''Uncle Tom's Cabaña'' is a 1947 American animated short film directed by

Tex Avery Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (; February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, animation director, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of America ...

. The short is a parody of

Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (; June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist. She came from the religious Beecher family and wrote the popular novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (185 ...

's 1852 novel ''

Uncle Tom's Cabin ''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two Volume (bibliography), volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans ...

'', and is Avery's second parody of the novel, the first being '' Uncle Tom's Bungalow'' in 1937 while at

Warner Bros. Cartoons Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. was an American animation studio, serving as the in-house animation division of Warner Bros. during the Golden Age of American animation. One of the most successful animation studios in American media history, it was ...

. The cartoon was well-received by the film press in 1947, but was fiercely criticized by an

African-American 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. ...

weekly newspaper on its re-release in 1954, which, seven years after the cartoon's first release, accused the film of inflaming racial misunderstanding. The short was later banned from television airings.

Premise

Uncle Tom tells the blood-curdling story of how the evil Simon Legree tried to foreclose on Tom's simple log cabin. Also features

Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

from ''

Red Hot Riding Hood ''Red Hot Riding Hood'' is an animated cartoon short subject, directed by Tex Avery and released with the movie '' Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case'' on May 8, 1943, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In 1994, it was voted number 7 of The 50 Greatest Cartoon ...

'' as Little Eva.

Reception

In 1954, the African-American weekly ''

Pittsburgh Courier The ''Pittsburgh Courier'' was an African American weekly newspaper published in Pittsburgh from 1907 until October 22, 1966. By the 1930s, the ''Courier'' was one of the leading black newspapers in the United States. It was acquired in 1965 by ...

'' published an editorial titled "''Uncle Tom's Cabana'' Outrages Negro Audiences: What Price Brotherhood If Movies Play Up Handkerchief Heads?" The editorial called the cartoon "a base stereotype and an insult to Negroes", saying, "Even though there has been a general loosening of the

Production Code The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as th ...

in order to hype the box office, there is no reason why Negroes should continue to be ridiculed and jeered at in motion pictures. This medium reaches all levels of mentalities and feeds the flames of prejudice by projecting such canards as ''Uncle Tom's Cabana''... Showing this insult during Brotherhood Week was a kick in the teeth to a fine effort to wipe out prejudice in America. With the world in ferment, ''Uncle Tom's Cabana'' set the movies back ten years." However, the film press had no such objections in 1947. ''

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 ...

'' said, "A modern version of the old tale, it is a real seller." ''

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 ...

'' described it as "a modern version with the emphasis on swing," and ''Motion Picture Exhibitor'' said, "This will appeal, especially to kids." ''Uncle Tom's Cabaña'', along with ''Half-Pint Pygmy'', were banned from television airings in the United States due to ethnic stereotyping of African-Americans. Despite the controversy, this short and ''Half-Pint Pygmy'' were released on ''The Compleat Tex Avery'' laserdisc in the 1990s.

Availability

The short was included on the 1993

laserdisc LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. It was developed by Philips, Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer, and the movie studio MCA Inc., MCA. The format was initially marketed in the United State ...

compilation ''The Compleat Tex Avery''.

References

External links

* 1947 films 1940s parody films 1947 comedy films 1940s American animated films African-American animated films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animated short films Films directed by Tex Avery Films based on works by Harriet Beecher Stowe Films based on American novels Films scored by Scott Bradley Uncle Tom's Cabin Films with screenplays by Henry Wilson Allen Films produced by Fred Quimby Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio short films Red (animated character) films Film controversies African-American-related controversies in film Race-related controversies in animation Race-related controversies in film Ethnic humour Animated films set in the United States 1947 animated short films {{1940s-US-film-stub

Premise

Reception

Availability

See also

References

External links