Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs (1943)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Robert Clampett

Writer:

Warren Foster (story)

Release Date:

16 January 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Animation | Short | Comedy | Musical

Plot:

So White flees from the wicked Queenie, wins over the thugs from Murder Inc. and meets her overrated Prince Chawmin'.

Plot Keywords:

Dwarf | Kiss | Snow White | Military Base | Zoot Suit

Cast

Mel Blanc	...	Dwarfs / Queen / Additional Voices (voice) (uncredited)
Ruby Dandridge	...	Mammy (voice) (uncredited)
Vivian Dandridge	...	So White (voice) (uncredited)
Zoot Watson	...	Prince Chawmin' (voice) (uncredited)

Also Known As:

So White and de sebben dwarfs (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

7 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:G (Nova Scotia)

Company:

Leon Schlesinger Studios

Trivia:

When Murder Inc. comes, there is a listing of their fees as follows: We Rub out Anybody $1, Midgets 1/2 price, Japs Free.

Quotes:

Mammy: De gal! And de prince! Wotta sickenin' sight!
[on telephone]
Mammy: Hello, Murder Incorporated? BLACK OUT SO WHITE!

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

Soundtrack:

We're in the Money

That mean IL' queen, she sure is a fright, but that girl So White is dynamite!

For years, I had heard of this cartoon yet never seen it. One of the infamous "Censored 11" (almost a dozen Warner Bros. theatrical cartoons that were forever suspended from television broadcast in the 1960s), it looked as if my chances would always be slim to none. But I have recently obtained a video copy of it and several other restricted "Looney Tunes" and "Merrie Melodies" and can now judge for myself how good it is.

As it turns out, all those critics were dead right! "Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs" is undoubtedly the flat-out funniest and most frenetically paced Bob Clampett cartoon I've ever laid eyes on - and this is up there with "The Great Piggy Bank Robbery", "Kitty Kornered", "Baby Bottleneck", "The Big Snooze", "Tortoise Wins By a Hare", Draftee Daffy", "A Tale of Two Kitties", and scads of others. Sure, its caricatures are seen today as appalling, but I know the context that this cartoon was supposed to be seen in. When thought of as a morale-raising wartime cartoon with one foot steadied in the world of jazz and black entertainment, this film is hilarious. In fact, several people have noted that this film's positive portrayal of blacks in the US Army was actually one of the few instances of such in film at the time. And the animation is certainly some of the best to come out of the Clampett unit - the dance scenes between Prince Chawmin' and So White, the flailing and unrestrained movements of the characters, and the Dwarfs' final attack on "Queenie" are all virtuoso pieces of work. The music and singing are astoundingly well-done, adding a jazzy spin to this particular Merrie Melodie. And as always, Treg Brown's sound effects make the film that much better (the numerous "p-zings" and "beyowhups" and "trombone gobbles" throughout the soundtrack never get old). Altogether this is a true winning effort. Despite its reputation, this cartoon can't be overlooked when observing Clampett's efforts at the Warner studio. As Steve Schneider put it in his 1988 book "That's All Folks! The Art of Warner Bros. Animation", this is a film masterpiece in miniature. And that is not a military secret.

Now, if I can only get my hands on "Tin Pan Alley Cats" and "Russian Rhapsody"...