79 Replies to “Frankly, My Dear”

  1. Very interesting Kate. You make a very bold statement with this one. Well done, very well done. I’m still digesting it all, and I am sure more learned ones then me can expand on your message, but I’m not sure that it needs any expanding.

  2. Thank you Kate. Not only is this category itself fascinating, in addition, the work you have selected to begin this new study is absolutely classic. There are so many metaphors, and allusions, and moral tales, yet some people will inevitably pick a single nit and focus on it. That’s really too bad for them, perhaps this new venture will help alleviate them of that imbalance. Of course, it could just be that as I go through life I find I feel a strong affinity with Inky the mynah bird.
    (Wanders off into the night muttering to self: every cell drawn by hand. Wow.)

  3. An interesting thing is that the protagonist, while characterized as a stereo-typical African jungle tribesperson, is otherwise a sympathetic figure and not demeaned or treated badly by the writers.

  4. Oh hi Kate, it’s me again, Vitruvius. As a minor yet perhaps interesting matter of the delivery mechanism within this category (independent of content), I have been putzing around trying to find a straightforward way to view these embedded videos in full-screen mode, and unless it’s my browser, I can’t find one. From the actual YouTube page, though, it’s easy. For example, in this case, it’s:

        www.youtube.com/watch?v=Llog11-Nm54

    Of course, this is just my opinion, yet I think that when one wants to study a video work, it’s best to view as full screen, and the reason isn’t particularly that bigger is better, it’s that when full screen all the other screen noise is hidden, and so one isn’t distracted by it from absorbing the video under study. It’s the old signal to noise ratio, eh what?
    Like I said, just my opinion, but if it’s easy enough for you to put one o’ them “*” links in with entries in this category so as to take one directly to the YouTube page… well, it’s just a thought. Still, like I said, every cell drawn by hand. I want to see that.

  5. Except at the end, Randall, when Inky smacks the protagonist upside the head, as they say in Newfoundland. The key point is that, as you allude to, this isn’t about race, class, gender, or any of that stuff; all classic cartoons are about life’s lessons. And in this case, the lesson is, to all humans: don’t engage lions without due diligence. Now where have I heard that story before?
    But let’s not forget Inky. Inky does due diligence. He ties the lion’s tail to a tree. Which, it turns out, across the political spectrum, is what free-thinking Canadians are trying to do with the tail of the Humans Rights Commissions and our overwrought libel and slander statutes.
    See, I told you these old cartoons are full of moral lessons.

  7. Yes, Gunney, and if I may quote from Wikipedia, disclaimers acknowledged (and perhaps to the chagrin of Irwin): “Some reviewers feel that Jolson’s use of blackface was most likely intended as an act of anti-racism. As a Jewish immigrant and America’s most famous and highest paid entertainer, he clearly had the incentive and resources to help break down racial attitudes. […] Jolson starred in The Jazz Singer, which defied racial bigotry by introducing American black music to white audiences worldwide.”
    It reminds me, if I may oversimplify, of when the Rat Pack refused to perform in Vegas unless Sammy came in the front door.

  8. Not to be picky(ya OK), but cell is actually cel when referring to cartoons. Wonder how Betty Boop would do nowadays?

  10. 1932 Music Cartoon — Cab Calloway – Minnie The Moocher … Betty Boop stars
    tinyurl.com/5kajuc

  11. what? we are examining as opposed to enjoying. too bad. it was a cute cartoon.

  12. I find their stereo-typical portrayal of lions absolutely disturbing and offensive.

  14. One thing that is interesting about these cartoons is the music.
    Most people received their real exposure to classical music from a lot of these cartoons. However, they don’t (like me) realize how much of the music is classical.
    I had a lucky incident a couple of years ago where I was able to attend the Teatro alla Scala (la Scala) in Milan to see the Milan Symphony Orchestra do some stuff by German composers (but not Mozart or Beethoven). I was happy to go – just to say I’d been to this famous place. But I realized that I had heard much of this stuff before – it was Bugs Bunny type music. The composers had names like Schumann and Schubert, and some other guy whose music sounded very much like the great American guy Copland. Anyway, if you listen to the music in these cartoons, try to determine the real source of the music, you’ll be surprised where some of it comes from.

  15. Ahhh yes a long overdue public exploration of the mysteries, sanctimonies and duality in the cult of PC.
    BTW I like “Inky” he’s a cute little cartoon kid.

