NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs

Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs (working title: So White and de Sebben Dwarfs) is a Merrie Melodies animated cartoon directed by Bob Clampett, produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions, and released to theatres on January 16, 1943 by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Vitaphone Corporation. Merrie Melodies end title Merrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. ... Image File history File links 1943-wb-coal-black-title-card. ... Robert Bob Clampett (May 8, 1913–May 4, 1984) was an animator, producer, director, and puppeteer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes series of cartoons from Warner Bros. ... Golden Records album cover of their recording of I Taut I Taw A Puddy Tat Warren Foster (b. ... Roderick H. Rod Scribner (October 10, 1910â€“December 21, 1976) was an American animator best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from Warner Bros. ... Robert Bob McKimson, Sr. ... Thomas Jacob Tom McKimson (March 5, 1907 - February 14, 1998) was an American animator, best known for his work at Warner Bros. ... Vivian Alfretta Dandridge (April 22, 1921-October 21,1991) was an African American singer and actress. ... Ruby Dandridge (1 March 1899 in Wichita, Kansas â€“ 17 October 1987 in Los Angeles, California) was an African American actress from the early 1900s to the 1950s. ... Leo Watson (27 February 1898â€“2 May 1950) was an American jazz vocalese singer, drummer, trombonist and tipple player born in Kansas City, Missouri, perhaps best-known as a band member of The Spirits of Rhythm which included guitarist Teddy Bunn. ... Melvin Jerome Blanc (May 30, 1908 â€“ July 10, 1989) was a prolific American voice actor. ... Carl W. Stalling (1888–1974) was the most famous composer and arranger of cartoon music. ... Leon Schlesinger (1884 - December 25, 1949) was a producer at the Warner Bros. ... Warner Bros. ... Vitaphone was a sound film process used on several features and shorts produced by Warner Brothers in the late 1920s and early 1930s. ... is the 16th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Logo celebrating Technicolors 90th Anniversary Technicolor is the trademark for a series of color film processes pioneered by Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation (a subsidiary of Technicolor, Inc. ... Merrie Melodies end title Merrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. ... The bouncing ball animation (below) consists of these 6 frames. ... Robert Emerson Bob Clampett (May 8, 1913â€“May 4, 1984) was an American animator, producer, director, and puppeteer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes series of cartoons from Warner Bros. ... Leon Schlesinger (1884 - December 25, 1949) was a Jewish producer at the Warner Bros. ... is the 16th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Warner Bros. ... Vitaphone was a sound film process used on several features and shorts produced by Warner Brothers in the late 1920s and early 1930s. ...

The film is notable for being an all-black parody of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale Snow-White, known to its audience from the popular 1937 Walt Disney animated feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The stylistic portrayal of the characters, however, is an example of classic racist darky iconography (see blackface), which was widely accepted in white American society at the time. As such, it is one of the most controversial cartoons in the classic Warner Bros. library, has been rarely seen on television, and has never been officially released on home video. However, it is often named as one of the best cartoons ever made,[1] in part for its African-American-inspired jazz and swing music, and is considered one of Clampett's masterpieces. An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... For other uses, see Brothers Grimm (disambiguation). ... A fairy tale is a story, either told to children or as if told to children, concerning the adventures of mythical characters such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, giants, and others. ... This article is about the Snow White character. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For the company founded by Disney, see The Walt Disney Company. ... Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 animated feature, the first produced by Walt Disney. ... This reproduction of a 1900 minstrel show poster, originally published by the Strobridge Litho Co. ... This reproduction of a 1900 minstrel show poster, originally published by the Strobridge Litho Co. ...

History

Image File history File links This image is of a movie poster, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher of the movie or the studio which produced the movie in question. ... Image File history File links This image is of a movie poster, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher of the movie or the studio which produced the movie in question. ...

