This cartoon has me confused. The black swan seduces the white swan just so he can make her fish for him? What is he doing all that time underwater when he’s chasing her? Why don’t the ducks pay any attention to all the hubbub? And what about that fight between the two guys at the end? That was so quick – was something cut out? Is there an unrated version of this cartoon somewhere that explains that part better? Maybe this is why we don’t see many cartoons about swans – too confusing.
Today’s cartoon from the ’30s does not actually contain any overt racial slurs but there is a definite root vegetable and tuber bias. Compare the treatment of the pickled onions to that of the corncob. I don’t think they even bothered to interrogate the turnip. WARNING: contains scenes of food-on-food torture.
My friend Eggy came over for a visit this morning. He’s a much nicer guy than the egg in this cartoon, and I wound up giving him a gold bracelet.
This is harder than I thought. I’m trying to find a non-racist Easter cartoon. Hm… I haven’t seen this one yet – Bosko’s Easter Eggs:
Whoa. Whoa whoa whoa. That is not the Bosko I remember. That was terrible. Okay, let’s try a Silly Symphony:
Awesome. We made it all the way to 1:40 before some completely pointless blackface gag. Okay, wait – here’s “The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes.” Yes. A gripping story that addresses racism, classism and sexism, all with adorable drawings of bunnies in pinafores.
What’s that? Those weren’t the classic Marjorie Flack drawings you remember? And it wasn’t technically a cartoon? Fine. Here’s your damn non-racist Easter cartoon:
Yes, I know that had nothing to do with Easter. Shut up and pass me a creme egg.
I think I’ve made some mention before of my fondness for fake swear words, so I was very happy to learn a new word this week from my friend zeroy:
A grawlix is a group of symbols used in place of profanity. Like *&@#$. Grawlixes are usually best in comics, because they aren’t bound to keyboard symbols. Here are the Katzenjammer Kids swearing:
Actually, I bet that’s the Captain, not the Kids. The Kids replaced his herring with a fake herring and now he’s really mad. Here’s Alley Oop:
And more recently, Pearls Before Swine:
The French are pretty good with grawlixes too:
How do you say “grawlix” in French, though? Is it still “grawlix”? I can’t seem to find the answer. #$%^#%$@.
Benny has a very fancy traveling bonnet that he’s worn one too many times. When he took it into the dry cleaners, they refused to take it, saying it was beyond hope. Maybe he can take it into this laundry; they seem to have no problem beating rough hats into shape.
I don’t deny that it’s cute to look at, but this ad campaign for Oranjeboom may be more questionable than Schaefer’s “the one beer to have when you’re having more than one.” Go get ‘em, Sheriff.
I started this blog nearly five years ago as a way to keep from going insane at work, and for a while it worked. Once I started posting, my life consisted of more than my job, and I felt like little portions of my brain were reawakening from a long nap. And then, things started changing at work. My job has taken over again. People ask unfathomable questions, and I keep trying to answer them. Bosses are asking for 110% while paying me 75%, and I go along with it. It’s dark when I get home. My brain is too tired to post here, even on the weekends. I can’t maintain my blog while my job is like this, and it seems that my job is going to be like this from here on out.
So, I’m quitting. My job, not Fancy Notions. A person has to realign her priorities from time to time. Expect more posting here soon, and thank you for your patience.
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