Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs
| Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs | |
|---|---|
| Merrie Melodies series | |
Coal Black title card.
|
|
| Directed by | Robert Clampett |
| Produced by | Leon Schlesinger |
| Story by | Warren Foster |
| Voices by |
Vivian Dandridge Ruby Dandridge Leo Watson Mel Blanc |
| Music by |
Carl W. Stalling Eddie Beals and His Orchestra |
| Animation by |
Rod Scribner Robert McKimson Tom McKimson Manny Gould |
| Distributed by |
Warner Bros. The Vitaphone Corporation |
| Release date(s) | January 16, 1943 (USA) |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Running time | 7 minutes (one reel) |
| Language | English |
Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs (working title: So White and de Sebben Dwarfs) is a Merrie Melodies animated cartoon directed by Bob Clampett, produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions, and released to theatres on January 16, 1943 by Warner Bros. and The Vitaphone Corporation.
The film is an all-black parody of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale Snow White, known to its audience from the popular 1937 Walt Disney animated feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The stylistic portrayal of the characters is an example of "darky" iconography, which was widely accepted in American society at the time. As such, it is one of the most controversial cartoons in the classic Warner Brothers library, being one of the Censored Eleven. The cartoon has been rarely seen on television, and has never been officially released on home video.
The short has been cited as one of the best cartoons ever made, in part for its African-American-inspired jazz and swing music, and it is considered one of Clampett's greatest masterpieces.
In this version of the story, all of the characters are African American, and speak all of their dialogue in rhyme. The story is set during World War II in the United States, and the original tale's fairy tale wholesomeness is replaced in this film by a hot jazz mentality and sexual overtones. Several scenes unique to Disney's film version of Snow White, such as the wishing-well sequence, the forest full of staring eyes, and the awakening kiss, are directly parodied in this film. The film was intended to have been named So White and de Sebben Dwarfs, which producer Leon Schlesinger thought was too close to the original film's actual title, and had changed to Coal Black and De Sebben Dwarfs.
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