A black man sneaks out of church and tries to steal a chicken, but gets a taste of hell when he's accidentally knocked unconscious.A black man sneaks out of church and tries to steal a chicken, but gets a taste of hell when he's accidentally knocked unconscious.A black man sneaks out of church and tries to steal a chicken, but gets a taste of hell when he's accidentally knocked unconscious.
Photos
Ben Carter
- Nicodemis
- (uncredited)
Clifford Holland
- Black Singers
- (uncredited)
Mantan Moreland
- Black Singers
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- Ben Hardaway(uncredited)
- Allen Rose
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaOne of the "Censored 11" banned from T.V. syndication by United Artists in 1968 (then the owners of the Looney Tunes film library) for alleged racism. Ted Turner continued the ban when he was hired and stated that these films will not be re-issued and will not be put on Home Video. These cartoons will probably never air on television again, and only non-Warner Bros. licensed public domain video tapes will probably ever have these cartoons on them.
- GoofsWhen the devil opens his ledger to look at Nicodemus' account, in close-up Nic's sins are listed on the right-hand page while the left page is blank. In long shot the left-hand page is filled with writing.
- Quotes
Demon Judge: [looks through the book of violations] Hmm, let's see know.
[goes through the violations]
Demon Judge: "Shootin' craps, stealin' chickens, missin' church, raisin' dickens." That's bad!
[sends Nicodemus to Hell]
- ConnectionsEdited into Uncensored Cartoons (1982)
- SoundtracksSunday Go to Meetin' Time
(uncredited)
Music by Vee Lawnhurst
Lyrics by Tot Seymour
Played during the opening credits (original version)
Sung by the man in his Sunday best
Featured review
"You've got to give the Devil his due."
Merrie Melodies short, directed by Friz Freleng, notable today for being one of the Censored Eleven. For those who don't know, the Censored Eleven are cartoons that were withheld from syndication because they were considered to be too offensive due to their use of racial stereotypes. This cartoon's story takes place in a small, sleepy town on a Sunday morning. Various black characters happily head to church, singing and dancing along the way. One of them, Nicodemus, sneaks away so that he may steal chickens. In the course of his chicken-stealing attempt, he manages to knock himself out and has a nightmare that he goes to Hell. When he awakens he rushes to church, seemingly having changed his ways.
I believe those involved with this short probably thought they were telling a colorful, harmless story with a nice moral lesson, using minstrel imagery and stereotypes that weren't considered offensive at the time (at least in the mainstream). Now, of course, this is something that's difficult for many of us watch and certainly difficult to enjoy in the way it was intended. These things can be hard to rate fairly but I'll try. The depictions of blacks are grotesque but, otherwise, the animation is solid for the time. It's hard to judge color and sound quality when this hasn't been released in any kind of cleaned-up condition that I'm aware of. Overall, racism aside, it's a forgettable short that was pretty typical of the kinds of cartoons that were being produced at the time by Leon Schlesinger. If you're an animation buff you'll want to see it and the other shorts on the Censored Eleven list. Most people won't want to see this and children certainly shouldn't be exposed to it until they are old enough to understand the context and history behind it. I should also add that, while watching this makes me uncomfortable, I'm against locking it away and pretending it doesn't exist. That doesn't help anything.
I believe those involved with this short probably thought they were telling a colorful, harmless story with a nice moral lesson, using minstrel imagery and stereotypes that weren't considered offensive at the time (at least in the mainstream). Now, of course, this is something that's difficult for many of us watch and certainly difficult to enjoy in the way it was intended. These things can be hard to rate fairly but I'll try. The depictions of blacks are grotesque but, otherwise, the animation is solid for the time. It's hard to judge color and sound quality when this hasn't been released in any kind of cleaned-up condition that I'm aware of. Overall, racism aside, it's a forgettable short that was pretty typical of the kinds of cartoons that were being produced at the time by Leon Schlesinger. If you're an animation buff you'll want to see it and the other shorts on the Censored Eleven list. Most people won't want to see this and children certainly shouldn't be exposed to it until they are old enough to understand the context and history behind it. I should also add that, while watching this makes me uncomfortable, I'm against locking it away and pretending it doesn't exist. That doesn't help anything.
helpful•10
- utgard14
- Jan 13, 2016
Details
- Runtime7 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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