Posta Romana is the only postal services provider in Romania. Founded in 1862, Posta Romana offers a wide range of services in the country and is in charge of sending and receiving all postcards and money transfer services and other payments. And, it would seem, commissions stamps featuring various themes, such as this one commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Disney’s classic Short film ‘The Band Concert’.
The Band Concert was released in 1935 in full colour and is a wonderful example of how poor Mickey is just trying to do something nice only to have his efforts scuttled by outside forces he can’t control. In this case, these forces are a force in the form of Donald Duck! Oh, and a tornado.
This set of stamps was released in 1986 in cooperation with Walt Disney Productions, who obviously supplied the artwork. The set is called, in English, ’50 Years of Color Animated Film’. Instead of using the original English title of the Short ‘The Band Concert’ the Romanian equivalent is given as ‘Orchestra Concert 1935’.
I’ve arranged these stamps in an order that makes sense to the original storyline. I’m not sure what order the Post Office of Romania had in mind based on the monetary denominations of each stamp!
Each stamp has a title spelled out in Romanian. Mickey, as the Conductor (or Maestrul), readies to begin the concert (above).
Paddy and Peter Pig start things off and try their best to contribute on both big and small brass instruments. They are not very competent and provide Mickey with his first challenge to overcome!
As Mickey is trying to deal with the pigs, Donald shows up to hock hot dogs and lemonade even though his cart says ‘Ice Cream’. A Rățoiul is Romanian for ‘duck’. This is the moment when everything really goes off the rails for Mickey the Maestro!
Donald is inspired by the concert and just wants to be a part of the performance. The duck jumps on stage and starts to play along to the William Tell Overture on his never-ending collection of flutes. Unfortunately, his flute playing is a tad pedestrian for the highbrow elements in the audience and Mickey must remove him!
But before Mickey can remove the duck, he must return to the podium to restore order over his orchestra, leaving Donald to play along. But something else happens! Trombonistrul’ translates as ‘Trombone’ in English, and this band member relieves Donald of his collection of flutes and throws him off of the stage. But this doesn’t stop him from causing mischief. A bee and dollops of ice cream provide the next few minutes of mayhem!
Clarabelle Cow jumps in to restore a bit of order with a beautiful refrain on the flute. But the bee returns and more mayhem ensues!
No one seems to care who this guy is, but we are told he is a Clarinetist. He seems to be giving it his all during an upbeat portion of the program!
Horace Horsecollar jumps in as a Tobosarul (drummer). It looks like his performance might be a bit more spirited than desired as the weather picks up into a raging storm!
The Short ends with a tornado sweeping up the orchestra, who don’t miss a beat but keep on playing, until the storm subsides. Only Donald Duck is left in the audience and once again begins to play his flute. This engenders a hostile reaction from the haggard orchestra, who throw their instruments at the plucky duck, who just keeps playing as we fade to black.
These stamp sets are a fun way to remember old Shorts or to interact with characters in a new way. For more examples, simply type ‘Stamps’ into the search box at the top of this blog.
