1939 film
Detouring America is a 1939 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Tex Avery.[1] The short was released on August 26, 1939.[2]
Plot
A tour of the United States, with recurring checks on the progress of the human fly climbing the Empire State Building. Also featured are jokes and gags on the Everglades, the Wyoming prairies, Alaska, a California prospector, Sioux Indians and a Jerry Colonna-esque (literal) Texas cow-puncher.
Home media
Censorship
- Two scenes are excised from the cartoon when aired on Cartoon Network and Boomerang United States television networks due to ethnic stereotyping against Native Americans and Inuit. They are:[3]
- The scene with a poor, black hitchhiker at the North Pole, who sings "Carry Me Back to Ol' Virginny". Then, an Eskimo sends him back by taking him all the way back to the Virginia state line.
- The scene with an Indian mother dealing with her dopey, oversized, adult son she's carrying on her back.
References
- ^ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 91. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
- ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 104–106. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
- ^ "The Censored Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies Guide: D".
