Uncle Tom's Bungalow

Last updated

Uncle Tom's Bungalow
Directed by Fred Avery
Story by Ben Hardaway
Produced by Leon Schlesinger
Starring Billy Bletcher
Bernice Hansen
Elvia Allman
Mel Blanc
Roy Glenn [1]
Narrated by Tedd Pierce [2]
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Sid Sutherland
Virgil Ross
Color process Technicolor
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • June 5, 1937 (1937-06-05)
Running time
8 minutes (one reel)
LanguageEnglish

Uncle Tom's Bungalow is an American Merrie Melodies animated cartoon directed by Tex Avery, and released to theatres on June 5, 1937, by Warner Bros. [3] The short cartoon is a parody of the 1852 novel Uncle Tom's Cabin and of the "plantation melodrama" genre of the 1930s. [4] [5] It contains many stereotypical portrayals of black characters. The cartoon plays off Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel in that it portrays Uncle Tom as an old man, and wooden shacks and cotton fields pervade the scenery. Director Tex Avery adds his own sense of humor and "trickster" animation, giving the classic theme a modern, humorous twist. [6]

Contents

In 1968, the cartoon became a part of the Censored Eleven, a group of cartoons withheld from syndication by the television arm of United Artists due to the controversy surrounding their racially stereotypical content. Brief segments did, however, appear in Turner Entertainment's 1989 home video release, Cartoons For Big Kids, hosted by Leonard Maltin.

Summary

After a narrator introduces the players, Simon Simon Legree ("pronounced Seemoan Seemoan"), a greedy used slave trader, sells Uncle Tom to Little Eva (a young white girl) and Topsy (a young black girl) on layaway. In winter, Legree finds that the girls have missed their last three payments and sets out to get his money or take Uncle Tom back. The girls hide Uncle Tom upon learning of Legree's arrival and Eliza, a black woman, whisks them away and a chase ensues. In the end Legree and his dogs corner Eliza, Topsy and Eva, when Uncle Tom arrives in a car and clearly much richer than before. Uncle Tom pays Legree the money he's owed and he leaves. The narrator suspects that Uncle Tom cashed in his social security, but it is soon revealed that he earned his newfound fortune by playing craps cheating with loaded dice.

Withdrawal

The cartoon was included in the Censored Eleven, as it was deemed offensive by United Artists, and it is currently withheld from distribution.[ citation needed ] However, it was exhibited once, along with other films as part of "The Censored Eleven" at the TCM Film Festival in Hollywood on April 24, 2010, as part of a classic film series, presented by Donald Bogle. [7]

Reception

On June 1, 1937, Selected Motion Pictures called the film "an interesting travesty in Technicolor of the well-known story." The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures called it "highly amusing." [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tex Avery</span> American animator and director (1908–1980)

Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery was an American animator, cartoonist, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of American animation. His most significant work was for the Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios, where he was crucial in the creation and evolution of famous animated characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Droopy, Screwy Squirrel, The Wolf, Red Hot Riding Hood, and George and Junior.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Censored Eleven</span> Group of animated short films

The Censored Eleven is a group of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons originally produced and released by Warner Bros. that have been withheld from syndication in the United States by United Artists (UA) since 1968. UA owned the distribution rights to the Associated Artists Productions library at that time, and decided to pull these 11 cartoons from broadcast because the use of ethnic stereotypes in the cartoons, specifically African and African-American stereotypes, was deemed too offensive for contemporary audiences.

<i>Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs</i> 1943 film

Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs is a 1943 Merrie Melodies animated cartoon directed by Bob Clampett. The short was released on January 16, 1943.

Piggy (<i>Merrie Melodies</i>) Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon character

Piggy is the name of two animated cartoon characters in the Merrie Melodies series of films distributed by Warner Bros. The first character was a fat, black pig wearing a pair of shorts with two large buttons in the front, and his first film was You Don't Know What You're Doin'!

<i>Red Hot Riding Hood</i> 1943 American animated short film directed by Tex Avery

Red Hot Riding Hood is an animated cartoon short subject, directed by Tex Avery and released with the movie Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case on May 8, 1943, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In 1994, it was voted number 7 of The 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field, making it the highest ranked MGM cartoon on the list. It is one of Avery's most popular cartoons, inspiring several of his own "sequel" shorts as well as influencing other cartoons and feature films for years afterward.

