Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs (…and that’s not a typo)
There’s no debate that if you even want to begin to discuss the stereotyped images of black people that we see today in the media, then you have to go back 30, 40, 50, 60 years ago and even beyond then to get an idea of how we were portrayed back then. It’s not too fine a stretch to say what you see today and get upset about can be directly traced to movies and other images long before you were a gleam in your parent’s eye. (And one could also argue that there isn’t much of difference between then and now either…)
Case in point, the notorious 1944 Warner Bros cartoon Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs by Robert Clampett who along with Friz Freleng and Chuck Jones was one of the Warner’s three top animation directors of the period. The cartoon is one of the infamous “Censored 11″ Warner Bros cartoons from the 30′s and 40′s including along with Coal Black, Angel Puss, Jungle Jitters and Tin Pan Alley Cats in which the offensive black caricatures are SO extreme and offensive that Warners withdrew the cartoons from circulation and basically pretended that they had never heard of them.
However they never really went away, usually screened in revival movie theaters (I first saw Coal Black at one in L.A. some 20 years ago to a stunned audience) and now with the internet, forget it. They’re everywhere. In fact there’s a rumor about that Warners has changed its mind because of the historical interest and constant demand of these cartoons and may finally issue a remastered collection of the 11 cartoons on their DVD-on-demand Warner Archive label. But enough talk. Watch the cartoon below for yourself and be stunned (..or maybe amused. Nowadays I can’t tell what you guys will say…)
Merrie Melodies “Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs” (1943)
Uploaded by 100X. – Full seasons and entire episodes online.
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3 comments to Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs (…and that’s not a typo)
Aw, vintage racism! Nice!
I’ve seen a lot of these before.
What always kills me about a lot of that stuff (besides the buffoonery, stereotypes and meanness of it all) is the overly sexed nature of black characters in a lot of that stuff. America has an unspoken fascination with black sexuality that it’s never wanted to come to terms with. So it’s chosen to ridicule and degrade it.
Not only did they insult Black people, but, Little People and Japanese people. That was appalling. All those involved ought to be ashamed. The simple fact that the videos of today aren’t that much different with the gold teeth and all of the half dressed women. The blatant sexual content and lyrics; half of the artists out there are too young to even realize that they are confirming these stereotypes. Then they want to justify it by saying it’s just Hip Hop. We are doomed to repeat our past, because the young are not learning or being taught about it. It starts at home. Glamorizing going to jail, getting street credit or even a young girl wanting to become a video vixen because she is seeking the attention she lacked at home. The young generation don’t know their worth. All they want is fast money and will do what ever they can to get it. When will we really overcome. Mentally & Spiritually.
not to single out any particular group, but F it…the warner Brothers and the heads of some of these studios were ACTUAL people with actual ethnic backgrounds
and these people greenlit this dehumanizing drivel about other people, after having used their mediums and platforms to counter centuries old stereotypes about THEIR people….to humanize them.