Sadly, while watching these old shorts I have to put up with the unfortunate lack of sensitivity, be it veiled sexism or (worse) flat out racism. “Southern Fried Rabbit” has Bugs as a “Sambo” in black face, “Ali Baba Bunny” paid no compliments to the culture of the Middle East, and “Frigid Hare” didn’t treat First Nations tribes any better. I think the best way to address the problems with these old cartoons is head on, as WB did with an intro on a dvd set, by having Whoopie Goldberg lead into the collection with a disclaimer. It’s horrible that these images exist, but they are a record of attitudes which prevailed at the time, and discussing them (I feel) is a better way to address them, than to try sweeping them under a rug. Hopefully those missteps don’t invalidate the artistry of the animation in these classic cartoons. OK, Off soapbox.
That said, while trying to ignore the racist elements, I do enjoy the balance of shapes in the design of the cave guard from “Ali Baba Bunny”, which is similar to “Crusher” from “Rabbit Punch” and “Bunny Hugged”. These characters always remind me, “Don’t forget leg day” whenever these characters pop up on screen. Meanwhile, the woman is from Robert McKimson’s, “There Auto Be a Law”, about the history of cars. The sequence involves a woman causing a traffic jam, because she’s stopped in the middle of a bridge to do her makeup (eye-roll). The design of the woman reminds me of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty… anyone agree?
