Jungle Jitters

Plot

Jungle Jitters follows a traveling salesman who stumbles upon a tribe of African cannibals in the jungle. The tribe, initially depicted imitating Native Americans before performing the Warner Bros. theme song 'The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down,' captures the salesman and prepares to cook him in a large pot. However, the tribe's queen becomes infatuated with the stuttering salesman and demands they marry instead. The wedding ceremony proceeds, but when the moment comes for the groom to kiss his bride, the horrified salesman leaps back into the cooking pot, preferring to be eaten rather than kiss the queen. The cartoon ends with the tribe happily preparing their meal as the salesman resignedly accepts his fate.

Historical Background

Jungle Jitters was released in 1938, a period of significant global tension with the rise of fascism in Europe and growing international conflicts. In the United States, the country was still recovering from the Great Depression, and entertainment served as both escape and reflection of American attitudes. The cartoon industry was in its golden age, with theaters regularly showing animated shorts alongside feature films. The racial stereotypes depicted in this cartoon were unfortunately common in American popular culture of the 1930s, reflecting the segregated society and limited understanding of other cultures. The film industry, including animation, was largely controlled by white creators who perpetuated harmful caricatures without consideration of their impact. This period also saw the beginning of the Hays Code's stricter enforcement, though it primarily focused on sexual content rather than racial representation. The cartoon's release came just before World War II would dramatically change American society and eventually lead to greater awareness of racial issues, though this change would come slowly to the entertainment industry.

Making Of

The production of Jungle Jitters took place at the Leon Schlesinger studio on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California. Director Friz Freleng, one of the pioneering directors of Warner Bros. animation, worked with a team of animators including Bob Clampett and Gerry Chiniquy. The voice recording sessions featured Mel Blanc in his early years with the studio, before he became the exclusive voice actor for most Warner Bros. characters. The animation process involved creating thousands of hand-drawn cels, with each movement carefully planned through storyboards and pencil tests. The cartoon's soundtrack was created by composer Carl Stalling, who was revolutionizing the use of music in animation by synchronizing it precisely with on-screen action. The racial caricatures in the cartoon reflected the unfortunate casual racism prevalent in American media of the 1930s, with the animators drawing from contemporary stereotypes rather than authentic cultural representations.

Visual Style

As an animated short, Jungle Jitters utilized the standard animation techniques of the late 1930s, including cel animation on paper backgrounds. The visual style featured the rounded, rubbery character designs typical of the period before Warner Bros. developed its more angular and distinctive style in the 1940s. The animation included exaggerated movements and squash-and-stretch techniques pioneered by Disney but adapted for the Warner Bros. house style. Color was used effectively within the limitations of the three-strip Technicolor process available at the time, with vibrant jungle greens and character costumes. The camera work was relatively simple by modern standards, consisting mainly of static shots with occasional pans and zooms to follow the action. The animation team used exposure sheets to time the movements precisely with the soundtrack, a technique that was becoming standard practice in the industry. The visual gags relied heavily on physical comedy and exaggerated expressions, with the character designs emphasizing comical features over realistic proportions.

Innovations

Jungle Jitters employed the standard animation technology of 1938, representing the state of the art for theatrical cartoon production at the time. The cartoon was created using traditional cel animation techniques, with characters drawn on transparent celluloid sheets and photographed over painted backgrounds. The animation team used multiplane camera effects to create depth, though this technology was still relatively new and expensive. The sound synchronization was accomplished using the click track method, where animators worked from musical timing sheets to ensure precise coordination between visual action and audio elements. The color process used was three-strip Technicolor, which provided rich, saturated colors but required careful planning due to its technical limitations. The cartoon's runtime of seven minutes was standard for theatrical shorts, designed to fit perfectly into theater programming blocks. While not groundbreaking technically, the cartoon represented the refinement of animation techniques that had been developed throughout the 1930s, building on innovations from studios like Disney and Fleischer while developing Warner Bros.' distinctive approach to cartoon comedy.

Music

The soundtrack for Jungle Jitters was composed by Carl Stalling, Warner Bros.' legendary musical director who revolutionized the use of music in animation. The cartoon prominently features 'The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down,' which had recently become the official theme song for the Looney Tunes series. Stalling's score incorporated popular songs of the era along with original compositions, synchronized precisely with the on-screen action. The sound effects were created using traditional methods of the time, including manual foley work and early electronic sound generation. Voice work was performed by Mel Blanc and Tedd Pierce, with Blanc handling multiple character voices using his remarkable range. The audio was recorded on optical soundtracks, the standard technology for films of this period. Stalling's approach to cartoon scoring involved using musical motifs to represent characters and actions, creating a rich audio landscape that complemented the visual comedy. The soundtrack also included stereotypical 'jungle' music elements that, while technically well-executed, contributed to the cartoon's problematic racial representation.

Memorable Scenes

• The opening sequence where the cannibal tribe imitates Native Americans before transitioning to the Looney Tunes theme song
• The salesman's capture and preparation in the cooking pot
• The queen's sudden infatuation with the captured salesman
• The forced wedding ceremony between the salesman and the queen
• The final scene where the salesman chooses to return to the cooking pot rather than kiss his bride

What Critics Said

Upon its release in 1938, Jungle Jitters received typical reviews for a Warner Bros. cartoon of the era, with trade publications like Variety and The Film Daily noting its entertainment value without commenting on the racial stereotypes. The animation quality and gags were considered standard for the period. However, contemporary critical assessment is overwhelmingly negative, with modern critics and scholars condemning the cartoon's racist caricatures and harmful stereotypes. Animation historians like Jerry Beck and Michael Barrier have discussed the cartoon primarily in the context of the 'Censored 11' and the broader issue of racism in classic animation. The cartoon is now rarely viewed except in academic settings where it's analyzed as an example of problematic cultural representation. Critics today point out that while the animation techniques may have been competent for their time, the content's offensive nature overshadows any artistic merits the cartoon might possess.

What Audiences Thought

In 1938, audiences likely found Jungle Jitters entertaining and unremarkable, as the racial stereotypes depicted were unfortunately common and widely accepted in popular culture of the time. Theater audiences would have appreciated the cartoon as part of the overall entertainment package, with the gags and animation style being familiar and expected elements of the Warner Bros. cartoon experience. However, modern audiences would find the content deeply offensive and inappropriate. The cartoon's removal from television syndication in 1968 reflected changing audience attitudes and growing awareness of racial issues. Today, most viewers would never encounter this cartoon due to its restricted availability, and those who do see it typically do so in educational contexts where it's presented with appropriate historical framing. The stark contrast between 1930s audience reception and modern sensibilities illustrates how dramatically cultural attitudes have evolved regarding racial representation in media.

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