''Uncle Tom's Bungalow'' is an American '' Merrie Melodies''

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

cartoon directed by

Tex Avery Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of American animation. His mo ...

, and released to theatres on June 5, 1937, by

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 ...

The short cartoon is a

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

of the 1852 novel ''

Uncle Tom's Cabin ''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the U ...

'' and of the "plantation melodrama" genre of the 1930s. ''bcdb.com'' May 9, 2011 It contains many stereotypical portrayals of

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

characters. The cartoon plays off Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel in that it portrays

Uncle Tom Uncle Tom is the title character of Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel, '' Uncle Tom's Cabin''. The character was seen by many readers as a ground-breaking humanistic portrayal of a slave, one who uses nonresistance and gives his life to prot ...

as an old man, and wooden shacks and cotton fields pervade the scenery. Director Tex Avery adds his own sense of humor and "trickster" animation, giving the classic theme a modern, humorous twist. In 1968 the cartoon became a part of the Censored Eleven, a group of cartoons withheld from syndication by the television arm of

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stud ...

due to the controversy surrounding their racially stereotypical content. Brief segments did, however, appear in

Turner Entertainment Turner Entertainment Company is an American multimedia company founded by Ted Turner in 1986. Purchased by Time Warner in 1996 as part of its acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), the company was largely responsible for overseeing th ...

's 1989 home video release, ''Cartoons For Big Kids'', hosted by

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fi ...

Summary

After a narrator introduces the players, Simon Simon Legree (pronounced Seemoan Seemoan), a greedy used slave trader, sells

to Little Eva (a young white girl) and Topsy (a young black girl) on

layaway Layaway ('' lay-by'' in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa) is a purchase agreement in which the seller reserves an item for a consumer until the consumer completes all the payments necessary to pay for that item, and only then hands over the ...

. In winter, Legree finds that the girls have missed their last three payments and sets out to get his money or take Uncle Tom back. The girls hide Uncle Tom upon learning of Legree's arrival and Eliza, a black woman, whisks them away and a chase ensues. In the end Legree and his dogs corner Eliza, Topsy and Eva, when Uncle Tom arrives in a car and clearly much richer than before. Uncle Tom pays Legree the money he's owed and he leaves. The narrator suspects that Uncle Tom cashed in his

social security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

, but it is soon revealed that he earned his newfound fortune by playing

craps Craps is a dice game in which players bet on the outcomes of the roll of a pair of dice. Players can wager money against each other (playing "street craps") or against a bank ("casino craps"). Because it requires little equipment, "street ...

cheating with loaded dice.

Withdrawal

The cartoon was included in the Censored Eleven, as it was deemed offensive by

, and it is currently withheld from distribution. However, it was exhibited once, along with other films as part of "The Censored Eleven" at the TCM Film Festival in Hollywood on April 24, 2010, as part of a classic film series, presented by

Donald Bogle Donald Bogle is an American film historian and author of six books concerning black history in film and on television. He is an instructor at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and at the University of Pennsylvania. Early years Bogle g ...

Reception

On June 1, 1937, ''Selected Motion Pictures'' called the film "an interesting travesty in Technicolor of the well-known story." The

National Board of Review The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered an early harbinger of the film awards season that culminat ...

of Motion Pictures called it "highly amusing."

References

External links

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''Uncle Tom's Bungalow'' on the Internet Archive
1937 films 1937 animated films 1937 short films 1930s parody films Merrie Melodies short films Films based on works by Harriet Beecher Stowe Films directed by Tex Avery Censored Eleven Films based on American novels Articles containing video clips Uncle Tom's Cabin 1937 comedy films 1930s Warner Bros. animated short films 1930s English-language films {{MerrieMelodies-stub

Summary

Withdrawal

Reception

See also

References

External links