Sign in or register
for additional privileges

Birth of An Industry: Blackface Minstrelsy and the Rise of American Animation

Nicholas Sammond, Author

You appear to be using an older verion of Internet Explorer. For the best experience please upgrade your IE version or switch to a another web browser.

Introduction, Page 30

The racist representation of African-Americans is marked by continuity and discontinuity. The minstrel did not necessarily disappear with the decline of blackface minstrelsy in the late 19th and early twentieth centuries. It faded from prominence, but was joined by more virulent and intense caricatures in the swing era. 

George Pal's Puppetoons (1932-47) used hand-carved dolls in stop-motion cartoons. This short, Jasper and the Haunted House, features several stereotypical representations of black people, particularly the main character Jasper, a "pickaninny" about to deliver a gooseberry pie who encounters the trickster characters of Professor Scarecrow and Blackbird. 

In Disney's live action/animation film Song of the South (1946), James Baskett appears as Uncle Remus performing "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah". This song is part of the film's retelling of Joel Chandler Harris's "Uncle Remus" tales (1881). These popular stories by a white author were represented as African American folktales, given voice through the character of Uncle Remus, a kindly old former slave. "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" is also based on the from the pre-Civil War folk song "Zip Coon," which was popularized by George Dixon in 1834.
Comment on this page
 

Discussion of "Introduction, Page 30"

Add your voice to this discussion.

Checking your signed in status ...

Previous page on path Introduction, page 17 of 17 Path end, continue

Related:  Race, Page 252Labor, Page 123Race, Page 261Space, Page 191Race, Page 253Introduction, Page 2Race, Page 251Race, Page 213Introduction, Page 1Performance, Page 60Race, Page 221Introduction, Page 4Race, Page 229Introduction, Page 14Conclusion, Page 286Performance, Page 40Introduction, Page 29Space, Page 170Space, Page 189Labor, Page 129Race, Page 248Labor, Page 102Race, Page 219Space, Page 146Space, Page 197Performance, Page 47Space, Page 163Labor, Page 113Space, Page 183Space, Page 194Race, Page 220Space, Page 182Space, Page 195Space, Page 165Conclusion, Page 303Performance, Page 82Labor, Page 133Space, Page 188Space, Page 172Performance, Page 74Conclusion, Page 278Introduction, Page 15Conclusion, Page 296Labor, Page 122Race, Page 235Space, Page 187Space, Page 193Race, Page 232Race, Page 230Space, Page 181Race, Page 225Labor, Page 112Introduction, Page 6Introduction, Page 23Performance, Page 70Space, Page 175Conclusion, Page 290Conclusion, Page 273Conclusion, Page 275Race, Page 224Conclusion, Page 284Introduction, Page 21Race, Page 258Performance, Page 84Space, Page 138Labor, Page 128Space, Page 190Race, Page 206Labor, Page 88Labor, Page 109Space, Page 162Space, Page 141Performance, Page 77Space, Page 171Space, Page 184Labor, Page 131Conclusion, Page 291Space, Page 178Conclusion, Page 292Labor, Page 119Race, Page 247Conclusion, Page 289Race, Page 231Space, Page 148Introduction, Page 26Performance, Page 44Conclusion, Page 300Space, Page 152Performance, Page 54Conclusion, Page 302Performance, Page 50Space, Page 177Labor, Page 132Labor, Page 110Performance, Page 41Labor, Page 98Introduction, Page 16Space, Page 155Performance, Page 45Conclusion, Page 298Race, Page 245Performance, Page 42Performance, Page 52Performance, Page 43Performance, Page 46Race, Page 254Space, Page 150Performance, Page 34Conclusion, Page 304Race, Page 239Space, Page 143Space, Page 137Performance, Page 35Performance, Page 72Race, Page 204