Overview

In this version of the story, all of the characters are African American, and speak all of their dialogue in rhyme. The story is set during World War II in the United States, and the original tale's fairy tale wholesomeness is replaced in this film by a hot jazz mentality and sexual overtones. Several scenes unique to Disney's film version of Snow White, such as the wishing-well sequence, the forest full of staring eyes, and the awakening kiss, are directly parodied in this film. The film was intended to have been named So White and de Sebben Dwarfs, which producer Leon Schlesinger thought was too close to the original film's actual title, and had changed to Coal Black and De Sebben Dwarfs. An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki TÅjÅ Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... A fairy tale is a story, either told to children or as if told to children, concerning the adventures of mythical characters such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, giants, and others. ... For other uses, see Jazz (disambiguation). ... Leon Schlesinger (1884 - December 25, 1949) was a producer at the Warner Bros. ...

Clampett intended Coal Black as both a parody of Snow White and a dedication to the all-black jazz musical films popular in the early 1940s (i.e. Cabin in the Sky, Stormy Weather, etc.). In fact, the idea to produce Coal Black came to Clampett after he saw Duke Ellington's 1941 musical revue Jump for Joy, and Ellington and the cast suggested Clampett make a black musical cartoon. The Clampett unit made a couple of field trips to Club Alabam, a Los Angeles area black club, to get a feel for the music and the dancing, and Clampett cast popular radio actors as the voices of his main three characters. The main character, So White, is voiced by Vivian Dandridge, sister of Dorothy. Their mother, Ruby Dandridge, voices the Wicked Queen. Zoot Watson is the voice of "Prince Chawmin'". The other characters, including the Sebben Dwarfs, are voiced by standard Warner voice artist Mel Blanc. The musical film is a film genre in which several songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative. ... The 1940s decade ran from 1940 to 1949. ... ... Stormy Weather is the title of an American musical motion picture produced and released by 20th Century Fox in 1943. ... This article is about the American Jazz composer and performer. ... For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area City 1,290. ... Dorothy Jean Dandridge (November 9, 1922â€“September 8, 1965) was an American actress. ... Ruby Dandridge (1 March 1899 in Wichita, Kansas â€“ 17 October 1987 in Los Angeles, California) was an African American actress from the early 1900s to the 1950s. ... Melvin Jerome Blanc (May 30, 1908 â€“ July 10, 1989) was a prolific American voice actor. ...

Originally, Clampett wanted an all-black band to score the cartoon, the same way Max and Dave Fleischer had Cab Calloway and His Orchestra score the Betty Boop cartoons Minnie the Moocher, The Old Man of the Mountain, and their own version of Snow White. However, Schlesinger refused, and the black band Clampett had hired, Eddie Beals and His Orchestra, only recorded the music for the final kiss sequence. The rest of the film was scored, as was standard for Warner cartoons, by Carl W. Stalling. Max Fleischer (July 19, 1883â€“September 11, 1972) was an important pioneer in the development of the animated cartoon. ... David Fleischer (July 14, 1894 â€“ June 25, 1979) was a German-American animator of Jewish ancestry, film director, and film producer, best known as a co-owner of Fleischer Studios with his older brother Max Fleischer as well as uncle to director Richard Fleischer. ... Cab Calloway, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1933 Cab Calloway (December 25, 1907â€“November 18, 1994) was a famous American jazz singer and bandleader. ... Betty Boop from the opening title sequence of the earliest entries in the Betty Boop Cartoons Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character appearing in the Talkartoon and Betty Boop series of films produced by Max Fleischer and released by Paramount Pictures. ... Cab Calloway and His Orchestra, from the opening credits of Max Fleischers Minnie the Moocher, which included a recording of the titular Calloway song. ... The Old Man of the Mountain is a 1933 Fleischer Studios animated short starring Betty Boop and Cab Calloway. ... Snow White is a 1933 animated short film in the Betty Boop series from Fleischer Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures. ... Carl W. Stalling (1888–1974) was the most famous composer and arranger of cartoon music. ...

