Sunday, November 19, 2006

Black Comedy Week: Refrederator


I've always been quite fascinated by animation's sordid history, particularly when it comes to the presentation of now-shocking ideas in what is typically seen as an innocent medium. These then-accepted, now-offensive cartoons (often in the Looney Toons camp) aren't exactly readily available (Disney's never going to release Song of the South on DVD), but thanks to the Internet, a little digging reveals a goldmine.

Thankfully, alot of people do the hard work for us. Emru Townsend, guest-blogging on Refrederator, posted a week's worth of what they've coined as "Black Comedy Week," from Tom and Jerry doing blackface in "Plane Dumb" to Bugs in playing dice in "All This and Rabbit Stew" to "Little Black Sambo." All of the cartoons are downloadable in their full, uncensored glory.

I'd post links to Asian stereotypes in past cartoons, but there's just way too many WWII-era cartoons to sift through. But feel free to leave links in the comments.

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous7:35 AM

    i always am surprised at all the black stereotypes in shirley temple films. especially the early ones. also an innocent medium for a dark message. nice blog!

    ReplyDelete