Sweet Sioux (1937) User Reviews

Freleng leads the way

[boblipton · 7/10 · 2 February 2010]

While you may be an especial fan of Chuck Jones, or Tex Avery or even, like me, Bob Clampett, there is little doubt that at this stage Friz Freleng was and would remain the Grand Old Man of Termite Terrace, having begun as part of Walt Disney's Kansas City crew.

This rather work-a-day and, by modern standards, racist cartoon of Indians attacking a covered wagon is perfectly paced in its gag construction and works very well with Carl Stalling's musical score -- the man who, also part of Disney's original operations, had invented Mickey-Mousing.

In addition, Freleng plays a few tricks, like some extreme point-of-view shots around the three-minute mark -- notice the war drummers and the war dancers. It's quite possible he did this at the urging of Frank Tashlin, who was fond of such shots, but there are a couple of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons from the late 1920s, which also use extreme POV.

The result is a typically superior Freleng cartoon. Enjoy!

I wonder if one of the scenes inspired a scene in "Blazing Saddles"

[lee_eisenberg · 5/10 · 12 September 2019]

Yes, like pretty much every depiction of American Indians, Friz Freleng's "Sweet Sioux" contains a lot of racist imagery. If you get beyond that, it's got some funny stuff, with the Indians acting out typical stuff that appeared in 1930s entertainment.

One particular scene caught my eye. During the climax, an Indian coach speaks Yiddish while prepping a friend! This notably happened in a scene in Mel Brooks's "Blazing Saddles". I suppose that the whole point of comedy is to be as out there as possible. I'll guess that the people in the middle of the US were surprised to hear that dialogue, if they picked up on it at all.

So basically, it's enjoyable once you get past the racial material.

In the American West

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 8 June 2018]

Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons. Actually appreciate it even more through young adults eyes, due to having more knowledge of it, various animation styles, studios, directors and how it all works.

'Sweet Sioux' is not one of Friz Freleng's, a director who did many great cartoons and a director held in high admiration by me, best, not being one of his funniest, wittiest or freshest. For relatively early Freleng, 'Sweet Sioux' is one of the stronger ones though he would do much better later. It is never unfunny while not among the funniest cartoons ever, Freleng's later efforts show more evenness and confidence in directing and the story, though there are signs of them definitely here (more so than most from this period).

It is quite thin in terms of story, being the kind of story that is more an excuse to string along gags and events. There are not many surprises or much new.

However, the characters are lots of fun and drive the cartoon well. The stereotypes are not subtle but there are far more offensive ones in animation.

The cartoon has a lot of very amusing and beautifully timed gags, the best hilarious and clever, and lots of energy and wit. The conflict is nicely done and there is a good deal of cuteness and charm.

Animation is very good, it's fluid in movement, crisp in shading, vibrant and very meticulous in detail. The music as always from Carl Stalling is outstanding, it is lovely on the ears, lushly orchestrated, full of lively energy and characterful in rhythm, not only adding to the action but also enhancing it.

Overall, well worth watching. 8/10 Bethany Cox

You probably do not need to be a nuclear brain surgeon in order to realize . . .

[oscaralbert · 8/10 · 12 March 2017]

. . . that SWEET SIOUX is primarily a warning from Warner Bros.' prophetic Looney Tunes division of Animated Shorts Seers against present day America's Sunoco MegaCorp and its subsidiaries, who have the VERY WORST oil pipeline spill history on Big Pollution's Wall of Shame (Sunoco's record is so bad, in fact, that Conservative estimates suggest they've already PERMANENTLY ruined the formerly fresh water aquifers under 79% of their pipelines--a Truth NOT very surprising, for anyone familiar with how Corrupt Job-Killing Corporations have been writing America's Laws through BRIBING the so-called U.S. Government for decades!) Now newly-installed Red Commie KGB American Strongman Vlad "The Mad Russian" Putin has ordered his puppets in the odoriferous Rump\Scents Administration to ram through the Dakota Access Pipeline Project, bull-dozing sacred Sioux burial grounds in order to destroy their remaining drinking water and exterminate them forever. This Act of Genocide makes sense to Mad Dog because A)He hates ALL the indigenous populations of the World, and B)He's extremely jealous of America the Beautiful, and is Hell-bent upon turning Our Homeland into a worthless wasteland like Russia ASAP. Watch SWEET SIOUX carefully for a play-by-play account of the upcoming Putin\Rump assaults against the Sioux of Standing Rock. Note the anachronistic metal drilling rig equipment towed by "Trader Drum" when he rolls into the picture. Mark well the Fifth Columnist infiltrators into the Home of the Braves who break out their Russian Step Dancing Moves from 4:12 to 4:22 of this brief cartoon. And pay close attention to the moral of this story: Armed resistance is the ONLY acceptable response on the part of Normal Patriotic Loyal Average Regular Americans to the Nation-Destroying Threats posed by the Deplorable Putin\Rumpsters.