Cannibal Capers

An interesting note from the audio commentary for this cartoon; as Leonard Maltin states, the cartoon is not so much of a racist joke again African natives, but perhaps a caricature of the Hollywood caricature of African natives.

Any number of movies and shorts from that time showed those from Africa as vicious savages in extreme forms. While offensive today, audiences at that time would have had a good laugh on such an obvious spoof.

All in all, remember that all of the studios at that time used these same gags and stereotypes. Disney's use of them is just more obvious since the studio is one of the few major long-term companies from this era that we can use as a reference.

Before you can get to see "Cannibal Capers" and a few other 'special' cartoons on the "Walt Disney Treasures: More Silly Symphonies" DVD set, you are forced to watch an introduction by Leonard Maltin. He talks about the times in which they were made and how politically incorrect the films are. I am not against this, but hate how once you view it, you must ALWAYS view Maltin's speech again if you come back to any of the offensive cartoons. The same thing happens in some of the other Treasures DVDS--such as the second Donald Duck set.

When you see "Cannibal Capers", it's immediately clear why the cartoon was considered bad. The characters are all big-lipped Ubangis--and very stereotypical ones. My wife, oddly, thought they were ducks--though she might not have thought that if she'd seen the title first.

Yes, this one is offensive but it's also charming if you can totally divorce yourself from what you are seeing (huh?!).

This is a weird and humorless Silly Symphony featuring a bunch of dancing cannibals, who were about to cook one of its own, but then was interrupted by a lion.

An unorthodox and weird, plotless cartoon here that may not be suitable for all children. Not entertaining and not amusing.

Grade D--

Cannibal Capers was an interesting cartoon from a historical perspective, but over time not everybody will be enthused by it I don't think. The basic story is rather simplistic, the characters are stereotypical and the character features are outlandishly over-sized(though I imagine this was purposeful perhaps). However the rest of the animation is good with striking black and white and fluid backgrounds, and the music is outstanding, the string orchestration is especially rousing. The pace is crisp, and the action forming the cartoon is not really hilarious but skips along nicely with some niftily choreographed dancing.

In conclusion, Cannibal Capers is not for everybody and I have seen better and funnier Silly Symphonies but for a cartoon of that time it is an interesting look. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Here's a little treasure that's rarely been allowed outside the Disney Vault. When watching 'Cannibal Capers (1930),' one is faced with two options: you can be angered by the cartoonish racial stereotypes, or you can simply laugh, as I did, at the silliness of it all. Nowadays, most viewers are willing to dismiss perceived racism as "a sign of the times," but I think, particularly in this case, to do so is to do both Walt Disney and 1930s audiences a disservice. The caricatures of African tribesmen in 'Cannibal Capers' are so outlandishly exaggerated that they could only have been intended as a spoof, perhaps satirising the xenophobic generalisations that were admittedly prevalent in the popular culture of the time (and they're still around today, so don't feel too vindicated). This cartoon, in line with many of the earliest Silly Symphonies, simply chooses a setting and devotes its inhabitants to a few minutes of dancing: 'The Skeleton Dance (1929)' had skeletons, 'Hell's Bells (1929)' had scary imps, 'Flowers and Trees (1932)' had plants… and so 'Cannibal Capers' has cannibals.

A major theme of the cartoon seems to be the perceived "primitiveness" of the cannibals, as they are frequently mistaken – both by the viewer and other characters – for lower forms of nature. Or perhaps, less cynically, it's more a commentary on how harmoniously the cannibals exist in their environment. For example, we first glimpse the dancers by their stick-thin legs, which are initially mistaken for trees swaying in the breeze. Later, a cannibal attempting to imitate a turtle is mistaken for one by his own villagers, and is promptly tossed into the boiling pot. But this gag can run both ways. An angry lion (introduced with a stunning zoom into his gaping jaws) loses his crown as King of the Jungle, humiliated so decisively by a cannibal that he winds up more closely resembling a (white) man in a lion suit, fleeing on his hind-limbs. Is this British Colonialism getting nipped in the bud by the locals? Also note how closely the cannibals resemble the title character in 'The Ugly Duckling (1931),' reinforcing that cartoon's status as a racial allegory.