"Scrub Me Mama with a Boogie Beat" is a 1940 hit

boogie-woogie Boogie-woogie is a genre of blues music that became popular during the late 1920s, but already developed in African-American communities since the 1870s.Paul, Elliot, ''That Crazy American Music'' (1957), Chapter 10, p. 229. It was eventually ex ...

song written by

Don Raye Don Raye (born Donald MacRae Wilhoite Jr., March 16, 1909 – January 29, 1985) was an American songwriter, best known for his songs for The Andrews Sisters such as "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar", " The House of Blue Lights", "Just for a Thr ...

. A bawdy, jazzy tune, the song describes a laundry woman from

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

whose technique is so unusual that people come from all around just to watch her scrub.

The Andrews Sisters The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (1911–1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andrews (1916–1995), and mezzo ...

and

Will Bradley Wilbur Schwichtenberg (July 12, 1912 – July 15, 1989), known professionally as Will Bradley, was an American trombonist and bandleader during the 1930s and 1940s. He performed swing, dance music, and boogie-woogie songs, many of them written o ...

& His Orchestra recorded the most successful pop versions of the song, but it is today best recognized as the centerpiece of an eponymous and controversial Walter Lantz Studio cartoon from 1941, distributed by

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

. The short was denounced by the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

for its racist and stereotypical imagery of African-Americans.

Plot

The short opens to an orchestral rendition of

Stephen Foster Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour music, parlour and Folk music, folk music during the Romantic music, Romantic period. He wr ...

's "

Old Folks at Home "Old Folks at Home" (also known as " Swanee River") is a folk song written by Stephen Foster in 1851. Since 1935, it has been the official state song of Florida, although in 2008 the original lyrics were revised. It is Roud Folk Song Index ...

" (1851), immediately setting the scene in the rural

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

blackface Blackface is the practice of performers using burned cork, shoe polish, or theatrical makeup to portray a caricature of black people on stage or in entertainment. Scholarship on the origins or definition of blackface vary with some taking a glo ...

minstrelsy. The setting is Lazy Town, perhaps the laziest place on Earth. Neither the town's residents (all stereotypes of dark-skinned African-Americans) nor the animals can be bothered to leave their reclining positions to do anything at all. Their pastoral existence is interrupted by the arrival of a

riverboat A riverboat is a watercraft designed for inland navigation on lakes, rivers, and artificial waterways. They are generally equipped and outfitted as work boats in one of the carrying trades, for freight or people transport, including luxury ...

, carrying a svelte, sophisticated, light-skinned black woman from Harlem (resembling

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American singer, actress, dancer and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years and covered film, television and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of the C ...

), whose physical beauty inspires the entire populace of an all-black "Lazy Town" to spring into action. The visiting urbanite admonishes one of the town's residents: "Listen, Mammy. That ain't no way to wash clothes! What you all need is rhythm!" She then proceeds to sing "Scrub Me Mama with a Boogie Beat", which the townsfolk gradually join her in performing. Thus begins a montage which is the short's centerpiece. The townsfolk are infected by the song's rhythm and proceed to go about playing instruments, and dancing suggestively. By the time the young light-skinned black woman from Harlem is due to get on her riverboat and return home, she has succeeded in turning Lazy Town into a lively community of swing musicians simply by singing. The cartoon concludes with the mammy washerwoman bending over, displaying the words "The End" across the

undergarments Underwear, underclothing, or undergarments are items of clothing worn beneath outer clothes, usually in direct contact with the skin, although they may comprise more than a single layer. They serve to keep outer clothing from being soiled ...

covering her

end End, END, Ending, or ENDS may refer to: End Mathematics *End (category theory) * End (topology) * End (graph theory) * End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) * End (endomorphism) Sports and games *End (gridiron football) *End, a division ...

Production

The short version, released on March 28, 1941, by Universal Pictures, features no director credit (although

Woody Woodpecker Woody Woodpecker is a cartoon character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Productions, Walter Lantz Studio and Universal Animation Studios, Universal Animation Studio and distributed by Universal Pictures sinc ...

creator

Walter Lantz Walter Benjamin Lantz (April 27, 1899 – March 22, 1994) was an American cartoonist, animator, producer and director best known for founding Walter Lantz Productions and creating Woody Woodpecker. Biography Early years and start in animat ...

claimed to have directed the cartoon himself), with a story by

Ben Hardaway Joseph Benson Hardaway (May 21, 1895 – February 5, 1957) was an American storyboard artist, animator, voice actor, gagman, writer and director for several American animation studios during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. He was sometim ...

, animation by

Alex Lovy Alexander Lovy (September 2, 1913 – February 14, 1992) was an American animator. He spent the majority of his career as an animator and director at Walter Lantz Productions. He was later a producer at Hanna-Barbera, and also supervised the car ...

and Frank Tipper, and voiceover work by

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908 – July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for come ...

and

Nellie Lutcher Nellie Rose Lutcher (October 15, 1912 – June 8, 2007) was an American R&B and jazz singer and pianist, who gained prominence in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Lutcher was most recognizable for her diction and exaggerated pronunciation a ...

. The short uses

caricatures based upon stereotypes of

African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...

in the rural

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

. The "Scrub Me Mama" short is today in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

. Clips from it are featured in the

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and author. His work has continually explored race relations, issues within the black community, the role of media in contemporary ...

satirical film about African-American stereotypes, ''

Bamboozled ''Bamboozled'' is a 2000 American satirical black comedy-drama film written and directed by Spike Lee about a modern televised minstrel show featuring black actors donning blackface makeup and the resulting violent fallout from the show's succe ...

