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

One of the "Censored 11" banned from T.V. syndication by United Artists in 1968 (then the owners of the Looney Tunes film library) for alleged racism. Ted Turner continued the ban when he was hired and stated that these films will not be re-issued and will not be put on Home Video. These cartoons will probably never air on television again, and only non-Warner Bros. licensed public domain video tapes will probably ever have these cartoons on them.

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Connections

Edited into Uncensored Cartoons (1982)

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Soundtracks

"Swing for Sale"
Music by Saul Chaplin
Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
Sung by cartoon parodies of Cab Calloway and Louis Armstrong

User Reviews

lots of fun at Pair-O-Dice

This cartoon, one of Warner Bros. 'Censored 11', is one of the funniest ones I have seen and it is such a shame a wide audience are denied the chance to see it.

The premise is that Pair-O-Dice (geddit?) a place where the angels congregate, is suffering from those sinners just heading for Hades instead. So ... with the help of Al Jolson, Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, and Fats Waller, and 'Swing for Sale', is it possible to turn around the fortunes of the holy land? The caricatures of the great musical personalities are great and the title (a parody of 'Green Pastures') is inspired. Highly recommended if you can get to see it.