Car-charo-toons: Plane Dumb (1932)
Plane Dumb (1932, Van Beuren Studios) Dir.: John Foster and George Rufle TC4P Rating: 4/9 So, I spent some time years back on this site heaping light praise upon a much-neglected series like Van Beuren's Tom and Jerry shorts, and then I ran into the film Plane Dumb . The title Plane Dumb could very nearly describe the actions of the filmmakers as they contrived to create this wannabe Amos N' Andy homage. Apparently, donning blackface not only helped disguise the very white Tom and Jerry as they roamed about Africa in 1932, but it also lowered their IQs to the negative, changed your speech patterns automatically, and somehow also mad their disarrayed and lighter-colored hair instantly become short, dark and curly. Ah, the magical properties of a common makeup kit! I read a couple of reviews for this cartoon short years ago where each of the writers complained that Tom and Jerry were traveling to Africa "for no good reason". Let m...