Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company 'B'

The tall and gangly "Hot Breath Harry" wows the jazz clubs until he is drafted into the army. They can't tell the difference between a trumpet and a bugle, so he is charged with blowing the reveillé at 0500hrs. That doesn't exactly make him popular - and after an altercation with an hatchet he reckons that he might have more success jazzing up this early morning wake up call so he uses a trumpet! Success all round as the story now morphs into a mildly amusing skit on all things military whilst accompanied by the eponymous Prince/Ray musical number. This was made just as President Roosevelt started his recruitment drive in earnest, so has a very specific purpose I think. It demonstrates that the army is a fun, inclusive and welcoming place. Tosh? Well maybe with modern day eyes, but in 1941 this had a job to do, and it just about does what it says on the tin in a lively fashion.

this cartoon is available on the new woody woodpecker collection that debut this week. This cartoon has not aged well, since it reflects the "Amos and Andy" stereotyping of African-Americans. However, if you can watch this cartoon for the way in which it tells the story of the famous song and how the song and animation interact it is neat in the evolution of cartoons.

Once again, I wish to state that stereotyping of African-Americans is shocking by todays ideas. Therefore, I would not recommend this cartoon to the general population of viewers, because it could be highly offensive.

If Woody Woodpecker and Chilly Willie creator, 'Walter Lantz' (qv) offered 'The Andrews Sisters' (qv) popular trio for their current hit, of same title, "Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy" (of Company B), and the trio accepted, I am strongly sure it would have won the best animation short award of 1941, along with the fact it was nominated, despite the fact of different human races and a majority of people are racial. If Laverne, Maxene and Patty Andrews were the musical vocalists, along with their newest or current hit song, Walter Lantz surely would have earned one more award, among those that he had already won, and would win later, in his career.

This is my third review of a cartoon nominated for an Academy Award for 1941 having previously done so for George Pal's Rhythm in the Ranks and Friz Freleng's Rhopsody in Rivets. In this one, a black trumpeter gets drafted in the Army and is made to play "Reveille" every 5 am to the consternation of his fellow recruits. But then he gets a magic instrument that lets him play it Big Band-style to the delight of everyone within listening distance. Of course, the title song that was made famous by The Andrews Sisters is warbled by the enlisted men. The depiction of the black men with big lips isn't too offensive to me but I did cringe when one of them showed a pair of dice as part of his teeth! Nice gags throughout and Walter Lantz really keeps things moving so that's a recommendation of Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B.

A jazz musician gets drafted to the military and finds himself given the job of bugle boy – a very unpopular job who gets all manner of stuff chucked at him at 5am. Luckily for our main character he finds a trumpet rather than a basic bugle and he is able to call reveille with a swinging jazz number which makes all the difference.

I travel quite a bit so often find myself watching films etc on my tablet while on planes or waiting in airports. In doing this I am always conscious of those watching over my shoulder with no context, so I try to avoid very violent or sexual films as a courtesy to them and me. I mention this because I am incredibly glad that I did not watch this cartoon anywhere but my own home because it may have been hard to explain why I was watching something with such racial caricatures as in this 1941 cartoon. Sadly this is a reflection of the time and, as plankonrules points out, the reason that the cartoon only features black characters is that at the time in the US soldiers were segregated – so this cartoon was not about to show integration even in a fantasy setting!

Anyway, to deal with it first, the cartoon is really racist – massive lipped characters, "yes masta" style voice acting and very dark skin; one can excuse it as being of its time, but it is still offensive to watch and it feels uncomfortable to do so today. On the other side, to ignore this and watch it as a cartoon it does function well because the swinging soundtrack is very enjoyable and the comedy is nicely in support of this. The animation flows well too. It is a shame then that you will struggle to focus on all of the good aspects because there are so many negative ones and it is uncomfortable to watch because of them.