Sign in or register
for additional privileges

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

Nicholas Sammond, Author
Labor, page 14 of 21

 

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.

Labor, Page 122

With the arrival of sound to film, the spaces that cartoons depicted referred more often to Hollywood:

Toyland Premier (1934) features a wide range of celebrity caricatures, from Tarzan to Shirley Temple, to Al Jolson, to Bing Crosby, and the hit comedy duo Laurel and Hardy, all helping Santa out. 

Hollywood Capers (1935) depicts Beans the Cat sneaking into a Hollywood studio by pretending to be Oliver Hardy.

You Ought To Be In Pictures (1940) combines animation and live action, introducing the animated segment by viewing an animator's workspace. This recalls early cartoons which highlighted the animator's hand. The animation otherwise revolves around the importance of the Hollywood studios, and their contrast to the cartoon industry.

Swooner Crooner (1944) features Raymond Scott’s anthem to industrialism, “Powerhouse." With caricatures of teen idols Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby as the central characters, it parodies the shift of women workers into wartime manufacturing jobs.

Mother Goose Goes Hollywood (1938) was long censored due to its racist stereotypes. In the cartoon, a pie hits Katherine Hepburn in the face, mimicking blackface, and her voice changes to a minstrel dialect. Moreover, the three black stars shown, Cab Calloway, Fats Waller and Stepin Fetchit, all emerge from a pie (like "blackbirds") and are joined by a chorus of minstrels. (Compare this with Pie Pie Blackbird [1932].)
Comment on this page
 

Discussion of "Labor, Page 122"

Add your voice to this discussion.

Checking your signed in status ...

Previous page on path Labor, page 14 of 21 Next page on path

Related:  Performance, Page 35Space, Page 165Space, Page 190Space, Page 175Labor, Page 129Space, Page 193Labor, Page 109Race, Page 213Race, Page 206Race, Page 251Performance, Page 46Space, Page 182Race, Page 253Race, Page 232Performance, Page 41Labor, Page 131Race, Page 229Space, Page 181Performance, Page 34Race, Page 230Conclusion, Page 286Performance, Page 72Space, Page 150Space, Page 162Introduction, Page 4Conclusion, Page 304Space, Page 177Space, Page 171Race, Page 221Conclusion, Page 273Labor, Page 133Introduction, Page 6Race, Page 231Performance, Page 77Race, Page 224Introduction, Page 21Labor, Page 132Race, Page 252Race, Page 235Labor, Page 128Performance, Page 45Performance, Page 44Space, Page 152Labor, Page 112Space, Page 187Space, Page 195Space, Page 184Performance, Page 82Performance, Page 74Introduction, Page 14Performance, Page 84Performance, Page 42Space, Page 163Labor, Page 101Introduction, Page 2Space, Page 141Introduction, Page 23Labor, Page 98Conclusion, Page 289Introduction, Page 29Space, Page 170Performance, Page 60Labor, Page 123Introduction, Page 30Labor, Page 113Space, Page 143Space, Page 178Labor, Page 88Space, Page 146Space, Page 194Race, Page 248Space, Page 189Conclusion, Page 292Conclusion, Page 300Race, Page 258Labor, Page 119Race, Page 261Space, Page 183Performance, Page 47Labor, Page 110Space, Page 188Conclusion, Page 291Race, Page 204Race, Page 220Performance, Page 54Performance, Page 50Space, Page 148Race, Page 254Space, Page 197Conclusion, Page 290Conclusion, Page 302Race, Page 247Performance, Page 52Space, Page 172Performance, Page 70Space, Page 155Race, Page 239Race, Page 219Race, Page 225Labor, Page 102Performance, Page 40Space, Page 138Introduction, Page 1Conclusion, Page 303Conclusion, Page 296Conclusion, Page 278Conclusion, Page 284Conclusion, Page 298Space, Page 191Space, Page 137Performance, Page 43Conclusion, Page 275