TR's Arrival in Africa

ComedyAnimation 20 seconds (at 24 fps)

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About TR's Arrival in Africa

A title says Teddy's arrival caused some commotion in the jungle. Frightened animals fill a huge tree. A monkey on the ground peers over a cliff, then jumps, points, and climbs as Theodore Roosevelt comes over the rim with a gun in his hand.

More about TR's Arrival in Africa

The Library of Congress dates the anonymous American cartoon to 1909 and says it appears to be based on Homer Davenport's drawing "The frightened animals; hist! see who's coming," published in the New York Evening Mail on March 23, 1909. The cataloguers cite Albert Shaw's A Cartoon History of Roosevelt's Career (1910), page 194.

Themes

Preservation

The Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division holds a 35mm viewing print of 33 feet and a 16mm print of 11 feet, in the Theodore Roosevelt Association film collection. The record times the cartoon at 20 seconds at 24 frames per second.

Notes

  • The Library of Congress title is Cartoon--TR's arrival in Africa. Another title on the record is Cartoon--Theodore Roosevelt's arrival in Africa.
  • A flash title reads: "Teddy's arrival caused some commotion in the Jungle...
  • The 16mm and non-viewing prints lack an interior title.
  • The Theodore Roosevelt Center files it with the African safari period, March 1909 to 1910, and lists the creator as unknown.
  • Footage Farm's copy of the same cartoon runs 20 seconds and uses that jungle title.

Scenes

  • The monkey jumps and points, then climbs, as Roosevelt comes over the cliff with a rifle.

Also available

  • Library of Congress (mp76000108)
  • Wikimedia Commons (Theodore Roosevelt's arrival in Africa.webm)
  • Theodore Roosevelt Center digital library

Quotes

Teddy's arrival caused some commotion in the Jungle...