Angel Puss

Well, it took until I watched the 10th of the Warner Bros. "Censored 11" cartoons, but Angel Puss is the most appalling of them. And the most shocking thing about this is the fact that Chuck Jones-the one who usually made some of the most clever Bugs/Daffy/Elmer shorts ever and had some of the most cute ones in his catalogue-was behind it. The awful premise is that Sambo (yes, Jones used the stereotypical black boy name here) has to drown a cat for his boss or he has to forfeit his "four bits". But that's not the really bad thing here. It's the fact that the cat is actually behind him telling him to do this and Sambo is way too dumb to notice-especially when the cat later paints himself white with wings-that results in a wild goose chase that lasts throughout the short. Add in the atrocious voice and characterization (I wonder if Mel Blanc ever held himself in shame over this), and you've got the worst cartoon I've seen yet from Warner Bros. The only positive thing I can say is that Sambo's singing of "Shortnin' Bread" isn't too bad.

This cartoon is on the web and can be watched on Google Video, though it is NOT in general release because it is so patently offensive. While I am one of the least politically correct-minded people you'll meet (I actually believe in Free Speech), I can easily see why Warner Brothers pulled this one, as it is so offensive and gross in its stereotype of Black Americans. The main character is a huge-lipped and ultra-stupid Black named "Sambo", so it certainly isn't surprising that with today's sensibilities that this is deemed offensive! Now if you look past the horrid stereotype, the rest of the cartoon is only mildly funny by Looney Toons standards, so I really think you aren't missing anything if you don't watch it. I just hope it is NOT pulled off Youtube since I hate to see anything completely banished plus it is an important and uncomfortable part of our history.

It is interesting to compare this Chuck Jones cartoon with Bob Clampett's Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs (1943), since both were written by Warren Foster and dealt with racial stereotypes. While Coal Black seems to have an admiration for the culture it is ridiculing, and is filled with an exuberance and joy in its portrayal of the characters, Angel Puss seems just mean-spirited. The vain Prince and greedy Queen are the main objects of mockery in Coal Black, but Angel Puss picks on an innocent black child for fun. He is paid to drown a cat but cannot bring himself to do it. While he is arguing with his conscience the cat manages to escape the bag he was kept in. The cat, pretending to be the child's conscience, urges the child to go through with his original plan. The cat then spends the rest of the cartoon pretending to be a ghost and "haunting" the child. This part of the story is just painful to watch. The child obviously doesn't deserve the treatment he suffers through. While many of the Warner Bros. cartoons dealt with a heckling character hassling some milquetoast in a very humorous way, this cartoon seems spiritless, as if director Chuck Jones was just going through the motions. It is interesting to note that this is one of the rare times that Jones worked with Foster, as he usually worked with writers Tedd Pierce and Mike Maltese.

*EDIT* I was mistaken about Warren Foster being the writer of this cartoon. It was actually written by Lou Lilly.

This cartoon is an example of good stories done the wrong way. It seems that writer Lou Lilly (he wrote this short, NOT Warren Foster) suggested the idea of a little kid having to drown a cat but the cat manages to survive and heckles him then, sounds good so far, but they decided to go with the racial stereotyping, causing this cartoon to be shoved in the vaults. I believe they could have perfectly used one of the "regular" characters in this cartoon (this could have been a good time for Porky to show up), as the jokes themselves are not racist at all (except obviously for the gambling scene). The music is good, but nothing you haven't heard in any other Carl Stalling cartoon, the animation is good and filled with those facial expressions that only Chuck Jones made. All in all, a good short with a good story that may sadly never be shown on TV, the only public domain video that has it is called "Uncensored Cartoons", but since it seems to be discontinued, you'll have to work your way hard into the video stores if you want to watch this cartoon.

This short is nothing terribly special. It's an okay cartoon, nothing more or less. But it is unlikely to see the light of day until or unless it reaches public domain, because of racial stereotypes that are no longer acceptable. While I can see their point (and the short is by no means a masterpiece), there are shorts equally mundane and inconsequential shown every day. This should be available at least for historical purposes, although I can see a point to not airing it for broadcast. Worth watching at least once. Recommended due to its scarcity for completists.