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Sunday, March 8, 2009

"Autograph Hound" (1939) [Series] - Stepin Fetchit Pencil

A number of years ago, the Smithsonian hosted an exhibit of art associated with celebrities. Naturally, there were items representing the field of animation. This is one of the items that was deleted from the exhibit after it was deemed "politically incorrect." I thought the piece was interesting, but the fact that it was "politically incorrect" made it impossible for me to pass it up! This was one of Stepin Fetchit's most famous poses.

As I recall, Stepin Fetchit was one of the first Black millionaires in America. After his death, he became a very controversial figure in the civil rights movement. Finally, his contribution was honored by the NAACP. There is a good overview at Wikipedia.

A nice example showing how other cels and the background would register with this cel

Stepin Fetchit Pencil


----- DATABASE NOTES -----

From "Autograph Hound" (1939). Stepin Fetchit, down on his knees and scratching his head. This is where he is rolling dice. This was one of the items that was deleted from Smithsonian exhibit because of the gambling aspect of the sequence. Notes: "11"; "SW"; "TR. BAL. #9A" On back = "2" A Donald Duck film directed by Jack King. [Item: 12"W x 10"H] SeqID-0195 7/27/2005

4 comments:

  1. |I have to say that I am in constant awe of your collection. You need a museum to display all of this brilliant art. Your level of appreciation is enormously high and wonderful to see. I wonder how many of the newer generation of animator have such honest respect for the past.

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  2. What a terrific drawing! What's up with the Smithsonian? Next thing you know someone will decide to remove Huckleberry Finn from library shelves.

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  3. Michael -

    - Thank you for the comment!

    - I certainly can't contribute to the body of critical review and general knowledge the way as you and a number of other outstanding blogs. I've been in the fortunate position of being able to acquire some of these pieces and have often thought of museum. However, the internet provides a much more effective, travel independent method of sharing access and without the overhead!

    Bob

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  4. Paul --

    Remove Huck Finn? You mean like "Song of the South?"

    bob

    ReplyDelete