Black and White (animated film)
Encyclopedia
Black and White Directed by Ivan Ivanov-Vano
and Leonid Amalrik
.
that address issues of Racism
in the Jim Crow South. Themes of racial injustice, racial violence, working-class solidarity dominate the film. It depicts black men working in a field, walking in chains, sitting behind bars, and being executed in an electric chair. In most scenes, a white authority figure is seen whipping or guarding the men. The last image of the film is Lenin's name. The soundtrack of the film is the traditional Negro spiritual entitled "Sometimes I Feel like a Motherless Child
".
, prior to the animated short's release. The film intended by Hughes and company, and the Mezhrabpom studio would have consisted of live actors rather than animation. However, a falling out occurred between the black cast and Mezhrabpom. Jack El-Hai, in Black and Red and White summarizes Hughes disappointed with the script: "The morning after he read the script, Hughes returned to the Mezhrabpom officials to tell them that the scenario was absurdly plotted and "so mistakenly conceived that it was beyond revision." The film Black and White was scrapped, and less than one year after the African American artists, actors, and intellectuals had returned to the United States the animated short, Black and White, was released.
Ivan Ivanov-Vano
Ivan Pyetrovich Ivanov-Vano was a Soviet animator and Russian animation director, sometimes called the "Patriarch of Soviet animation"....
and Leonid Amalrik
Leonid Amalrik
Leonid Alekseyevich Amalrik was a Russian animator and animation director.He was born on July 8, 1905 in Moscow. He graduated from the State college of cinema in 1928. From 1926, he worked in Mezhrabpom-Rus studio . In 1936 he moved to the newly created Soyuzmultfilm studio...
.
Themes
Black and White is an animated cartoon short produced in the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
that address issues of Racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
in the Jim Crow South. Themes of racial injustice, racial violence, working-class solidarity dominate the film. It depicts black men working in a field, walking in chains, sitting behind bars, and being executed in an electric chair. In most scenes, a white authority figure is seen whipping or guarding the men. The last image of the film is Lenin's name. The soundtrack of the film is the traditional Negro spiritual entitled "Sometimes I Feel like a Motherless Child
Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
"Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" is a traditional Negro spiritual.The song dates back to the era of slavery in the United States when it was common practice to sell children of slaves away from their parents. An early performance of the song dates back to the 1870s by the Fisk Jubilee...
".
Aesthetic Approach
Stylistically the animated short, like many other European animated films, places emphasis the communication of ideas and messages; a direct contrast to the style favored by Disney, which sought to "create relatable characters with expressive personalities and attitudes."Walt Disney's reaction
According to Amid Amid, author of Cartoon Modern: Style and Design in Fifties Animation, wrote: Black and White "generated a lot of enthusiasm amongst the studio's graphically oriented artists," however, Walt Disney, upon seeing the film, stated that he was unimpressed.Possible Connections to the Black Left
Mezhrabpom, the film studio that produced Black and White had worked closely with a group of African American intellectuals, including Langston HughesLangston Hughes
James Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance...
, prior to the animated short's release. The film intended by Hughes and company, and the Mezhrabpom studio would have consisted of live actors rather than animation. However, a falling out occurred between the black cast and Mezhrabpom. Jack El-Hai, in Black and Red and White summarizes Hughes disappointed with the script: "The morning after he read the script, Hughes returned to the Mezhrabpom officials to tell them that the scenario was absurdly plotted and "so mistakenly conceived that it was beyond revision." The film Black and White was scrapped, and less than one year after the African American artists, actors, and intellectuals had returned to the United States the animated short, Black and White, was released.