The Sedated Ape

I’m  back with part two – If you haven’t yet you should scroll down and read part one first.

 Okay, this cartoon “Uncle Tom and Little Eva” is based on Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. I’ve never actually read the book, but they couldn’t call the cartoon “Uncle Tom” if they didn’t follow the book pretty close. So if you’re a student looking for homework advice, just save your time and just read this instead.  You might want to play down the part with the baby hippo a little bit, but I’m sure the rest of it stays stays pretty close.

Okay, the story is set in the American south, and we have a giraffe, two male lions holding hands  and an elephant who is suffering from rickets introducing it.

Now we’re on a Mississippi River boat and a band of ….. well, I guess the theater owners demanded that the blackface stereotypes have animal ears so they could claim that even though they played up every stereotype in the book and made up a few new ones along the way these weren’t supposed to be be black people at all. So, please don’t burn down the theater in protest.  

Anyway, those black folks sure look lazy, don’t they? The ones who can stay awake are playing “(Way Down Upon the) Swanee River”

This mouse, who is not Mickey Mouse – even though they seem to look alike and are wearing similar shorts, gloves and shoes – but  is , actually  a completely different mouse that isn’t owned by Walt Disney, so please don’t sue – -is conducting a wiener dog barber shop quartet. This is the last we see of them in the cartoon.

 

The music is so good, they just can’t help but tap dance. And they sure do love watermelon! The one on the left is eating his while the guy on the right is playing the watermelon’s stripes like an upright bass.

While this little guy just dives right in!

It’s summertime and the living is easy, fish are jumpin’ and the cotton is high.  Remember the part about it being summer – that should be important later, but isn’t.

So far on the stereotype scorecard we got: Lazy, watermelon,  tap dancing and cotton picking.

Add “shuffling” to the list for the fellow on the right. The guy on the bottom left is playing his friend’s head and belly like a bongo drum.  That’s pretty odd, but not really racist i don’t guess.

It’s pretty easy to tell who’s supposed to be Uncle Tom, but I’m not sure which one is Little Eva. There are two little black girls in the cartoon, I think.  It may just be the same girl  inconsistently drawn.  Plus, one of the little black girls is friends with a baby hippo. Maybe the hippo is Little Eva.  The credits don’t help

 

 More tap dancing!

The slave owner shows up and is either outraged because of the lack of work,  or  maybe because of the fraternization with hippos. It’s not clear.  Anyway it’s off too the slave auction for the black folk.

The hippo cries, and this is the last we see of her. That’s why I doubt she’s supposed to be “Little Eva”, but I can’t be sure.

 

Off to the auction, singing and dancing all the way – slaves were happy because they were always singing, you know?

 

Animation advice: Don’t have your main character’s head out of the frame.  More shufflin’  and dancing….

The crowd doesn’t like his dance moves. I didn’t know that in  slave auctions  the talent score counted so much . It’s like Confederate Idol.

They like her tap dancing better, but she runs from the stage!

The hounds are set after the runaway slaves and everyone is running down the river jumping from one chunk of ice to the next even though two minutes ago it was summer with watermelon and cotton fields.

Meanwhile, at Uncle Tom’s Cabin (See the sign? This is like those Classic Illustrated Comic books. You’re learning while you’re being entertained) Tom is polishing his ball and chain.  See, even if you’re a slave you still can have a little pizazz. I believe the kids today call it bling.

Uncle Tom to the rescue. And I gotta admit, the bit with the wheelbarrow is a pretty decent sight gag.

The slave owner and the search dogs near a waterfall…

 It’s hard to tell from the picture, but Tom snaps the chain and throws the ball into the boat sending the bad guy down the waterfall.  So, apparently, the ball and chain was just a fashion choice for him all along.

Now everyone is safe and so happy that they start singing “Dixie” while a  mouse, who is not Mickey Mouse – even though they seem to look alike and are wearing similar shorts, gloves and shoes – but  is , actually  a completely different mouse that isn’t owned by Walt Disney, so please don’t sue – plays along.

But wait, there’s something missing.  The black people don’t seem completely happy.  Something is missing… we’ve had tap dancing, watermelon, cotton picking and long lazy naps, but still…

A Chicken shows up! You know how crazy black people are for fried chicken! They chase after it…

And remember the rule from the other day? Just have everyone run off and say “The End”

 Well, at least it was official.

Oh, and I looked it up and the story does have a happy ending because in 1962 Little Eva had a number one single in the US charts with “The Loco-Motion” which was later covered by Grand Funk Railroad!

This entry was posted on February 17, 2008 at 8:25 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.