Hittin' the Trail for Hallelujah Land

Hittin' the Trail for Hallelujah Land
Title card
Directed byRudolf Ising (uncredited)
Produced byHugh Harman
Rudolf Ising
Leon Schlesinger
StarringJohnny Murray
Rochelle Hudson
Rudolf Ising
Ken Darby[1]
(all uncredited)
Music byFrank Marsales
Animation byIsadore Freleng
Paul Smith
Color processBlack and white
Production
companies
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date
  • November 14, 1931 (1931-11-14)[2]
Running time
6:58
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Hittin' the Trail for Hallelujah Land is a 1931 American animated comedy short film. It is the fifth film in the Merrie Melodies series, and stars Piggy. This was Piggy's last theatrical appearance. It was released on November 14, 1931.[2] It was directed by Rudolf Ising.[3]

The minimal storyline centers on the plucky Piggy's efforts to rescue his girlfriend and a doglike Uncle Tom from perilous predicaments and villains. The short's use of the racial epithet "Uncle Tom" and use of blackface stereotypes prompted United Artists to withhold it from syndication in 1968, making it one of the Censored Eleven.

Plot

Piggy drives a steamboat filled with stereotypes of African Americans down a river in an unsubtle reference to the 1928 Mickey Mouse film Steamboat Willie. His girlfriend Fluffy rides a carriage driven by a canine Uncle Tom. She gets on the steamboat and bids goodbye to Uncle Tom. Piggy dances on the railing for Fluffy, only to fall overboard and is caught by an alligator. He finds a floating log and uses his tail as a propeller to get away from the alligator, only to be launched back into the steamboat. He continues to dance on the railing without a thought.[4]

Meanwhile, Uncle Tom sleeps as he returns home, only to be woken by his donkey's tail. He ties a stone to the donkey's tail, which accidentally throws him into a cemetery. He is unnerved by the appearance of three skeletons who mock him through song, though they are interrupted by a skeleton dog which they abuse by kicking him into the grave. Uncle Tom runs for his life and falls into the river, with Porky jumping into the river to save him. A vaudeville showman attempts to abduct Fluffy, who fights back before Piggy uses a crane to subdue him. The vaudeville is punished by having his genitals shredded by a sawblade while Piggy and Fluffy celebrate.

Distribution

Hittin' the Trail for Hallelujah Land was released in theaters on November 14, 1931, by Warner Bros. Pictures.[2] The cartoon has been in the public domain since 1959 after its copyright expired and was not renewed by owner United Artists Associated. However, the cartoon has been withheld from distribution since 1968. Hittin' the Trail for Hallelujah Land and ten other cartoons were deemed to feature racist depictions of African Americans that were too integral to the films for simple cuts to make them palatable for modern audiences.[5] The cartoon has never been released on home media via official releases. These eleven cartoons make up the so-called Censored Eleven.[4]

Reception

On December 19, 1931, Motion Picture Herald said, "A New York Strand audience seemed to enjoy this number of the Merrie Melodies series in which popular song numbers accompany the animated cartoon figures."[6]

Credits

See also

References

  1. ^ Scott, Keith (October 3, 2022). Cartoon Voices of the Golden Age, Vol. 2. BearManor Media.
  2. ^ a b c "Hittin' the Trail for Hallelujah Land - Earliest Known Date". The Post-Crescent. November 14, 1931. p. 12. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
  3. ^ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 7. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
  4. ^ a b Cruz, Brian (2003). "Hittin' the Trail for Hallelujah Land Archived 2007-06-14 at the Wayback Machine". Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: The Early Years. Toon Zone. Accessed June 21, 2007.
  5. ^ Did Bugs Bunny appear in a racist cartoon during World War II?, The Straight Dope, February 5, 2002
  6. ^ Sampson, Henry T. (1998). That's Enough, Folks: Black Images in Animated Cartoons, 1900-1960. Scarecrow Press. p. 137. ISBN 978-0810832503.
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