''Little Black Sambo'' is a 1935

Cinecolor Cinecolor was an early subtractive color-model two-color motion picture process that was based upon the Prizma system of the 1910s and 1920s and the Multicolor system of the late 1920s and the 1930s. It was developed by William T. Crispinel and ...

animated film with sound. Released on February 6, 1935, the short is based on the controversial 1899 children's book ''

The Story of Little Black Sambo ''The Story of Little Black Sambo'' is a children's book written and illustrated by Scottish author Helen Bannerman and published by Grant Richards in October 1899. As one in a series of small-format books called The Dumpy Books for Children, ...

'' by

Helen Bannerman Helen Brodie Cowan Bannerman (' Watson; 25 February 1862 – 13 October 1946) was a Scottish author of children's books. She is best known for her first book, ''Little Black Sambo'' (1899). Life Bannerman was born at 35 Royal Terrace, Edinbur ...

. This film was created at the

Ub Iwerks Ubbe Ert Iwwerks (March 24, 1901 – July 7, 1971), known as Ub Iwerks ( ), was an American animator, cartoonist, character designer, inventor, and special effects technician. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Iwerks grew up with a contentious ...

Studio and released by

Celebrity Productions Patrick Anthony Powers (8 October 1870 – 30 July 1948) was an American businessman who was involved in the movie and animation industry of the 1910s, '20s, and '30s as a distributor and producer. His firm, Celebrity Productions, was the f ...

. The film marked the first appearance of an unnamed dog who appeared in three of Iwerks' films.

Plot

Sambo's

mother ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given childbirth, birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the cas ...

is bathing him, and she dries and clothes him as their dog watches. After that, his mother warns, in dialect, "Now, go along and play, honey child. But watch out for that bad, old tiger." and the controversial line, "That old tiger sure do like dark meat." As Sambo goes out to play, the dog sneaks out the window with a fiendish idea. He uses undried brown paint on a fence for stripes and a paint brush for them on his tail. He sees his teeth, and finds a bear trap to resemble sharp teeth. He tests his appearance in a mirror and walks away, although it was an ''actual'' tiger. Sambo is whistling, as the dog is hiding in a tree, sneaking on him. The dog follows him, until Sambo runs away. He finally hides on a coconut tree, and throws coconuts at him, until he grabs a monkey's ear, who throws him out to the ground. Then, the dog tells Sambo that he is not a tiger. Then, Sambo plays fetch, and when the dog retrieves, the real tiger appears, and chases them home. They block the door, and the tiger uses a rock to reproduce a banging sound. He creeps in the house, and they use molasses to trap him. Sambo grabs a skillet and burns the tiger, and he is chased away.

Reception

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, informatio ...

'' (April 25, 1935): "The tale of a pickaninny's adventures as he wanders off into the jungle with his faithful pup. They encounter a ferocious tiger, who gives chase, and they escape to the shelter of the cabin. The tiger breaks in, but the pickaninny and the pup pull a fast one, and get rid of him. Done with a swell comedy technique by Iwerks, and the color treatment is very good." ''Philadelphia Exhibitor'' (May 1, 1935): "Swell color; swell drawing; satisfactory comedy, music not too good. All about Little Sambo, mother warning him against the big bad tiger, family dog overhearing, deciding to play tiger, notion of them receiving scare from real tiger. Pleasant."

Availability

The film was available for purchase for home viewing between 1942 and 1968 from

Castle Films Castle Films was a film company founded in California by former newsreel cameraman Eugene W. Castle (1897–1960) in 1924. Originally, Castle Films produced industrial and advertising films. Then in 1937, the company pioneered the production and d ...

, the company having acquired the rights for it among the many acquired from the defunct

Studio in 1941. It was listed as #757 in its catalog in 1948 in various formats, including 8mm and 16mm, in color and in black-and-white, condensed to 3:30 minutes or full-length, with sound or silent with minimal dialog on interstitial cards. It is currently available on video and DVD in several public domain cartoon anthologies, including ''Johnny Legend Presents: The Complete Weird Cartoons.'' The Castle Films color/sound version has been digitized and is available as part of the collection at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

, mislabeled there as ''Loittle Black Sambo.''

In popular culture

Alongside clips from ''

Scrub Me Mama with a Boogie Beat "Scrub Me Mama with a Boogie Beat" is a 1941 hit boogie-woogie popular song written by Don Raye. A bawdy, jazzy tune, the song describes a laundry woman from Harlem, New York, United States, whose technique is so unusual that people come from al ...

'', clips of the cartoon are seen in the 2000 film ''

Bamboozled ''Bamboozled'' is a 2000 American satirical dark 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 success. ...

'', a

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...

movie about black stereotypes. Mentioned in “The Green Mile” Various parts of the cartoon can be seen in the opening credits of the 2007 independent film '' Spinning Into Butter'', starring

Sarah Jessica Parker Sarah Jessica Parker (born March 25, 1965) is an American actress and television producer. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including six Golden Globe Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 1 ...

and

Victor Rasuk Victor Rasuk (born January 15, 1984) is an American actor. Early life Rasuk was born in New York City, to Dominican parents. His mother worked as a seamstress, and his father at an auto shop. He has one brother, actor Silvestre Rasuk, with whom ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Little Black Sambo 1935 films 1930s color films 1935 animated films 1935 short films Cinecolor films Films about race and ethnicity Animated films based on children's books Films directed by Ub Iwerks Films scored by Carl Stalling American animated short films Animated films about dogs Films about tigers 1930s English-language films ComiColor cartoons 1930s American films