Which Is Witch

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Which Is Witch
Which is Witch Lobby Card.PNG
Lobby card
Directed by I. Freleng [1]
Story by Tedd Pierce [1]
Produced by Edward Selzer (uncredited) [2]
Starring Mel Blanc [1]
Music by Carl W. Stalling [1]
Animation by Arthur Davis
Gerry Chiniquy
Ken Champin
Virgil Ross
A.C. Gamer
(effects animation) [1]
Layouts by Hawley Pratt [1]
Backgrounds by Paul Julian [1]
Color process Technicolor
Production
company
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
The Vitaphone Corporation [1]
Release date
December 3, 1949 (US) [2]
Running time
7 minutes [1]
LanguageEnglish

Which Is Witch is a Looney Tunes cartoon released by Warner Bros. in 1949, directed by Friz Freleng and written by Tedd Pierce. [3] The cartoon was released on December 3, 1949, and features Bugs Bunny. [4]

Contents

Plot

Bugs Bunny is exploring Dark Africa. A short witch doctor ("Dr. I.C. Spots") wants to use him as a key ingredient in a prescription. Initially believing he is enjoying a hot bath, Bugs notices that he's being cooked and escapes, while Dr. Spots chases him. Bugs disguises himself as a Zulu native woman, but this ploy fails.

In the river, Bugs finds and swims to a ferry boat. As Dr. Spots follows, a crocodile eats him. Although the witch doctor is his enemy, Bugs demands that the croc "cough him up" and, when refused, wrestles the croc, finally emerging from the water with a crocodile skin handbag (Bugs having implicitly killed the animal and converted it to this form), from which Spots emerges, clad in crocodile skin attire. "Very becoming, short stuff!", Bugs nods, before making a face. "Gives you that, uh, New Look!"

Analysis

The film includes racist images of Africans. Among the stereotypes used was the depiction of a cannibal with a giant lip plug. A record is depicted in place of the plug. Warner Bros' use of these racist stereotypes ended in the late 1940s; this is the last Bugs Bunny cartoon to include caricatures of Black people. Like most other similar cartoons involving such race-related stereotypical scenes it's rarely broadcast on television today. [5]

Reception

The Film Daily reviewed the film on January 1, 1950: "When Dr. Ugh, Witch Doctor extraordinary for a tribe of little people, decides it's time to leave. The jungle medico learns he can't split the hare, and B.B. emerges victorious once more. Wonderful cartoon." [6]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 John Reid (2005), Movies Magnificent: 150 Must-See Cinema Classics, Lulu.com, ISBN   9781411650671
  2. 1 2 Karl F. Cohen (2004), Forbidden Animation, McFarland, ISBN   9780786420322
  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. 205. ISBN   0-8050-0894-2.
  4. ↑ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 60–61. ISBN   0-8160-3831-7 . Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  5. ↑ Cohen, Karl F. (2004), "Racism and Resistance:Stereotypes in Animation", Forbidden Animation: Censored Cartoons and Blacklisted Animators in America, McFarland & Company, p. 54, ISBN   978-0786420322
  6. ↑ Sampson, Henry T. (1998). That's Enough, Folks: Black Images in Animated Cartoons, 1900-1960. Scarecrow Press. p. 127. ISBN   978-0810832503.
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