Synopsis

As Coal Black opens a little black girl asks her "mammy" to tell her the story of "So White an' de Sebben Dwarfs". "Mammy" begins: This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

The rich, wicked queen then appears, depicted as a "food hoarder", with a large repository of items that were on ration during World War II: rubber, sugar, gin ("Eli Whitney's Cotton Gin" brand) and more. After stuffing her face with candies (from a box marked "Chattanooga Chew-Chews"), she asks her magic mirror to "send her a prince 'bout six feet tall", but when Prince Chawmin' arrives in his flashy car, he declares "that mean ol' queen sho' is a fright/but her gal So White is dyn-a-mite!" Finding So White hard at work doing the laundry, the prince takes her hand and the two swing out into a wild jitterbug. The queen sees this and hires "Murder, Incorporated" ("We rub out anybody for $1.00; Midgets: half-price; Japs: free") to "black-out So White". Eli Whitney Eli Whitney (b. ... A cotton gin is a machine that quickly and easily separates the cotton fibres from the seedpods and the sometimes sticky seeds. ... Trains are on permanent display at the Chattanooga station. ... The Jitterbug is a swing dance, a subset of Lindy Hop, with an emphasis on 6-count moves and fast spins. ... Murder, Inc. ... In the 19th century, midget was a medical term referring to an extremely short but normally-proportioned person and was used in contrast to dwarf, which denoted disproportionate shortness. ... For other uses, see JAP. The term Jap is used in English as an abbreviation of the word Japanese. ...

The assassins kidnap the girl, but set her free in the woods unharmed. Just before they drive off, the assassins are seen covered with So White's lipstick, giving evidence of exactly how she earned her freedom. Wandering through the woods by herself, So White runs into the Sebben Dwarfs, seven diminutive army men in uniform who sing "We're In The Army Now", with two dwarfs singing "it takes us cats...to catch those rats" at the end, and So White declares in a 1940's swing-style singing voice, "I'm wacky over khaki now!" They immediately recruit her as their squad cook, and she spends her days "fryin' up eggs an' pork chops too" (to the tune of "The Five O'Clock Whistle") for the hungry soldiers.

Meanwhile, the queen has learned that So White is still alive, and pumps an apple full of poison to give to the girl and kill her. The queen disguises herself as an old peddler woman, and arrives at the Sebben Dwarfs' camp and gives So White the poisoned apple. One of the seven dwarfs (obviously derived from the "Dopey" dwarf in Disney's film) alerts the others that the queen has caused So White to "kick the bucket", and the entire squad hops into its vehicles (a Jeep, a "Beep", and, for "Dopey", a "Peep"). As the queen makes her escape over the hills, the dwarfs load a cannon with both a war shell and "Dopey". The shell sails over to the queen, stops in front of her in mid-air, opens, and "Dopey" appears, knocking the crone out with a mallet. Dopey means stupid or acting stupid. ... For other uses, see Jeep (disambiguation). ...

Even though the queen has been defeated, So White is still dead to the world. The dwarfs note, in spoken rhyme:

Upon the dwarfs' invoking of his name, the prince appears and promises to "give her a kiss/and it won't be a dud/I'll bring her to life with my special 'Roooooooose-buuuuud'!". Wiping his lip and leaning over the girl in preparation, Prince Chawmin' proceeds to give So White a succession of highly aerobic kisses, practically swallowing the girl's face whole in trying to awaken her, but without any luck. Prince Chawmin' keeps frantically kissing So White (his efforts underscored by a solo from Eddie Beale's trumpet player), and the efforts literally take the life out of him as he turns into a withered old man, shrugging his shoulders in defeat. The "Dopey" dwarf then saunters over to So White, and, to the tune of "We're In The Army Now," lays a kiss on the girl so dynamic that not only does So White wake up, but her eyes become large as saucers and her pigtails fly straight up into the air (depicted in Rod Scribner's typically extreme animation style) as she jumps into the air. Citizen Kane is a 1941 mystery/drama film released by RKO Pictures and directed by Orson Welles, his first feature film. ...

The worn-out and aged Prince asks "Dopey", "man, what you got that makes So White think you so hot?!" "Dopey" replies, "well, dat is a military secret," implying a sexual innuendo, and lays another kiss on So White, which sends her pigtails sailing into the air again and causes them to turn into twin American flags, to several notes of Stars and Stripes Forever, and immediately after the kiss, So White shows an obvious "afterglow" in her eyes and her smile. The film then fades to the standard Merrie Melodies "That's all, Folks!" end title text, superimposed over a shot of the little girl and her "mammy" from the opening scene. Union Jack. ... The Stars and Stripes Forever is a patriotic American march. ...

