Looney Tunes; The Wizard of Oz; Victor Fleming, & Gone With the Wind

Before we get back to Oz, (and before I get too far ahead of myself) let's learn a little about The Golden Age of Hollywood (crash course #11).

Merian Cooper, a producer for RKO and the director of King Kong (1933), said he "never wanted to make a black and white picture again" after seeing one of Disney's Silly Symphonies. Warner Brothers Studios soon followed suit to create their Looney Tunes. You'll recognize some of the characters:

• Jungle Jitters (1938) Let's examine this short through a racial criticism lens... (also All This And Rabbit Stew (1941) and Coal Black and the Sebbin Dwarfs (1943, clip)--and just so you note that depiction matters, here's a clip of Disney's Peter Pan (1953)

We might consider what makes parody or comedy cruel. But animation and comedy, often intended for children, sometimes tends to promulgate (spread) racist depictions of marginalized groups. Other times, they are just meant to entertain and do so with little problem.

• A Day At the Zoo (1939, dir. Tex Avery)
• Bugs Bunny: The Wacky Wabbit (1941, dir. Bob Clampett)
• Hollywood Steps Out (1941)
• The Dover Boys (1942)
• There are many, many beloved Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies short animated films with characters such as Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Foghorn Leghorn, Pepe Le Pew, Sylvester & Tweety, etc.

1939 was a good year for color film (and Victor Fleming). MGM's musical-fantasy The Wizard of Oz, directed by Victor Fleming, starring Judy Garland was nominated for 6 Academy Awards but lost Best Picture to the epic 4-hour long historical romance-drama Gone With the Wind (also directed by Victor Fleming) and starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh. So, either way, Victor Fleming...winner.

HOMEWORK: Please read the short chapter about Film Noir & the script sample from The Maltese Falcon for next class. We will be working on our script projects Monday during the lab and then discussing film noir.