''Sunday Go to Meetin' Time'' is a 1936
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
''
Merrie Melodies
''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animation, animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. Then some new cartoons were produced from the late 197 ...
'' cartoon directed by
Friz Freleng
Isadore "Friz" Freleng (August 21, 1905May 26, 1995), credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, director, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and '' ...
.
The short was released on August 8, 1936. The name of the short comes from the colloquial adjective "sunday-go-to-meeting," describing something appropriate for church or otherwise presentable.
Because of the
racial stereotypes
An ethnic stereotype, racial stereotype or cultural stereotype involves part of a system of beliefs about typical characteristics of members of a given ethnic group, their status, societal and cultural norms. A national stereotype, or nation ...
of
black people
Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in s ...
throughout the short, it is withheld from circulation, one of the "
Censored Eleven
The Censored Eleven is a group of '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoons originally produced and released by Warner Bros. that were withheld from syndication in the United States by United Artists (UA) since 1968. UA owned the dis ...
" shorts.
Plot
Ringing bells in a lazy town announce that it is time to go to church. A black preacher with caricatured enormous lips greets his parishioners as he sings the song for which the short is named. A
minstrel show
The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of racist theatrical entertainment developed in the early 19th century.
Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that depicted people spe ...
dandy
A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance. A dandy could be a self-made man who strove to imitate an aristocratic lifestyle desp ...
and his gal jazz up the song as they dance their way to church. A succession of gags featuring stereotyped black characters follows: a
mammy and old uncle shine the heads of
pickaninny
Pickaninny (also picaninny, piccaninny or pickinninie) is a pidgin word for a small child, possibly derived from the Portuguese ('boy, child, very small, tiny').
In North America, ''pickaninny'' is a racial slur for African American children ...
children; a woman takes a bra off a clothesline to use as a bonnet for her twin children. Lindvall notes that mammies were "ubiquitous in films dealing with black culture".
[Lindvall 128.]
Freleng introduces the cartoon's protagonist,
Nicodemus
Nicodemus (; grc-gre, Νικόδημος, Nikódēmos) was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin mentioned in three places in the Gospel of John:
* He first visits Jesus one night to discuss Jesus' teachings ().
* The second time Nicodem ...
, when
Mammy Two-Shoes finds him playing dice. She exclaims, "You good fo’ nothin’! Get yo’self to dat church. De Debbil’s gonna get you sho as yo’ born!" and drags him off by the ear. Nevertheless, Nicodemus slinks out the door, opting to steal some chickens instead. Unfortunately, a knock on the head sends him to the "Hades Court of Justice", where a demon reviews his crimes and sends him deeper into hell. Big-lipped demons carry him to the Devil himself, who sings to Nicodemus that "you've got to give the Devil his due." The boss orders some demons to "give 'em the works," but Nicodemus wakes to find the prods of pitchforks are nothing but the pecks of chickens in the land of the living. He hears the church bells and makes haste to the meeting house.
Reception
''
Boxoffice
''Boxoffice Pro'' is a film industry magazine dedicated to the movie theatre business published by BoxOffice Media LP.
History
It started in 1920 as ''The Reel Journal'', taking the name ''Boxoffice'' in 1931 and still publishes today, with ...
'' (Aug 22, 1936): "When a cartoon arouses enthusiasm in a projection room of hard-boiled critics, it denotes a hit. In Technicolor, this subject tells the story mostly in Negro rhythm and tuneful jazz."
''National Exhibitor'' (Sept 5, 1936): "One of the best in the series this, however, should not be played on the same bill with ''
Green Pastures''. The shiftless
darky doesn't want to go to church on Sunday, escapes from his wife, runs away, is knocked out chasing a chicken, dreams he is in Hell where he is made the ball in a bagatelle (pinball) game with other things happening to him. Finally he wakes up, heads for church. Color, animation, gags are above average with the whole thing a stand out. Very Good."
[
]
Notes
*This cartoon was re-released into the Blue Ribbon
The blue ribbon is a symbol of high quality. The association comes from The Blue Riband, a prize awarded for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by passenger liners and, prior to that from Cordon Bleu, which referred to the blue ribbon ...
program on October 28, 1944. Because the short credits Leon Schlesinger on the original release, the original closing title card was kept. Though the short was re-released, the original titles are known to exist.
References
Further reading
*Bdeir, Ayah (Fall 2004).
That's all Sheikh: Arab representation in U.S. cartoons
. CMS. 790. Media Theories and Methods I - Comparative Media Studies - Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Accessed 22 June 2007.
*Lindvall, Terry, and Ben Fraser (1998). "Darker Shades of Animation: African-American Images in Warner Bros. Cartoons". ''Reading the Rabbit: Explorations in Warner Bros. Animation''. Rutgers University Press.
*Straight Dope Science Advisory Board (February 5, 2002).
The Straight Dope
"The Straight Dope" was a question-and-answer newspaper column written under the pseudonym Cecil Adams. Contributions were made by multiple authors, and it was illustrated (also pseudonymously) by Slug Signorino. It was first published in 1973 in ...
. Accessed June 21, 2007.
External links
*
*
{{Censored Eleven
1936 films
1936 animated films
1936 short films
Censored Eleven
The Devil in film
Hell in popular culture
Films scored by Norman Spencer (composer)
Short films directed by Friz Freleng
Merrie Melodies short films
Vitaphone short films
1930s Warner Bros. animated short films
1930s English-language films