. . . Jane Fonda kicked back on their Atlanta Verandah with six pitchers of mint juleps and made a random selection of 11 Looney Tunes to be consigned to the Fire within the 13th Circle of Hell, no evidence has turned up to date that any notes were taken as to any REASON why this "Turner's Dozen" were Damned For All Time, rather than scores of other potentially Equal Opportunity offenders. As was the case with the "Rebellion" of Ted's ancestor Nat, who attacked an apparently random group of victims, there may have been little Rhyme or Reason to Ted's Choice. (This Eenie-Meeni-Ness may run in the family, like hemophilia sometimes does). Assuming that Ted and Jane actually fast-forwarded through what they forbade everyone else to see (as opposed to X-Ing out shorts based on their titles alone--after all, "Hallelujah" is pretty tough to spell, ain't it, Ted?), it seems most likely this booze-addled pair Red-Lined HITTIN' THE TRAIL when they noticed that the male pig loses his shorts about 5:56 into this cartoon as he jumps into the Mississippi River to save Uncle Tom. Looney Tunes are no place for Pig's Feat, eh, Ted?

Overall, I think this cartoon wasn't for me. I understand why it is banned, but that's not going to change my rating. The cartoon just isn't funny. It's just dancing with skeletons, which was okay, but then A save of Uncle Tom is going to be pointless if it is in the protagonists' favor. If there was more to it like multiple attempts to save, then it would more entertaining, but this one doesn't cut it for me.The first few Looney Tunes were not amusing. Occasionally, there will be a laugh or two, but that's it.

Hittin' the Trail for Hallelujah Land (1931) ** 1/2 (out of 4)STEAMBOAT WILLIE and THE SKELETON DANCE are certainly "borrowed" from in this Warner short that is best remembered today for being part of the "Censored 11" due to the racial content. In the film, Piggy and Fluffy are on a riverboat trying to escape some bad guy while Uncle Tom runs into some skeletons. While this cartoon probably would have been forgotten had it not been for the controversy, there's still some mildly entertaining things to be found here. In fact, I'd say out of all the "racial" cartoons that have been banned, this one here is probably the least offensive as there's really no blackface jokes or anything to that nature and in fact, if you didn't know about the history before hand I doubt you'd see anything overly offensive. With that said, it's rather amazing that Disney didn't come after this short because it does rip off two of their most beloved early animated films. As it stands, this one here is mildly entertaining thanks in large part to the nice animation and I also thought the pacing and flow were quite good. There really weren't any laughs, which is what kept it from being rated even higher.

Just saw this, one of Warner Bros. infamous "Censored 11" that will probably never be on regular television again and will probably be only available on public domain tapes or DVDs from bargain basement companies or the internet, on Thad's Animation Blog. It begins with a sequence inspired by Steamboat Willie with whistles and dancing, continues with another one with an "Uncle Tom" character at a graveyard with skeletons dancing possibly inspired by Skeleton Dance, and ends back at that same steamboat with the "Tom" character getting his butt nicked by a giant saw! Yikes! That last scene, along with a couple of characters laughing at it, disturbed me more than any "stereotyping" in here that might be offensive to some viewers today. Other than that, this was a pretty entertaining musical cartoon made by Hugh Harmon and Rudolf Ising long after leaving Walt Disney before he created his famous mouse.