Goldilocks and the Jivin' Bears

Goldilocks and the Jivin' Bears
The December 1st, 1951 reissue card
Directed by	Friz Freleng
Produced by	Eddie Selzer
Animation by	Ken Champin
Layouts by	Hawley Pratt
Backgrounds by	Paul Julian
Color process	Technicolor
Distributed by	Warner Bros., Vitaphone
Running time	7:22 minutes

Goldilocks and the Jivin' Bears is an animated cartoon short written by Tedd Pierce and directed by Friz Freleng. It was released on September 2, 1944, by Warner Bros. Pictures as part of its Merrie Melodies series.

The film's story combines elements of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Little Red Riding Hood. All of the characters are drawn in blackface style. This would be the last Warner Bros. animated short to feature an all-black cast excluding Chuck Jones' Inki cartoons.

Synopsis

The Three Bears, a jazz trio, are enjoying a hot jam session when their instruments catch fire. After consulting a storybook, they find that they must go out for a walk to let the instruments cool off.

Across the street (in a house with a neon sign saying "GRANMA'S"), the Big Bad Wolf is expecting Red Riding Hood's arrival. Instead, he receives a telegram that says Red Riding Hood will be late because she is "working at Lockheed as a rivetater." The frustrated wolf looks out the window and sees Goldilocks entering the Three Bears' house. (Unlike the other characters, Goldilocks is drawn as an attractive young woman.) Because there is a "food shortage" going on, the wolf decides to pursue Goldilocks.

Inside the Three Bears' house, Goldilocks tries all the beds and lies down in the best one, only to find the wolf in bed with her. The wolf chases Goldilocks through the house until the Three Bears return. Finding Goldilocks and the wolf struggling in the living room, they shout "Jitterbugs!" and begin playing a dance tune. The wolf and Goldilocks dance the jitterbug until the wolf is exhausted and flees to Grandma's house.

Red Riding Hood returns to find the wolf in Grandma's bed, but the wolf is too tired to eat her. So he attempts to make Red leave, claiming she came too late for their segment and his feet are sore from the dance. However The Three Bears rush in, shout "Dere's dat jitterbug!" and resume playing. This causes Grandma to burst out of a cupboard and jitterbug with the wolf, who turns to the audience and says, in a Jimmy Durante voice, "Everybody wants to get into the act!"

Bans

The film does not contain any racist language or remarks, but because the film contains stereotyped portrayals of African-Americans, it is no longer available in any type of authorized release and is among the group of controversial cartoons known to animation buffs as the Censored Eleven.

External links

• Goldilocks and the Jivin' Bears at IMDb
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• The short film Goldilocks and the Jivin Bears is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.
• Goldilocks and the Jivin' Bears on the Internet Archive