Bingo Crosbyana

Bingo Crosbyana
The title card of Bingo Crosbyana.
Directed by	I. Freleng
Produced by	Leon Schlesinger
Starring	Billy Bletcher
Music by	Norman Spencer
Animation by	Cal Dalton Sandy Walker
Color process	Technicolor
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	May 30, 1936
Running time	7 min (one reel)
Language	English

Bingo Crosbyana is a 1936 Merrie Melodies cartoon short directed by Friz Freleng, and notable for its title song, composed by Sanford Green and with lyrics by Irving Kahal.

Plot

The plot revolves around a group of fun-loving anthropomorphic insects which have taken over a kitchen. The female insects promptly become enthralled by a crooning show-off of a fly, Bingo Crosbyana, "the crooning hit of all Havana", a caricature of the singer Bing Crosby, who incurs the jealous resentment of their boyfriends. Bingo, however, literally shows his colors (yellow) when a spider invades the kitchen, leaving Bingo to cower in fear inside a roll of wax paper. After the boyfriends team up to trap the spider on a sheet of fly paper, Bingo emerges from the wax paper roll and attempts to resume his braggadocio, only to be put in his place decisively.

Legal cases

Bingo Crosbyana was one of two Warner Bros. cartoons (along with Let It Be Me) which Bing Crosby initiated lawsuits to suppress because they portrayed him in what Crosby considered a defamatory light. In this case, he objected to his portrayal as a vainglorious coward and to the imitation of his voice.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Paramount Pictures was suing Warner Bros. alongside Crosby. Their law firm wanted the distribution of the film to cease. Apparently they lost their case.

Sources

• Cohen, Karl F. (2004), "Censorship of Theatrical Animation", Forbidden Animation: Censored Cartoons and Blacklisted Animators in America, McFarland & Company, ISBN 978-0786420322

External links

• Bingo Crosbyana on IMDb
• Bingo Crosbyana at The Big Cartoon DataBase