Going South
I am gearing up for a trip South for my second week of holidays this year. As a Canadian, I must remind myself what that big, glowing warm ball up in the sky is since I won't be seeing it again for another 8 months come November (although with global warming, this is changing slightly.... Yikes).
So my post this time around features a cartoon about traveling towards the equator- MGM's "The Goose Goes South".
What can I say? This is a horribly lame cartoon- especially considering what MGM was also capable of in that year. Don't get me wrong... I'm not totally panning it altogether.... the animation is magnificent as always, with remarkable scenes by Pete Burness and Ed Barge... and if you've only ever seen the edited version, you've also missed out on very funny animation by Irven Spence with the two women talking about their kids. You know this guy's got talent- when all the characters do is talk, and it STILL is funny to watch? Yes.
But the subject matter and gag delivery is subpar even with other spot-gag cartoons of the same era.
It also has one of the the most offensive racially-directed slurs at approximately 6:10 into the cartoon. Right- this is the full, uncut version- the one MGM has buried in their vaults, probably due to the insensitive content.... and BEFORE YOU FLAME ME FOR POSTING IT remember, I didn't create it... and I also don't think the stereotypes are funny either. As a matter of fact, there's not a lot of real humour in this cartoon at all... the jokes are quite weak altogether.
But hey- it's about going South- and so am I.
Enjoy it for what it's worth, I may have a change of conscience and end up yanking it off of here... unless greater powers do it first.
So my post this time around features a cartoon about traveling towards the equator- MGM's "The Goose Goes South".
What can I say? This is a horribly lame cartoon- especially considering what MGM was also capable of in that year. Don't get me wrong... I'm not totally panning it altogether.... the animation is magnificent as always, with remarkable scenes by Pete Burness and Ed Barge... and if you've only ever seen the edited version, you've also missed out on very funny animation by Irven Spence with the two women talking about their kids. You know this guy's got talent- when all the characters do is talk, and it STILL is funny to watch? Yes.
But the subject matter and gag delivery is subpar even with other spot-gag cartoons of the same era.
It also has one of the the most offensive racially-directed slurs at approximately 6:10 into the cartoon. Right- this is the full, uncut version- the one MGM has buried in their vaults, probably due to the insensitive content.... and BEFORE YOU FLAME ME FOR POSTING IT remember, I didn't create it... and I also don't think the stereotypes are funny either. As a matter of fact, there's not a lot of real humour in this cartoon at all... the jokes are quite weak altogether.
But hey- it's about going South- and so am I.
Enjoy it for what it's worth, I may have a change of conscience and end up yanking it off of here... unless greater powers do it first.
posted by Larry T at
8:20 AM
7 Comments:
I remember back in Ted Turner's pre-PC days, WTBS would run this one uncut. Definitely reflects the general stereotypical attitude towards blacks taken by MGM in many other films from the 1930s and early 40s.
Aside from being Hanna-Barbera's answer to Chuck Jones' "Angel Puss" the cartoon also manages to mis-use comedian Cliff Nazarro in a way Tex Avery never did at Warners. Nazarro's fast double-talking under Tex's guidance was funny; here Bill and Joe manage to make the whole thing annoying by the end of the cartoon.
By
Anonymous, at 3:40 PM
It is uncut in "The Art of Tomn and Jerry vol.2".
I was amazed when I saw it for the first time.
Have a nice time, Larry!
By
Duck Dodgers, at 3:50 AM
This cartoon is enough weak despite the beautiful backgrounds and designs but the scene where the baby was eating by the alligator is much scared by an crazy horror films we seen today.
Great post Larry! It's amazing how some peoples like you respect the true means of this cartoons today.
By
Anonymous, at 12:43 PM
Grant Simmons was not at MGM in 1939-1940. He was still at Disney in fact he worked on Fantasia.
It is likely that Hanna and Barbera were using Rudolf Ising's unit of animators. Jack Zander, Pete Burness and Carl Urbano were likely the ones working on this cartoon. Hanna and Barbera wouldn't get their own unit until late 1940.
By
Anonymous, at 6:01 PM
Some of the gags here are atrocious. The gag with the baby being eaten by the Alligator is the worst. And that "Rochester" gag? What a waste of Mel Blanc.
The sad thing is that this really isn't an incompetently made cartoon, the animation is nice, and that one gag with the Farmer chasing the goose off his Watermelon patch is worth a chuckle.
By
Kevin W. Martinez, at 7:20 PM
I have no problems with this short - I have it in its uncut form as well and the "Rochester" gag is pretty amusing...
The film is a product of its time, people - it's not horribly offensive IMO and for all you PC-loving, touchy-feely people out there - GET OVER IT!!! It's a cartoon for cryin' out loud!!
By
Anonymous, at 6:07 PM
Huh! I have this cartoon as a bonus as part of the "Thin Man" box set. It is, of course, the "cut" version.
And I gotta say, I think I like the pacing of the shorter, black-face-free version better than the original.
Thanks for posting this, Larry, so I at least knew what I was "missing."
By
Craig D, at 11:32 AM
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