Jungle Jitters (1938)

Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Too much of everything

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Jungle Jitters (1938)** (out of 4) Rather bland cartoon from Warner takes place in Africa and it starts off as a group of cannibals are dancing and then they turn into a merry-go-round where they then play a game trying to pull the nose ring out of one man's nose. From here the story focuses on a salesman who shows up at a home where the cannibal at first want to eat him before deciding to marry him off to an ugly queen. JUNGLE JITTERS is best remembered today for being one of the "Censored 11" from Warner, which of course got pulled off of television due to their racial content. Overall, this one here really isn't all that offensive but then again, that's going to be determined by the one actually watching since we've all got our own lines that we don't think should be crossed. Overall there are a couple funny moments in this one including the scene where the salesman shows up and the cannibals look at him and see him as a turkey. The ugly queen is certainly one of the ugliest creatures ever drawn in these animated movies and it makes for a fun ending. There's even a Clark Gable joke thrown in for good measures. Still, there's no question that there simply aren't enough laughs to keep this one from being better.

Really, when I look back on all the Warner cartoons I've seen, I QUITE ENJOY this one......and I'll take it any old day over: (*big, long sigh*) "Feed The Kitty," "Boyhood Daze," "Much Ado About Nutting," "It's Hummer-Time," "Half-Fare Hare," "China Jones," "Scent-imental Over You," "Old Glory," "Tom Thumb In Trouble," "Those Wonderful Dames," "The Coo-Coo Nut Grove," "Prest-O Change-O," "Feline Frame-Up," "Kiddin' The Kitten," "The Aristo-cat," "Wacky Blackouts," "The Big Snooze," "Rabbit Hood," "Cat Feud," "Scaredy Cat," "A Waggily Tale," "Hare-Abian Nights," "Tweet Dreams," "Tom-Tom Tomcat," "Daffy And The Dinosaur," "The Good Egg," "Fifth Column Mouse," among many others. (Watch this list for future additions.) And if you want to e-mail me and tell me I'm lower than scum for preferring it, feel free to e-mail me. I won't care, though.And as for the present cartoon?The opening gags involving the cannibals are of the most blatant sort imaginable; but they don't take much away from a rather engaging central story of two white folks who end up at the altar. The queen's an absolute howl, and the nerd salesman is a transcendental bore--to the cartoon's advantage.Let me put it this way: They're about as much an insult to Caucasians as the cannibals are to blacks......so it really evens up.

Typical racist cartoon from back in the days when it was acceptable to portray Africa as people dancing around in loincloths. As it is, I got the feeling that "Jungle Jitters" was one of the cartoons that they made as a place holder in between the really good cartoons (1938 also saw the release of "Daffy Duck in Hollywood").So, while the offensive material is the most obvious thing, the other point is that there is one clever scene: the merry-go-round (to the tune of "Merry-Go-Round Broke Down"). And there's the common situation of a cultural reference that people won't get nowadays; I'd certainly never heard of Elmer Burt.So, I recommend this one as a historical reference.

Putting the 'banned' label on this will bring it attention it doesn't really deserve.The main reason for the controversy was the depiction of south seas' blacks as cannibals. That was a regular occurrence in these cartoons.The humor is so dated that I truly believe anyone who sees it today won't get most of the jokes. It may belong in a time capsule, but it's only place is in history.Did anyone notice the native guard suddenly talking like a Chinaman? Typical 30's cartoon. Filled with spot gags so it never gets boring, but it never takes off either.The final line is the best. If you can find it, see for yourself.