  16. Good point about the classical music.
    A whole story being told without a word said… Imagine today’s kids sitting still for that!
    BTW, Kate, is there an archive of all your categories somewhere on your site? Maybe I can’t see it for looking. 😉 Thanks.

  17. Hey, Inky, it’s a jungle out there! ‘Best school in the world.
    ‘Loved the rhythm of the silly walks, and the imitative movements.
    From a slightly different perspective (and, wouldn’t you know it, it was Danny Kaye who sang it):
    Bongo, bongo, bongo, I don’t want to leave the Congo, no, no, no, no, no.
    Bingle, bangle, bungle, I’m so happy in the jungle, I refuse to go…
    You have to wonder what these guys were on when they created these cartoons: totally surreal…

  18. Bongo, bongo, bongo, who in the hell would want to go to the Congo……
    Could you imagine what would happen if someone made a cartoon that depicted Africa as it truly is today?

  20. You can find information about many of the Looney Tunes/Merry Melodies cartoons at
    http://looney.goldenagecartoons.com/ltcuts/
    It gives the name of the cartoon, what was censored from it by which network and when it happened. I remember seeing many of these in their unaltered glory! (And you can still find some, unedited, at a few P2P sites)

  21. Just a suggestion.
    Perhaps we can let the trolls “go native” in this category.
    Let them use their own words.
    Let them explain to us “the standard”
    We don’t have to reply.
    This is too good, it speaks for itself.

  22. I shop the bargain bins at Wal Mart and have picked up some terrific DVD’s featuring the classic cartoons and live action features from the thirties and forties.
    Betty Boop, Laurel and Hardy, The Three Stooges and Our Gang among them.
    Nothing Politically Correct about any of them.
    Those were the days.
    NeilD

  24. I’ve added a link to Youtube, where you can pick up the full screen. Also – Inki is the little hunter, not the bird.

  25. Also – I remember snippets of this cartoon from when I was very little, though not all that accurately. I was REALLY impressed with the mynah bird (thought it was a crow), but I remember him walking into the rock wall, and splitting it with his invincibility, rather than breaking through the rocks from inside the cave. I probably didn’t know what a cave was at that age, and just saw a rock wall.

  26. My family and I spent a number of years living in Botswana in southern Africa.
    One Christmas we were driving our housekeeper back to her village for the holidays and we came across a police roadblock. I had read in the newspaper that they were cracking down on people driving without having their license available. The licenses were rather large and didn’t fit in wallets so nobody carried them, myself included.
    Sure enough, I could see the drivers of the cars ahead showing licenses to the officers before either being waved on or told to pull over so a ticket could be written.
    I uttered a soft curse as a ticket was a sure thing but my wife suggested that I show them her Alberta drivers license.
    What!!?? She’s not only ten years (now twenty years) younger than me but is blond and much better looking so I suggested that she was nuts.
    She replied that Africans think that white people all look alike and reminded me of the hospital she was working at where the African staff were always confusing her with another white nurse on the same floor. I asked our housekeeper if this was true and she ran her hand in front of her face and said “it is very difficult”.
    I was a bit floored, but also a bit desparate so I took her Alberta license and showed it to the cop.
    He looked at the photo, looked at me (did I mention that I have a moustache and my wife doesn’t?), looked back at the license and looked at me once more before handing it back and waving me on.
    Our housekeeper thought this was hilarious.
    I thought it was ironic.
    NeilD

  27. “I find their stereo-typical portrayal of lions absolutely disturbing and offensive.”
    bryceman you’re so clever and funny. If I were into mullets, inane ramblings, beer swilling, “rules of thumb”, and gay bashing, I’d be so into you.
    Now I get that it serves your crowd to adhere to the view that human behaviour is innate, instinctual, and natural. This is one way those in power or, those who falsely identify themselves with power legitimate, themselves.
    But I would propose to you that while human biology and development provide the parameters of human socialization, it is society that makes us human. It is Culture that shapes our “human nature”. Thus, to the extent that animals do exhibit repertoires of stereotyped behaviour, intinctual behaviours, or bioprogramming, I don’t find it offensive to stereotype lion behaviour, as long as we don’t anthropomorphize it.
    When it comes to humans, however, I believe that human nature is Culture, and Culture is a constantly changing and malleable symbolic system passed on from generation to generation and used to socialize humans beings. Thus, I do find it unacceptable and illogical to stereotype groups of human beings in the same way as animals. (yes, the generalized description of social conservatives above included). All said, there is a difference between stereotyping humans and stereotyping animals, unless of course it serves the interests of power to construct an ideology that portrays some groups as animals (without culture).
    Lastly, even if it were acceptable to stereotype, one should still look at the issue of power. Let’s say the lion represents imperial desire and the tribesman indigenous naivety, perhaps the first question that needs to be asked is one of power: whose interests are being served by perpetuating this stereotype? It’s a question very similar to “follow the money trail’ to see why something is being done, because of course money is a type of power.

