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