Clean Pastures

This 1937 Merrie Melodies short is one of the Censored 11. Fats Waller, Cab Calloway, Jimmie Lunceford, and Louis Armstrong as angels, they go down to Harlem and bring back some folks to heaven (I still don't understand this). Cameo by Al Jolson as he walks into a nightclub singing "I Love to Singa"

CLEAN PASTURES is a play on words, as the year before this film debuted, a film with an all-Black cast, GREEN PASTURES, was released in theaters to White and Black audiences alike.

This is one of the so-called "Censored 11"--Looney Toons cartoons that were pulled from the market in the 1960s because of racist stereotypes of Blacks. While the general feeling of the reviewers is that this isn't offensive or that offensive, I can see how calling Heaven "Pair O Dice" could easily offend, as showing Black men as shiftless gamblers was a common stereotype of the age. As for the people who are parodied (mostly Black jazz musicians), I don't think this was intended as offensive and I bet most of them (such as Cab Calloway and Louis Armstrong) were probably flattered by the attention. Throwing in a Steppin Fetchit-inspired character, though, is inflammatory as he is practically the poster child for the "I hate my race and will whore myself out for money" club. The bottom line is that there are elements of this film that can't help but offend. This is sad, as because with a few minor changes, this could be a more acceptable and widely enjoyed cartoon.

My advice is that this and all the Censored 11 cartoons should not be shown on broadcast television unless they are shown with some sort of prologue that could explain the context and reasons they offend. Having them continue to be available on the internet (when you can find them) isn't a bad thing, however, as I am loathe to ban any sort of speech and it is an unfortunate but important part of our history. And if we eliminate EVERYTHING that might offend from our history, then we are left with,...well,...nothing!

This cartoon, one of Warner Bros. 'Censored 11', is one of the funniest ones I have seen and it is such a shame a wide audience are denied the chance to see it.

The premise is that Pair-O-Dice (geddit?) a place where the angels congregate, is suffering from those sinners just heading for Hades instead. So ... with the help of Al Jolson, Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, and Fats Waller, and 'Swing for Sale', is it possible to turn around the fortunes of the holy land? The caricatures of the great musical personalities are great and the title (a parody of 'Green Pastures') is inspired. Highly recommended if you can get to see it.

Merrie Melodies short, directed by Friz Freleng, notable today for being one of the Censored Eleven. For those who don't know, the Censored Eleven are cartoons that were withheld from syndication because they were considered to be too offensive due to their use of racial stereotypes and imagery. Its title is a take on the 1936 film Green Pastures, which was a wonderful movie that told familiar Bible stories with an all-black cast. The story here has angels trying to save the people of Harlem from their sinful ways by using jazz music to lure them to the side of Heaven (called Pair-O-Dice here...get it?). Pretty offensive to many today, this is actually one of the better Censored Eleven cartoons. That's in large part because of the bits of great jazz music that play throughout. The animation is also good for its time, if one can look past the grotesque depictions of black people. Animation buffs and anyone interested in jazz or black culture from the period might want to seek it out. But, for obvious reasons, it's not something your average person will enjoy today.

This cartoon really deserves another chance. People call it racist because of the black stereotypes but did anyone else notice that heaven was being run by blacks? And there were no white people in heaven either. It's not really racist because the jazz musicians they characterized (Calloway, Waller, Gillespie, Lunceford) really did act and talk like that. The music was a show stopper. That shuffling black man in the beginning was just a bit of comedy. But racist? That's a tad harsh. Let's face it, Yosemite Sam and Elmer Fudd were hardly roll models for white people. The music was the main event here. Give this one another chance. Re-release it.