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
Previous page on path     Next page on path

 

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
  • Local Discussion
    •
  • Popout
    •
 

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
1940s    Universal    With Live Characters (Animators)    1930s    Walt Disney    Warner Bros    Cartoons    Leon Schlesinger    Moving Image    Sound    Daffy Duck    Black and White    Porky Pig    Color    Donald Duck

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