Clean Pastures (1937)

The Lord sees that the stock value of "Pair-o-dice" is dropping on the exchange so he dispatches a slow-witted and slow-talking angel to sinful Harlem to recruit new customers. When this ... See full summary »

Director:

Friz Freleng

Stars:

The Four Blackbirds, Danny Webb

Cast

Uncredited cast:
The Four Blackbirds	...	Vocal Group (voice) (uncredited)
Danny Webb	...	Various (voice) (uncredited)

Storyline

The Lord sees that the stock value of "Pair-o-dice" is dropping on the exchange so he dispatches a slow-witted and slow-talking angel to sinful Harlem to recruit new customers. When this fails, God finds success sending a group of musical angels with a little more swing in their style, so much so that even the Devil wants to join up!

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Plot Keywords:

celebrity caricature | surrealism | censored 11 | merrie melodies

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Genres:

Family | Animation | Short | Comedy

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 May 1937 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Leon Schlesinger Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

7 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The slow angel is a caricature of Stepin Fetchit and the musical angels are based on Cab Calloway as the band leader, Fats Waller on piano, and Louis Armstrong on trumpet. The tap-dancing Harlemite is Bill Robinson and the guy singing "I Love to Singa" is an African-American version of Al Jolson. The vocal group parody The Mills Brothers

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Connections

Edited into September in the Rain (1937)

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Soundtracks

"Rhythm"
Sung by various characters

User Reviews

ya gotta pay your dues if you wanna sing the blues

Yes, Friz Freleng's "Clean Pastures" is full of racial stereotypes. But like many Warner Bros. cartoons, the images accompany some great music. I always get the feeling that the WB animation directors really liked jazz and swing. In this case, the owner of a club in Heaven called Pair-O-Dice is wondering what to do about the jazz dancers on earth. The cartoon features caricatures of Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, and more*. I figure that as long as we understand the content, we can appreciate the cartoon's look at 1930s popular culture. It must have been absolutely incredible to go to some of those clubs. I recommend it.

*In Chuck Jones's "Knight-Mare Hare", Bugs Bunny mentions Count of Basie, Duke of Ellington and Satchmo of Armstrong.