Controversy over racist content

Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs is notorious for being one of the "Censored Eleven": eleven Schlesinger/Warner Bros. cartoons produced at the height of the Golden Age of Hollywood animation based on racist humor and its unflattering and stereotypical use of darky iconography. Many of the "Censored Eleven" shorts which preceded Coal Black feature cruder and more extreme racist caricatures of Black people. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The 1930s and 1940s During the Great Depression of the 1930s in America, the popularity of the cinema led to a corresponding rise in popularity of animated shorts. ... This reproduction of a 1900 minstrel show poster, originally published by the Strobridge Litho Co. ...

The same basic stereotypical elements present in the earlier Censored Eleven films are also present in Coal Black, depicted with more detail and made to conform to Clampett's "wacky" directorial style. The Prince, a vague Cab Calloway lookalike, is depicted as a slender, zoot suited Black man with straightened hair, a monocle, and gold teeth (with dice in place of the front two incisors). Both he and the dwarfs are drawn with large eyes, small noses, and unnaturally large pink lips, derived from the appearance of a white man in blackface rather than that of an actual Black man. The middle-aged wicked Queen is depicted as an overweight, asexual crone, with large lips that are only partially covered with lipstick (the Queen's lipstick only extends as far as it would if her lips were proportionate to her face). Cab Calloway, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1933 Cab Calloway (December 25, 1907â€“November 18, 1994) was a famous American jazz singer and bandleader. ... A soldier inspecting zoot suits in Washington D.C. in 1942 Men in zoot suits A zoot suit was a style of clothing first popularized by young African Americans, Filipino Americans, Italian Americans, and Mexican Americans in the late 1930s and 1940s [1][2][3][4][5]. Today, a zoot... For other uses, see Monocle (disambiguation). ... This reproduction of a 1900 minstrel show poster, originally published by the Strobridge Litho Co. ... Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, The Hag, August 1890. ...

Only So White escapes the extreme caricature given the other characters, although she is stereotyped in a different manner. She is designed as an attractive young woman with a voluptuous figure revealed by a short skirt and a low-cut, cleavage-revealing blouse. The sexualization of So White recalls Walter Lantz's 1941 cartoon Scrub Me Mama with a Boogie Beat, where a young light-skinned Black woman is depicted as attractive while the other Black characters are drawn as extreme caricatures. In both that film and Coal Black, the sexually attractive features of the young women are significant plot devices. In Coal Black, So White is the object of sexual desire for every male character in the picture. Furthermore, the film suggests that she escapes from the clutches of Murder Inc. unharmed by kissing each of its members. This draws upon the stereotype of the young attractive Black woman as an "exotic" sexual being, a stereotype present in roles that African-American actresses such as Dorothy Dandridge and Lena Horne played in American cinema. Walter Lantz in 1983, with painting of Woody Woodpecker Walter Lantz (April 27, 1900 â€“ March 22, 1994) was an American cartoonist and animator, best known for founding the Walter Lantz Studio and creating Woody Woodpecker. ... For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ... Title card from the 1941 cartoon Scrub Me Mama with a Boogie Beat. ... Dorothy Jean Dandridge (November 9, 1922â€“September 8, 1965) was an American actress. ... Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (born June 30, 1917 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York City, New York) is a popular singer of African-American descent. ...

