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.

Space, Page 184

MGM's Swing Wedding (1937) is an energetically racist rendering of popular performing
artists of the day such as Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, and Bessie Smith as frogs. One frog is even rendered as a Stepin Fetchit caricature, with the characteristic droopy lip and slurred speech. The wedding escalates violently, bursting the thermometer into flames and prompting the musicians to destroy their own instruments.

These types of caricatures also appear in Uncle Tom's Bungalow (1937) and Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs (1943), both of which are parodies of popular tales: Uncle Tom's Cabin and Snow White, respectively.
Comment on this page
  • Local Discussion
    •
  • Popout
    •
 

Discussion of "Space, Page 184"

Add your voice to this discussion.

Checking your signed in status ...

Harman and Eising    MGM    Warner Bros    Leon Schlesinger    1930s    Sound    Color

Related:  Introduction, Page 2,  Race, Page 230,  Race, Page 252,  Labor, Page 88,  Conclusion, Page 304,  Race, Page 206,  Introduction, Page 21,  Labor, Page 132,  Space, Page 175,  Labor, Page 123,  Space, Page 137,  Race, Page 204,  Space, Page 152,  Conclusion, Page 286,  Space, Page 182,  Introduction, Page 6,  Space, Page 170,  Space, Page 195,  Labor, Page 98,  Space, Page 193,  Labor, Page 122,  Labor, Page 131,  Race, Page 224,  Race, Page 248,  Space, Page 197,  Race, Page 231,  Performance, Page 47,  Performance, Page 84,  Space, Page 194,  Race, Page 232,  Introduction, Page 29,  Race, Page 229,  Labor, Page 101,  Space, Page 162,  Race, Page 235,  Conclusion, Page 300,  Space, Page 188,  Race, Page 239,  Space, Page 178,  Introduction, Page 14,  Race, Page 220,  Conclusion, Page 292,  Labor, Page 129,  Conclusion, Page 289,  Race, Page 221,  Space, Page 165,  Labor, Page 128,  Space, Page 177,  Conclusion, Page 302,  Race, Page 258,  Space, Page 187,  Space, Page 190,  Space, Page 181,  Labor, Page 119,  Race, Page 219,  Race, Page 261,  Race, Page 254,  Race, Page 225,  Space, Page 191,  Space, Page 183,  Space, Page 138,  Race, Page 251,  Space, Page 172,  Labor, Page 133,  Conclusion, Page 296,  Race, Page 253,  Labor, Page 109,  Producers,  Introduction, Page 23,  Space, Page 171,  Space, Page 189,  Space, Page 150,  Labor, Page 112,  Race, Page 213,  Labor, Page 110,  Space, Page 163,  Conclusion, Page 298,  Performance, Page 74,  Performance, Page 60,  Conclusion, Page 291,  Performance, Page 82,  Space, Page 146,  Space, Page 148,  Space, Page 155,  Performance, Page 72,  Introduction, Page 30