'' (2000).

Reviews

Boxoffice ''Boxoffice Pro'' is a film industry magazine dedicated to the movie theatre business published by BoxOffice Media LP. History It started in 1920 as ''The Reel Journal'', taking the name ''Boxoffice'' in 1931 and still publishes today, with a ...

'' (March 23, 1941) reported: "To Lazytown, where all the colored folks are snoozing, comes a river boat and a gal. She wakes up everybody, and gets them in the mood with her rendition of the boogie woogie number. The action builds effectively. This one is for the under seat feet shufflers." ''

The Film Daily ''The Film Daily'' was a daily publication that existed from 1918 to 1970 in the United States. It was the first daily newspaper published solely for the film industry. It covered the latest trade news, film reviews, financial updates, informati ...

'' (March 25, 1941) wrote: "A light brown gal arrives in Lazytown and wakes the locals to the tune of a rhythm number. The music is hot and the former sleeping inhabitants step right out to it in this fast color cartoon. A couple of skirt silhouette shots and some exaggerated body movements make this one questionable for kid matinees." ''Motion Picture Exhibitor'' (May 14, 1941) averred: "This will not only provoke laughs but it is worth extra selling effort. All the colored characters take off on this popular song but with a high-brown beauty shaking hips to all points while beating a song with every note. It is in the better cartoon sphere." ''

Motion Picture Herald The ''Motion Picture Herald'' (MPH) was an American film industry trade paper first published as the ''Exhibitors Herald'' in 1915, and MPH from 1931 to December 1972.Anthony Slide, ed. (1985)''International Film, Radio, and Television Journals ...

'' (April 28, 1941) commented: "In this color cartoon a lazy group of southern darkies awaken on the arrival of a Harlem miss and proceed to get rhythm in the modern manner. It is a subject of especial interest to swing devotees."

Controversy

The short was re-released in the Fall of 1948. However, on October 20, the

wrote a letter to

Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to: * Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate ** Universal Pictures, an American film studio ** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex * Various theme parks operat ...

. It objected to the "vicious caricature of Negro life in the South", and called the film "insulting, derogatory and offensive". They found the short to depict Black people as lazy and only activated by swing music. They also objected to the images of scantily clad, dancing young women. They requested the end of distribution for the film and better judgment from Universal. Nine days later, a representative of Universal wrote to the NAACP. He pointed out that none of the company's theaters had received complaints concerning the film. A few days later, on November 3, 1948, Madison Jones, Jr, who represented the NAACP, met with E.L. McEvoy, the Universal short sales distribution chief, at the New York City office of the studio. McEvoy defended the racist humor of the film. Jones responded that the NAACP was holding an education campaign against this type of humor. McEvoy offered to let the NAACP contact the West Coast offices of the company, but he warned that in consequence for taking action, "

nigger In the English language, ''nigger'' is a racial slur directed at black people. Starting in the 1990s, references to ''nigger'' have been increasingly replaced by the euphemistic contraction , notably in cases where ''nigger'' is Use–menti ...

s" would be prevented from getting work in the industry. He also claimed the NAACP members were better educated than the average audience member, who would not object to seeing racist images. Jones responded that this was a reason to avoid the racist films, that the audience might think them to be based on fact. McEvoy pointed out that caricatures of Negroes,

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, Germans, and Irish used to all be top entertainment. He emphasized that the office language at Universal also included the terms " sheenie" and "

kike ''Kike'' (), also known as the K-word, is an ethnic slur directed at Jews. The etymological origin comes from the Yiddish word for circle, (''kaykel''), itself a derivation of the Ancient Greek word . Etymology According to the ''Oxford Eng ...

" (both used for Jews). He noted that the film had only been re-released since the Walter Lantz Studio had temporarily shut down (and stopped producing new content). On November 20, 1948, the '' Los Angeles Tribune'' published an article on the complaints of the NAACP. In February 1949, Universal withdrew the film, following the protest. A memo dated February 19 of the same year revealed that the Jewish Labor Committee had co-operated with the NAACP in protesting the film. The controversy was a shock to Walter Lantz, who prided himself on avoiding problems with the censors. He repeatedly stated that his cartoons were never meant to offend anyone. After the 1949 decision, Lantz made a major effort to exclude any offensive caricatures of racial or ethnic groups in his cartoons. He also promised that ''Scrub Me Mama'' would never be distributed on television, but according to eyewitness accounts, the short was broadcast on TV during the 1950s and continued to be seen via broadcast media as late as the 1980s.

Gallery

References

Tom Chapman.
15 Classic Cartoons That Would Definitely Be Censored Today
, cbr.com, 27 November 2017. Retrieved 10 December 2017.

Bibliography

External links

* * {{The Andrews Sisters 1940 songs 1941 singles 1941 animated short films Films about cities Animated films about race and ethnicity Films directed by Walter Lantz Animated films set in the Southern United States Songs about black people Songs written by Don Raye Walter Lantz Productions shorts 1940s American animated films Articles containing video clips 1941 films Universal Pictures animated short films 1941 musical films African-American musical films Animated film controversies African-American-related controversies in film Obscenity controversies in animation Obscenity controversies in music Race-related controversies in music Race-related controversies in animation Obscenity controversies in film Racism in the United States Ethnic humour Stereotypes of African Americans American musical short films