Clampett would revisit Black jazz culture again in another 1943 Merrie Melodies cartoon, Tin Pan Alley Cats, which features a feline caricature of Fats Waller in a repurposing of the wacky fantasy world from Porky in Wackyland (during the opening sequence, the "Fats" cat is distracted by what appears to be a sexy, feline version of So White). Clampett's colleague Friz Freleng directed a cartoon titled Goldilocks and the Jivin' Bears in 1944, essentially Coal Black remade with a different fairy tale, and Warner's director Chuck Jones directed a series of shorts starring a prepubescent African hunter named Inki from 1939 to 1950. The Censored Eleven is a group of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons that were withheld from syndication by United Artists in 1968. ... Fats Waller (born Thomas Wright Waller on May 21, 1904, died December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer and comedic entertainer. ... Porky in Wackyland is a 1938 animated short film in which Porky Pig goes hunting through a surreal Salvador DalÃ-esque landscape to find the Do-Do Bird for a very large bounty. ... Isadore Friz Freleng (August 21, 1906[1]â€“May 26, 1995) was an animator, cartoonist, director, and producer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from Warner Bros. ... The Censored Eleven is a group of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons that were withheld from syndication by United Artists in 1968. ... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Chuck Jones in 1976 Charles Martin Chuck Jones (September 21, 1912 â€“ February 22, 2002) was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros. ... World map showing location of Africa A satellite composite image of Africa Africa is the worlds second_largest continent in both area and population, after Asia. ... Inki Inki is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Coal Black in later years

The racist portrayals of African-Americans in Coal Black and the other "Censored Eleven" cartoons led to their being suppressed from television broadcast. In 1968, United Artists, which then owned the rights to the pre-1948 Warner cartoon library, officially banned the cartoons from circulation, and they have not been officially broadcast or released on home video since. Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the film studio. ... Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The home video business rents and sells videocassettes and DVDs to the public. ...

Nevertheless, Coal Black and De Sebben Dwarfs is often praised and defended by film scholars and animation historians, and has often been included on lists of the greatest animated films ever made. Most scholarly animation texts, in particular Michael Barrier's Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in Its Golden Age, name Coal Black as Clampett's undisputed masterpiece. One such list, the subject of Jerry Beck's 1994 book The 50 Greatest Cartoons, placed Coal Black at number twenty-one, based upon votes from over 1000 members of the American animation industry. Despite its being banned, Coal Black is a popular draw at film festivals and small-audience screenings, and is often bootlegged for release on home video. Jerry Beck (born February 9, 1955) is a well known animation historian, with ten books and numerous articles to his credit. ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ... The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals is a 1994 book by animation historian Jerry Beck, consisting of articles about, and rankings of fifty highly-regarded animated short films made in North America, as well as many other notable cartoons. ... A film festival is a mostly annual festival showcasing films, usually of a recent date, sometimes with a focus on a specific genre (e. ... The Cathach of St. ...

It has appeared briefley on the Behind the Tunes featurette, "Once Upon a Looney Tune" in the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 5 DVD box set. Though the box sets are now used to showing cartoons featuring racial slurs, It is uncertain when the cartoon will appear on any future releases of the Golden Collection.

Credits

Crew

Leon Schlesinger (1884 - December 25, 1949) was a producer at the Warner Bros. ... Robert Bob Clampett (May 8, 1913–May 4, 1984) was an animator, producer, director, and puppeteer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes series of cartoons from Warner Bros. ... Golden Records album cover of their recording of I Taut I Taw A Puddy Tat Warren Foster (b. ... Roderick H. Rod Scribner (October 10, 1910â€“December 21, 1976) was an American animator best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from Warner Bros. ... Robert Bob McKimson, Sr. ... Carl W. Stalling (1888–1974) was the most famous composer and arranger of cartoon music. ...

Voice cast

Ruby Dandridge (1 March 1899 in Wichita, Kansas â€“ 17 October 1987 in Los Angeles, California) was an African American actress from the early 1900s to the 1950s. ... Vivian Alfretta Dandridge (April 22, 1921-October 21,1991) was an African American singer and actress. ... Leo Watson (27 February 1898â€“2 May 1950) was an American jazz vocalese singer, drummer, trombonist and tipple player born in Kansas City, Missouri, perhaps best-known as a band member of The Spirits of Rhythm which included guitarist Teddy Bunn. ... Melvin Jerome Blanc (May 30, 1908 â€“ July 10, 1989) was a prolific American voice actor. ...

Contents

History

Overview

Synopsis

Controversy over racist content

Coal Black in later years

Credits

Crew

Voice cast

See also

References

External links

Contents

History GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Overview

Synopsis

Controversy over racist content

Coal Black in later years

Credits

Crew

Voice cast

See also

References

External links

History