Jungle Jitters

Putting the 'banned' label on this will bring it attention it doesn't really deserve.

The main reason for the controversy was the depiction of south seas' blacks as cannibals. That was a regular occurrence in these cartoons.

The humor is so dated that I truly believe anyone who sees it today won't get most of the jokes. It may belong in a time capsule, but it's only place is in history.

Did anyone notice the native guard suddenly talking like a Chinaman? Typical 30's cartoon. Filled with spot gags so it never gets boring, but it never takes off either.

The final line is the best. If you can find it, see for yourself.

This film isn't all that bad. After all, when the Queen made an appearance in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?", those who remembered her howled with laughter. The animation is clever in spoofing Elmer as Clark Gable and Robert Taylor as seen by the queen; to the cannibals, he looks like fried chicken. Elmer, the shy salesman is a parody of the radio comedian Al Pierce's character, Elmer Blurt. The characteristic knock on the door, the stammer, "I Hope, I hope, I hope.", are all part of what became Warner's biggest trademark--parodies of radio comedians. After all, every time someone would pick up the telephone, Daffy might say, "Oh, is that you Myrt?", which came from "Fibber McGee and Molly." Also, how many times have Jack Benny and Rochester, not to mention Eddie Cantor, been used to good advantage?

This film starts slow, but does pick up speed when Elmer makes his entrance. He also has a great closing line, something the writers of some of these cartoons desperately needed. I recommend this film for students of old radio.

I suspect that even if there weren't stereotypes and caricatures that would be viewed as unacceptable today, this one probably wouldn't air today because it simply isn't all that funny. It starts off okay, but then we meet the "hero", who's about as stupid as they come (I've seen better heads on a glass of root beer) and it goes downhill from his entrance on. This one just doesn't work for some reason. Of interest only to die-hard Warner Brothers fans and rare cartoon enthusiasts. Otherwise, skip this altogether.

Jungle Jitters isn't a complete waste of time, the animation backgrounds are crisp and detailed, rarely feeling stiff, and the whole cartoon looks colourful and vibrant. Carl Stalling's music is as characterful, rhythmically energetic and lushly orchestrated as always, the action always enhanced. Jungle Jitters has two amusing moments, one was the tribe envisioning the salesman as a turkey and the other being the final line. The two biggest problems however that Jungle Jitters has is that it is not particularly funny and that none of the characters are engaging. Apart from those two moments, the cartoon barely raises a smile, the main problem being that it's stupid in a mind-numbing sense and also that the style of humour would have been funny then but some people(myself included, coming from a huge animation fan and someone fond of a vast majority of Fritz Freleng's work) will find that it goes over their heads now. The Clark Gable and Robert Taylor references could have been funny but weren't executed well. Even more problematic are the characters, the tribe are very stereotypically characterised and while the stereotypes are not as blatantly racist as something like Scrub Me Mama with a Boogie Beat it is easy to see why they would offend some, they show very little personality either. The salesman is also incredibly annoying. The story is lacking in energy, while I did dislike the character designs especially after the rest of the animation being done as well as it was. Okay sure it's a cartoon and it makes sense for them to be exaggerated but these character designs looked ridiculous and borderline stupid(especially for the queen). Mel Blanc is one of the greatest voice actors who ever lived and had a knack of elevating the weakest of material, but here his material is some of the weakest he's ever had and this is one of few times where his voice work did nothing for me. Overall, a lot of stupidity here and unengaging characters but also apart from a couple of moments short of laughs. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Jungle Jitters (1938)

** (out of 4)

Rather bland cartoon from Warner takes place in Africa and it starts off as a group of cannibals are dancing and then they turn into a merry-go-round where they then play a game trying to pull the nose ring out of one man's nose. From here the story focuses on a salesman who shows up at a home where the cannibal at first want to eat him before deciding to marry him off to an ugly queen. JUNGLE JITTERS is best remembered today for being one of the "Censored 11" from Warner, which of course got pulled off of television due to their racial content. Overall, this one here really isn't all that offensive but then again, that's going to be determined by the one actually watching since we've all got our own lines that we don't think should be crossed. Overall there are a couple funny moments in this one including the scene where the salesman shows up and the cannibals look at him and see him as a turkey. The ugly queen is certainly one of the ugliest creatures ever drawn in these animated movies and it makes for a fun ending. There's even a Clark Gable joke thrown in for good measures. Still, there's no question that there simply aren't enough laughs to keep this one from being better.