<i>Sunday Go to Meetin Time</i> 1936 film

Sunday Go to Meetin' Time is a 1936 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on August 8, 1936. The name of the short comes from the colloquial adjective "sunday-go-to-meeting", describing something appropriate for church or otherwise presentable.

<i>Clean Pastures</i> 1937 film

Clean Pastures is a 1937 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on May 22, 1937.

<i>The Isle of Pingo Pongo</i> 1938 film

The Isle of Pingo Pongo is a 1938 Merrie Melodies cartoon supervised by Tex Avery. The short was released on May 28, 1938, and features an early version of Elmer Fudd. This is the first of a series of travelogue spoofs, and the first Warner Bros. "spot gag" cartoon, where each vignette is punctuated by a moment of blackout.

Tin Pan Alley Cats is a 1943 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies directed by Bob Clampett. A follow-up to Clampett's successful Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs, released earlier in 1943, Tin Pan Alley Cats focuses upon contemporary themes of African-American culture, jazz music, and World War II, and features a caricature of jazz musician Fats Waller as an anthropomorphic cat. The short's centerpiece is a fantasy sequence derived from Clampett's black and white Looney Tunes short Porky in Wackyland (1938).

<i>Angel Puss</i> 1944 animated film by Chuck Jones

Angel Puss is a 1944 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on June 3, 1944.

<i>All This and Rabbit Stew</i> 1941 film directed by Tex Avery

All This and Rabbit Stew is a 1941 Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Tex Avery. The cartoon was released on September 13, 1941, and features Bugs Bunny.

<i>Mickeys Mellerdrammer</i> 1933 Mickey Mouse cartoon

Mickey's Mellerdrammer is a 1933 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by United Artists. The title is a corruption of "melodrama", thought to harken back to the earliest minstrel shows, as a film short based on Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin and stars Mickey Mouse and his friends who stage their own production of the novel. It was the 54th Mickey Mouse short film, and the fourth of that year.

Cartoon Alley is an American animated children's animated anthology series which aired on Turner Classic Movies on Saturday mornings from 2004 to 2007. It featured classic animated shorts.

Film adaptations of <i>Uncle Toms Cabin</i>

A number of film adaptations of Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel Uncle Tom's Cabin have been made over the years. Most of these movies were created during the silent film era. Since the 1930s, Hollywood studios have considered the story too controversial for another adaptation. Characters, themes and plot elements from Uncle Tom's Cabin have also influenced a large number of other movies, including The Birth of a Nation (1915), while also inspiring numerous animated cartoons.

<i>Hittin the Trail for Hallelujah Land</i> 1931 Merrie Melodies cartoon

Hittin' the Trail for Hallelujah Land is a 1931 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated cartoon directed by Rudolf Ising. The short was released on November 28, 1931, and stars Piggy.

<i>Jungle Jitters</i> 1938 Merrie Melodies cartoon

Jungle Jitters is a 1938 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on February 19, 1938.

<i>Uncle Toms Cabin</i> (1918 film) 1918 American film

Uncle Tom's Cabin was a 1918 American silent drama film directed by J. Searle Dawley, produced by Famous Players–Lasky Corporation and distributed by Paramount Pictures under the Famous Players–Lasky name. The film is based on Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel Uncle Tom's Cabin and George Aiken's eponymous play.

<i>Uncle Toms Cabaña</i> 1947 American film

Uncle Tom's Cabaña is a 1947 American animated short film directed by Tex Avery. The short is a parody of Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, and is Avery's second parody of the novel, the first being Uncle Tom's Bungalow in 1937 while at Warner Bros. Cartoons.

Detouring America is a 1939 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Tex Avery. The short was released on August 26, 1939.

References

  1. ↑ "The Censored 11: "Uncle Tom's Bungalow" (1937) |".
  2. ↑ Scott, Keith (2022). Cartoon Voices of the Golden Age, 1930-70. BearManor Media. p. 24. ISBN   979-8-88771-010-5.
  3. ↑ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 57. ISBN   0-8050-0894-2.
  4. ↑ bcdb.com May 9, 2011
  5. ↑ The Colored Cartoon: Black Representation in American Animated Short Films, 1907–1954; Christopher P. Lehman; page 62
  6. ↑ Lehman 61
  7. ↑ "TCM Classic Film Festival 2015". Classic Film Festival 2015.
  8. ↑ Sampson, Henry T. (1998). That's Enough, Folks: Black Images in Animated Cartoons, 1900-1960. Scarecrow Press. p. 144. ISBN   978-0810832503.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.