03:10 - The first perfected version of the opening theme, early 1939\r
03:29 - Third closing variation of the theme, late 1938\r
03:36 - Slight modification to the opening theme, late 1940\r
03:56 - Alternate variation of above, late 1940\r
04:16 - More brassy version with several modifications, also the famous version used on the Blue Ribbon reissues, 1941\r
04:35 - Fourth closing version of the theme, 1941\r
04:43 - First shortened version of the theme, 1945\r
04:57 - Milt Franklyns take on the shortened version, 1955\r
05:11 - Milt Franklyn closing version of the theme, 1955\r
05:18 - Unused Milt Franklyn version of the full-length theme, meant for a revamped Merrie Melodies opening sequence, 1961-1962\r
05:43 - Another unused Milt Franklyn version, this time in a more jazzy manner, 1961-1962\r
06:07 - Arrangement on the short version of the opening theme by George Daughtery, 1994\r
06:20 - Closing variation of above theme, 1994\r
06:28 - Richard Stone arrangement of the short opening theme, 1995\r
06:41 - Enhanced variation of the Milt Franklyn opening version, 1993\r
06:55 - Another Richard Stone arrangement, 2000\r
07:08 - Closing variation of above theme, 2000\r
07:16 - Walter Murphy arrangement of the opening theme, 2003