Matthew Hunter
06-16-2001, 11:31 PM
I have now seen the entire "Censored Eleven", in chronological order. A few of those ARE bad, but there's one that really stood out, to me anyway, as a great cartoon. "Tin Pan Alley Cats" is great. It's funny, it's politically incorrect, and it has a moral that is delivered in a very entertaining way. There is nothing really wrong with this at all. What makes it great is the borders it pushes, it's rude, but not crude, raunchy but not racist. What the censors perhaps did not understand is that this is a very perceptive parody of black life in the 1940's, as well as Fats Waller and Cab Calloway. It has a black character torn between the old ways of religion and good morals, and the new era of jazz and sex. There are a couple of off-color gags in there, but nothing near as bad as "Sunday Go To Meetin' Time". The cartoon is funny for the whole time, it does not let up at all, something very rare in any cartoons of any era. I particularly enjoyed "Cats Waller" scatting, ("Send me outta dis WORRRRLD! Beat me, daddy wit a base ball bat!!!") There is a visit to Wackyland, but as I interpreted it, Wackyland is depicted here as Hell, a consequence of the Waller cat's outrageous lifestyle (Stalin kicking Hitler was funny.) The cat learns his lesson well, but it's not heavy-handed or cute like some of the Disney cartoons. This cartoon is not racist, it's a tribute, in my opinion. I once read the comment of an animator (Chuck Jones?) that to do a true parody one must love what they are poking at. Clampett, so I've read, really enjoyed black music and culture, and liked black humor as much as he did sick or crazy humor. It shows in this classic.
-Matthew
-Matthew