Lia Pamina recommends this great retro Christmas song, harkening back to 1964, the year “Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer” first appeared on American TV. Although miniskirts and go-go boots didn’t really make the scene until ’65.
I’ve heard this recording quite a few times on the radio, but not once did I ever happen to hear an announcer say who sings it. Sincerely! Everybody else will immediately recognize Mariah Carey, who I’ve never knowingly listened to, before now.
Hearing that Disney is introducing a black princess character called Tiana, animation fans can’t help but recall the most notorious of all mainstream cartoons, “Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs.” Click here to see an article I wrote about it way back in 2002. (It’s funny now to see that I considered 20 MB to be a huge file, but at the time I had only 100 MB available for the entire site.)
It’s interesting to see how the imagery has been updated, and toned down, from 60+ years ago.
If you have never seen “Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs,” here it is. Keep in mind that when this cartoon was released in 1943, “Amos and Andy” was one of the most popular shows on radio; which explains, but doesn’t justify, the depiction of black people. Also, WWII was in high gear, and movie censorship regarding the, uh, earthier side of human nature was relaxed a bit for the duration.
Also of interest on that old pre-YouTube DogRat web page is this video that I spliced together from “Bugs Bunny, Superstar.” The quality is barely passable, and the material is worthy of a fresh transfer, so I’ll add it to my to-do list.
