Cannibal Capers

Cannibal Capers was an interesting cartoon from a historical perspective, but over time not everybody will be enthused by it I don't think. The basic story is rather simplistic, the characters are stereotypical and the character features are outlandishly over-sized(though I imagine this was purposeful perhaps). However the rest of the animation is good with striking black and white and fluid backgrounds, and the music is outstanding, the string orchestration is especially rousing. The pace is crisp, and the action forming the cartoon is not really hilarious but skips along nicely with some niftily choreographed dancing.

In conclusion, Cannibal Capers is not for everybody and I have seen better and funnier Silly Symphonies but for a cartoon of that time it is an interesting look. 6/10 Bethany Cox

This is a weird and humorless Silly Symphony featuring a bunch of dancing cannibals, who were about to cook one of its own, but then was interrupted by a lion.

An unorthodox and weird, plotless cartoon here that may not be suitable for all children. Not entertaining and not amusing.

Grade D--

The sort of line-drawing animation that is used in this Silly Symphony about cannibals in Africa is interesting.... a sort of animated line drawing, eked out a bit -- arms and legs thin lines, hands and feet big. But the modern viewer will be offended. The extreme stereotype of Blacks will offend the modern viewer, just as, doubtless, some of the modern images we hold to be normative will offend people three quarters of a century hence .... or indeed, now. All comedy, after all, is transgressive behavior at some level, but the line between amusingly transgressive and offensively so depends on viewpoint. Consider the Jew of Malta, Shylock and Fagin or the comedy act of Stepin Fetchitt. One of his stage acts was to sit in a chair and read a paper while one of his comedy recordings was playing.

But this one is offensive to the modern viewer and should be viewed purely as a product of its time. And should be watched and commented on if only to keep the reality that 'Uncle Walt' was an artificial construct, just as much as his cartoons.

Before you can get to see "Cannibal Capers" and a few other 'special' cartoons on the "Walt Disney Treasures: More Silly Symphonies" DVD set, you are forced to watch an introduction by Leonard Maltin. He talks about the times in which they were made and how politically incorrect the films are. I am not against this, but hate how once you view it, you must ALWAYS view Maltin's speech again if you come back to any of the offensive cartoons. The same thing happens in some of the other Treasures DVDS--such as the second Donald Duck set.

When you see "Cannibal Capers", it's immediately clear why the cartoon was considered bad. The characters are all big-lipped Ubangis--and very stereotypical ones. My wife, oddly, thought they were ducks--though she might not have thought that if she'd seen the title first.

Yes, this one is offensive but it's also charming if you can totally divorce yourself from what you are seeing (huh?!).

An interesting note from the audio commentary for this cartoon; as Leonard Maltin states, the cartoon is not so much of a racist joke again African natives, but perhaps a caricature of the Hollywood caricature of African natives.

Any number of movies and shorts from that time showed those from Africa as vicious savages in extreme forms. While offensive today, audiences at that time would have had a good laugh on such an obvious spoof.

All in all, remember that all of the studios at that time used these same gags and stereotypes. Disney's use of them is just more obvious since the studio is one of the few major long-term companies from this era that we can use as a reference.