Merrie Melodies short, directed by Friz Freleng, notable today for being one of the Censored Eleven. For those who don't know, the Censored Eleven are cartoons that were withheld from syndication because they were considered to be too offensive due to their use of racial stereotypes. This cartoon's story takes place in a small, sleepy town on a Sunday morning. Various black characters happily head to church, singing and dancing along the way. One of them, Nicodemus, sneaks away so that he may steal chickens. In the course of his chicken-stealing attempt, he manages to knock himself out and has a nightmare that he goes to Hell. When he awakens he rushes to church, seemingly having changed his ways.
I believe those involved with this short probably thought they were telling a colorful, harmless story with a nice moral lesson, using minstrel imagery and stereotypes that weren't considered offensive at the time (at least in the mainstream). Now, of course, this is something that's difficult for many of us watch and certainly difficult to enjoy in the way it was intended. These things can be hard to rate fairly but I'll try. The depictions of blacks are grotesque but, otherwise, the animation is solid for the time. It's hard to judge color and sound quality when this hasn't been released in any kind of cleaned-up condition that I'm aware of. Overall, racism aside, it's a forgettable short that was pretty typical of the kinds of cartoons that were being produced at the time by Leon Schlesinger. If you're an animation buff you'll want to see it and the other shorts on the Censored Eleven list. Most people won't want to see this and children certainly shouldn't be exposed to it until they are old enough to understand the context and history behind it. I should also add that, while watching this makes me uncomfortable, I'm against locking it away and pretending it doesn't exist. That doesn't help anything.
I believe those involved with this short probably thought they were telling a colorful, harmless story with a nice moral lesson, using minstrel imagery and stereotypes that weren't considered offensive at the time (at least in the mainstream). Now, of course, this is something that's difficult for many of us watch and certainly difficult to enjoy in the way it was intended. These things can be hard to rate fairly but I'll try. The depictions of blacks are grotesque but, otherwise, the animation is solid for the time. It's hard to judge color and sound quality when this hasn't been released in any kind of cleaned-up condition that I'm aware of. Overall, racism aside, it's a forgettable short that was pretty typical of the kinds of cartoons that were being produced at the time by Leon Schlesinger. If you're an animation buff you'll want to see it and the other shorts on the Censored Eleven list. Most people won't want to see this and children certainly shouldn't be exposed to it until they are old enough to understand the context and history behind it. I should also add that, while watching this makes me uncomfortable, I'm against locking it away and pretending it doesn't exist. That doesn't help anything.