Hittin' the Trail for Hallelujah Land

This short is one of eleven that likely won't be seen on television any time soon, if ever again. An innocuous little thing, cute in spots and with some good animation, it also has elements that make it unpalatable to some in the present day culture that has developed a mindset that no one should ever get their feelings hurt. Which, in the case of this short, is really unfortunae, because there is a scene with dancing skeletons which, though a bit derivative, is almost as enjoyable as the short it's emulated, The Skeleton Dance. An engaging cartoon and well worth the time and effort to locate. Most highly recomended.

This very early Warner Bros. Short has two claims to fame -- it's on the "Censored 11" list of cartoons United Artists ceased distribution of in 1968 because of their crude racial depictions, and it borrows scenes from two far more well-known cartoons -- the famous "Steamboat Willie" (1st Mickey Mouse) and the horror classic "Skeleton Dance," both from 1920s Disney.

And while this toon is mildly enjoyable but rather nondescript, the music is incredible. And, as far as I can tell, made especially for this cartoon. I need to do more research into this because this seems hard to believe, but I can't find any evidence of this song having existed outside of this cartoon, unlike the songs used in many 1930s WB toons. It sounds so authentic and lively and lived-in, like it came straight from some obscure country blues 78 on Paramount from the decade before.

Not all the "Censored 11" cartoons are bad cartoons. With a good lot of them, you can see why they're not for the easily offended. Some of the cartoons still manage to be entertaining, and a couple especially 'Goldilocks and the Three Jivin' Bears' are pretty tame and entertain enormously.

'Hittin' the Trail for Hallelujah Land' is not among the most offensive of the "Censored 11" cartoons. The material is questionable and it's not funny, often cringe-worthy, but there are other cartoons that have far more racial content and to worse effect, especially 'Angel Puss' (also to me the worst of the "Censored 11" cartoons), 'Jungle Jitters' and 'All This and Rabbit Stew', also really disliked the exaggerated character designs in 'Tin Pan Alley Cats'.

That aside, it's still one of the dullest. The best thing about it is the animation, which is great, very atmospheric and inventive. The music is also energetic, beautifully orchestrated and effectively spooky in parts. A couple of parts are cute.

Conversely, it is too derivative of 'Steamboat Willie' and 'The Skeleton Dance' (two wonderful and iconic cartoons that regardless of age will forever stand the test of time), except with little of the charm and entertainment of the former or little (or as effective) of the imaginative spookiness and wonderful weirdness of the latter. There are small glimpses, but too sporadic.

Especially when there is such a wafer-thin story and very dull pacing. What also adds to the dullness is that it is just not funny, didn't detect a single thing worth laughing at and too much of the material was stupid and cringe-worthy, especially everything with the embarrassment that is the Uncle Tom character, who is a poorly drawn (the one thing in the animation that is lacking) and lazily written stereotype.

All in all, there are more offensive "Censored 11" cartoons but this is one of the dullest and got nothing out of it outside of the animation and the music. 3/10 Bethany Cox

Hittin' the Trail for Hallelujah Land (1931)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

STEAMBOAT WILLIE and THE SKELETON DANCE are certainly "borrowed" from in this Warner short that is best remembered today for being part of the "Censored 11" due to the racial content. In the film, Piggy and Fluffy are on a riverboat trying to escape some bad guy while Uncle Tom runs into some skeletons. While this cartoon probably would have been forgotten had it not been for the controversy, there's still some mildly entertaining things to be found here. In fact, I'd say out of all the "racial" cartoons that have been banned, this one here is probably the least offensive as there's really no blackface jokes or anything to that nature and in fact, if you didn't know about the history before hand I doubt you'd see anything overly offensive. With that said, it's rather amazing that Disney didn't come after this short because it does rip off two of their most beloved early animated films. As it stands, this one here is mildly entertaining thanks in large part to the nice animation and I also thought the pacing and flow were quite good. There really weren't any laughs, which is what kept it from being rated even higher.

Early Merrie Melodies animated short, directed by Rudolf Isling, notable today for being one of the Censored Eleven. For those who don't know, the Censored Eleven are cartoons that were withheld from syndication because they were considered to be too offensive due to their use of racial stereotypes and imagery. As other reviewers have mentioned, this cartoon pretty shamelessly rips off two famous early Disney cartoons, Steamboat Willie and The Skeleton Dance (although that has nothing to do with the cartoon's banning). The short stars Piggy and Fluffy, familiar-looking characters with debatable origins, along with the character of Uncle Tom. The story starts on a steamboat with some characters that look like monkeys in blackface. Piggy is the steamboat captain and his girlfriend Fluffy joins him. Then we cut to a scene of Uncle Tom in a cemetery being scared by singing skeletons. He runs away and tries to make it to the steamboat, but Piggy has to jump into the water to save him. While Piggy is doing this a mustachioed villain shows up out of nowhere to steal Fluffy. Pretty stupid stuff. The black & white animation is good for the time and the music isn't half-bad. Still, it's hard to watch it without cringing at some parts, particularly any scene involving Uncle Tom. It's one of the least offensive of the Censored Eleven but also one of the most banal.