  29. One thing that is interesting about these cartoons is the music.
    Absolutely. I think that the opening music here is from one of Felix Mendelssohn’s overtures. Might be “The Hebrides”. Might be “Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage”. Might be “Fingal’s Cave”. Of course, it also might be that I’m completely wrong; that’s been known to be the case.
    I had a lucky incident a couple of years ago where I was able to attend the Teatro alla Scala (la Scala) in Milan to see the Milan Symphony Orchestra do some stuff by German composers (but not Mozart or Beethoven).
    Don’t take this the wrong way; it’s just a point of information, not a sneer at you: Mozart was Austrian, not German.
    I was happy to go – just to say I’d been to this famous place. But I realized that I had heard much of this stuff before – it was Bugs Bunny type music. The composers had names like Schumann and Schubert, and some other guy whose music sounded very much like the great American guy Copland.
    Good chance that it was Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957), a very talented composer who wrote a lot of movie music.
    One piece of music now in the classical repertoire, but actually written for a movie, is Richard Addinsell’s “Warsaw Concerto”, which is the theme music for a movie originally released as “Dangerous Moonlight”, and later renamed “Suicide Squadron”. Give it a listen; it’s about eight minutes long, and I think that it’s both great music and appealing to a wide audience.

  30. I remember seeing an interview of one of the classic Looney Tunes cartoonists, I believe Mel Blanc (sp). He was asked why he used classical music for his work. His reply was simply, “It’s the best music.” He was fully confident that young minds would be able to appreciate it. There followed an interview with a biographer of Rossini who felt that, from what he knew, Rossini would have absolutely loved Bugs Bunny’s “The Barber of Seville”. The timing of the action to follow the music is exquisite. It’s another classic.

  32. Mr. Stewart,
    You are hurting future generations of leftists by making fun of the way they squeal when something offends their delicate sensibilities…. oh wait.
    You know sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, especially when it’s a children’s cartoon.

  33. The Minah Bird made an impression on me as well when I was young — the triumph of quiet persistence in the face of apparently insuperable obstacles and agitated frenzy. It stood me well in persisting with goals in the face of opposition when I was young.

  34. Notes:
    Mel Blanc was the voice actor for the looney tunes, not an animator.
    Gone with the Wind isn’t banned because White women with children find it romantic. They’re the driving force behind banning things… well them and Lucy Warman.

  35. My god, bill stewart, your post is essentially a stereotypical first year undergrad anthropology textbook. In other words – sanctimonious ignorance.
    No, culture isn’t the malleable symbolic system as told to you, in that textbook, and which you have swallowed without thought. It’s not ‘all in the mind’; it’s in hard core reality as well. ‘Culture’ or ‘social beliefs and behaviour’ have to answer to reality. Not just to the human imagination. This set of social beliefs/behaviour becomes COMMON to this particular population. It functions as their adaptation to their environment.
    The COMMON or normative habits of this population can be imagized in a general way – that’s stereotyping. So, you can extract basic common elements of a human population, ignore the minor deviations from the norm..and that’s your stereotype. Get it? You can stereotype or generalize habits-of-belief/behaviour of any living species. That includes humans as well as different bird species adapting to different environments.
    And this has zilch to do with your leftist, irrelevant insertion of ‘power’. Generalization is a cognitive process. Tribesman represents ‘indigeneous naivety’. Puffle and posh nonsense. Try putting that non-tribesman into the deep rain forest and see who’s ‘naive’ at how to live in that domain.
    And why the heck shouldn’t we anthropmorphize animal behaviour? What’s wrong with that? It’s fun and shows us how close we are to their nature. We aren’t, as you suggest, isolate superior beings; we are part of nature.
    Try moving out of undergrad anthropology and the leftist sanctimonious view of ‘power’.

