An interesting, well made, and problematic cartoon, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy is certainly a product of its times; the rendering of racial stereotypes is a bit of a shock to the modern eye. It includes reused animation from Scrub Me Mama with a Boogie Beat, which was pulled from distribution due to objections from the NAACP.
According to the Walter Lantz Cartune Encyclopedia:
(Lantz) repeatedly stated that his cartoons were never meant to offend anyone. After the 1948 decision, Lantz made a major effort to make sure that offensive caricatures of any racial or ethnic group would never appear in his cartoons again. He also personally made sure that "Scrub Me Mama" would never be distributed on television.
Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy was nominated for an Academy Award in 1941
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This doesn't seem to be all that much worse than a typical episode of Fat Albert.
ReplyDeleteI first saw this cartoon stuck on a tape of Amos & Andy episodes (though the cartoon itself was in B&W and was taken from a Castle Films print, as they had the Walter Lantz cartoon library for much of it's life for sale as home use prints).
ReplyDeleteHey there- ran into you looking for info on Boogie Woogie Bugler Boy. I post a cartoon a week on my site. Love your site. Just a word on the racist thing- the white women are dancing with the black men. Just a thought. Thanks for a wonderful site! Robert at Rooftop Reviews
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