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