Mickey's Mellerdrammer was one of many theatrical versions of Uncle Tom's Cabin to appear in the first half of the twentieth century. Despite it's success at the time, and it's ties to one of America's most enduring and popular characters, it is virtually unknown today.Mickey Mouse was one of America's biggest stars in 1933. The previous year Disney had been awarded a special Oscar for Mickey Mouse and by mid 1933 he would star in his 56th short film, Mickey's Mellerdrammer. At this point the Mickey Mouse short films were achieving top billing, surpassing many of the feature films they were paired with. Realizing the popularity of their rodent star, Disney had begun casting a wide net for plot ideas, even including caricatures of a dozen Hollywood stars in another 1933 Mickey short.
It would be interesting if the release of the Disney version of Uncle Tom's Cabin had some sort of hidden agenda, a message they were trying to push or a great moral purpose. The truth is Disney needed material for their most visible character, and adapting the era's most popular stage production, not only gave them a great script to start from, but guaranteed the audience would be familiar with the plot.
Mickey's Mellerdrammer isn't very faithful to either the book, or the stage production, but it does contain numerous elements borrowed from the original story. Using the exaggerated emotions that typified a melodrama, and the stereotypical caricatures of an Uncle Tom minstrel show, Disney did their best to duplicate the stage production, in the eight minute timeframe allowed by the short film.
The story begins with an introduction of the characters. We see both Clarabelle Cow and Mickey in their dressing room, applying blackface. Mickey glances in the mirror after his transformation and proclaims "Mammy," mimicking the famous Al Jolson song. Interestingly enough, that same gag is used over and over again in Disney shorts of this era. Anytime a character is put in blackface, you can be assured it will be followed with a "Mammy!"
The scene shifts to center stage where Mickey representing Topsy (in blackface), and Minnie playing Little Eva, dance across the stage singing Dixie, while a chorus of very stereotypical characters, representing slaves, sing in the background.
At this point it is apparent why you probably have never seen this cartoon. This was an era marked by very offensive stereotypes, and they are prominent in this short eight minute film. It's hard to believe today, but these stereotypes were big applause generators seventy-five years ago, and they appealed to a lot of the people attending these films.
Following the dance number, we meet Simon Legree, who appears at Tom's Cabin to claim his slave. Note the jeers for Simon Legree and Cheers for Tom. Disney is making sure we understand who's the villain in the show.
When Tom refuses to go with him, Simon proclaims "I owns ya, body and soul." Remaining consistent with the character as portrayed in the book, Tom/Mickey replies, "You may own this body, but my soul belongs to the lord."
You'll notice that the three major scenes in the film are in a different order than they appear in the book. Though Disney borrowed the characters and plot, they were much more interested in them for their gag value, than remaining faithful to the story.This helps to explain why the final scene is Eliza's escape over the ice. The chase shifts quickly from one of suspense, to sheer slapstick as the hounds (in costume), sent to track Eliza down, are foiled by a cat who refuses to wear the dog suit. The entire production disintegrates into chaos just before the final curtain falls.
Though Mickey's Mellerdrammer was one of the many media attempts to cash in on the popularity of Uncle Tom's Cabin, it also generated it's own set of merchandise. During 1933 the scenes from the film were printed on the back of Post Cereal Boxes, along with cutouts of the film's characters. You can view these characters at the Uncle Tom and American Culture website. The link will take you directly to the advertising section. To view the cereal box comics, use the scroll bar on the advertising page and scroll down about three-quarters of a page, until you see Mickey as Topsy. You'll notice the advertising page makes no reference to the film the characters were taken from. I was able to contribute information on the short film to the website, but it has not been updated on the site as of this writing.Mickey's Mellerdrammer not only appealed to a young audience, but as with most short films from the major studios in the thirties and forties (Disney and Warner Brothers) the film was also aimed at an adult audience. This was considered good business by the animation studios, and was almost a necessity, since most cartoons were paired with "adult" films at the theater.
I digitized Mickey's Mellerdrammer, and posted the resulting video, to allow the class to view it in it's entirety.
The video is no longer available on my blog. If you would like to see it, you can find it on the DVD "Mickey Mouse in Black and White Volume 2."
I'm a longtime fan of Disney animation and I'd love feedback on what you think of the film.
Tom
Mickey's Mellerdrammer, ©1933, Walt Disney productions. All images and video are taken from "Walt Disney Treasures - Mickey Mouse in Black and White Volume 2," Released December 7, 2004 by Walt Disney Corporation.
