Uncle Tom's Cabaña is a 1947 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animated short directed by Tex Avery for MGM.
Plot[]
Uncle Tom decides to tell the kids the "real" story of Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Simon Legree owns the whole town except for the cabin of Uncle Tom. In a forceful move, Legree threatens Uncle Tom that he will take the property if Uncle Tom does not get the mortgage money by midnight. Uncle Tom calls up his friend, Little Eva, for help. As the two ponder on what to do, Uncle Tom begins playing the piano and Little Eva begins dancing. Suddenly, they decide to open a cabaña. The idea is a success. But Legree responds by tying Uncle Tom to a barrel of TNT and stealing the cash register. But he gets distracted by Little Eva's singing and beauty. He kidnaps her only to be greeted by Uncle Tom, at the door, with a hammer.
The Little Boy questions how Uncle Tom escaped the TNT barrel. Uncle Tom explains that he sweated so much that the water doused the fuse. Legree tries to take Uncle Tom out with a machine gun. The Little Boy asks why Uncle Tom wasn't killed. Uncle Tom explains that he had on his "Super-Duper Man Suit".
Uncle Tom's story begins to get more and more ridiculous. To the point where the kids no longer believe him. Uncle Tom responds by saying that if none of his story is true, then he calls for lightning to strike him dead. Lightning strikes Uncle Tom and his spirit floats up into the clouds, leaving the kids behind. The Little Boy responds, "We lose more Uncle Toms that way."
Voices[]
- Will Wright - Uncle Tom
- Imogene Lynn - Little Eva
- Sara Berner - Little Boy
Reception[]
In 1954, the African-American weekly Pittsburgh Courier published an editorial titled "Uncle Tom's Cabaña Outrages Negro Audiences: What Price Brotherhood If Movies Play Up Handkerchief Heads?" The editorial called the cartoon "a base stereotype and an insult to Negroes", saying, "Even though there has been a general loosening of the Production Code in order to hype the box office, there is no reason why Negroes should continue to be ridiculed and jeered at in motion pictures. This medium reaches all levels of mentalities and feeds the flames of prejudice by projecting such canards as Uncle Tom's Cabaña... Showing this insult during Brotherhood Week was a kick in the teeth to a fine effort to wipe out prejudice in America. With the world in ferment, Uncle Tom's Cabaña set the movies back ten years."
However, the film press had no such objections in 1947. The Film Daily said, "A modern version of the old tale, it is a real seller." Motion Picture Herald described it as "a modern version with the emphasis on swing," and Motion Picture Exhibitor said, "This will appeal, especially to kids."
Uncle Tom's Cabaña, along with Half-Pint Pygmy, were banned from television airings in the United States due to ethnic stereotyping of African-Americans. Despite the controversy, this short and Half-Pint Pygmy were released on The Complete Tex Avery laserdisc in the 1990s.
Trivia[]
- This was Preston Blair's last cartoon that he served as an animator for before he left Tex's unit to co-direct the Barney Bear cartoons with Michael Lah.
- Aside from appearing in stock footage in Little Rural Riding Hood, this is last Golden Age cartoon to feature Red.