  36. “If I were into mullets”
    Man, I’d love to grow a mullet, but I can only get the back half going.
    Seriously, brucestewart, thanks for the hectoring lecture; seldom does one read such a masterful stitching together of liberal cliches.
    Now, excuse me, folks, I’m off to anthropomorphize a lion. Or maybe a sheep…they don’t bite.

  37. Thanks Vit. I never even knew who Betty Boop was until I met my wife. She’s a Boop fan.Now if I can just find some DVD’s of the cartoons.

  38. “old white guy”: I agree. Let’s enjoy for a change as opposed to diggin’ for any/all symbolic references to our current times and our insatiable urges to finds symbolism in everything we ingest. I never saw this one, though, as we never had TV back then. Wish the same(no TV) could happen again!

  39. “Stereotyping”, is it Bill Stewart? Of what? The experienced versus the inexperienced?

  40. Stewart gave us a couple of hundred words around ‘culture’ and ‘behviour’ using nothing but a dictionary and his own imagination.
    It would get an ‘A’ in our government run middle schools. Gibberish that sounds important is as good a real thought nowadays.
    Thank God for SDA.

  41. Anybody remember the cartoon with the crazy Scotsman chasing Bugs Bunny around? Kilt, sporran, argyle socks, accent, penurious, the works. Very funny stuff. Still on kid’s TV all the freakin’ time.
    I call major, major bullsh-t on anybody who thinks that one’s ok but this Inky cartoon is evil racist stereotyping. The sole difference between the two cartoons is that Scottish people don’t whine when they get stereotyped. There’s no Scottish offense industry.
    ET, I’m with you. The ball peen hammer is culture. Without one it is difficult to use rivets, another bit of culture.
    Bill Stewart’s undergrad blather ignores the physical manifestations. Culture is not a speech act, it -includes- speech acts.
    Back to school for you, Billy baby. I recommend to your attention the various pre-1980 works by people attempting to define “culture”. I say pre-1980 because almost nothing in Anthropology written since then is worth a pinch of rat poo. In my humble, uneducated redneck knuckle draggin’ opinion of course, I’ve only got a Masters.
    Jerk.

  43. “Now I get that it serves your crowd to adhere to the view ”
    Hmmmmm… if this reaction isn’t conditioned it must be genetic in the dogmatic left.
    Hubris, presumption, sanctimony and broad-brush prejudice….all the primal elements needed to be a disciple of the PC cult…it affords instant presumed moral authority and rationalized intolerant bigoted pronouncements on “non PC” groups.
    Perhaps when the vacant trendish left who extol PC dogma can get beyond their morbid fascination with symbolism and deal with substance, perhaps the PC ranks will shrink to accommodate only the damaged intellects of dysfunctional fringers who historically gravitate to such puerile orthodoxies…it has always shocked me how many people have adopted such vacuous uncivil methodologies and agendas as the neurotic fringe which spawned PC. I cant for the life of me understand what could attract a critical thinker either left or right to PC. PC is the refuge of the lazy intellect, the moral quack and the political villain.

  44. Silicon Valley Jim – thanks for the comments.
    I think I’m going to write an overture (I think I know what an overture is – but this is based on my knowledge of Tommy). I’ll need a hundred piece orchestra with two guys on timpani and a guy on the cymbals and triangles.
    I’m going to call it ‘Fanfare for the Common Wabbit’.

  45. We shouldn’t ever forget the famous Bugs Bunny versus Riff Raff Sam, “the Raftiest Riff that ever riffed a raft”, all voiced by the great Mel Blanc.
    I think this cartoon was instrumental in turning Americans against Arabs.;-)

  46. This is great, Kate. Brings back good childhood memories.
    One of my faves is one that insults MANY people. All backgrounds, nobody is sacred in this one. Not even us knuckle-dragging rednecks. It’s hilarious–called “Magical Maestro”, a Tex Avery production.
    I love the Simpsons and Family Guy, but I have to say, they just don’t make cartoons like they used to.
    About 6:30 long.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piAaKs8sIvQ

  48. Great points about the classical music, everybody who made them. Listen: does anyone know what piece that is in the cartoon – the mynah bird’s ‘theme’?

  50. While on the subject of great music and cartoons,if you go to youtube and look up St.James Infirminary Blues,you will find it in a Betty Boop cartoon. It is worth a couple of minutes of your time.

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