48. The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives (1933)

Release date: January 7th, 1933

Series: Merrie Melodies

Director: Rudolf Ising

Starring: The King's Men (Chorus), The Rhythmettes (Chorus)

The first cartoon of a monumental year for Looney Tunes! This would be the last year all the Merrie Melodies would be in black and white, Bosko would make an exit and Buddy would make his debut, Friz Freleng gets his first directorial credit (albeit co-director, but still)... lots of stuff! Here we have The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives, a Christmas piece airing nearly 2 weeks after Christmas. I suppose they were behind schedule? Or just a strange executive decision. Regardless, a little orphan boy gets to see the wonders of Santa’s toy shop.

It’s Christmas Eve. We open to a shot of some church bells ringing, and a beautiful church in the night, an unseen choir singing silent night. A little boy trudges through the snow, sniffling.

The orphan passes by a house and decides to take a closer look. Inside, the children are warm and jolly, holding hands while dancing around the Christmas tree. Like any freezing child in the snow, he wishes he could participate, and shakes his head glumly. A gust of wind sends him hurtling into a shed, knocking a pile of snow on top of him.

Finally, he trudges to a worn down shack and enters—his home. There’s a single stocking hung by the fireplace, and in a glimmer of hope he rushes over to see if it’s filled: nothing. He turns towards a chair and begins to cry when the sound of sleigh bells drown out his sniffles.

Excitedly, he darts to the window, and sure enough the big man in the suit opens the door and sings the titular “The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives." This whole first half of the cartoon is very cute! Rudolf Ising was definitely aiming for the pathos, and he got it. I love that first shot of the church with the light reflecting off the snow, and how the boy slows pops his way into frame, another shot focusing exclusively on the boy. His pain is believable, as is his happiness when Santa arrives. You want to cheer for him and want good things to happen to him.

Santa tells him (through song) that the boy has been good, and his wish to go to Santa’s workshop (or Santy’s shanty) will be granted. The boy wastes no time hopping onto the back of his sleigh, and Santa takes off.

Because of his unsafe position perched on the back, the boy flies off as Santa continues on ahead. Hurriedly he rushes to meet Santa, who scoops him up in his lap. I love that little detail of the boy falling off, good way to get some laughs and “let down” your audience. This little boy is going to see Santa’s workshop! Here they go! Or, maybe not.

Arriving at Santa’s workshop, they enter and are greeted warmly by a crowd of toys. The orphan investigates the toys available, pressing a bulb attached to a toy kangaroo that causes a joey to bark.

I swear it feels like Harman and Ising need blackface like their lives depend on it. I know it’s about historical context, but it translates horribly and uncomfortably today. There’s a toy with some black caricatures in a jazz band (labeled Sambo Jazz Band.... yeah. Not good), and a little dolly crying “Mama”. The doll topples over into a bucket of ash, and, predictably, is in blackface, now crying “Mammy” where she’s reunited with her mother (also a black caricature). Afterwards, there’s a dance sequence (reused from Red-headed Baby), with two dolls that look like Bosko and Honey. The gags don’t take up too much of the cartoon, it’s not a predominant factor, but still present enough to constitute some commentary on them.

The dolls sing a catchy rendition of “The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives”, receiving raucous applause and confetti. The doll from Red-headed Baby snags a pair of maracas, and the Bosko and Honey facsimiles dance.

Another doll is blowing up a balloon. She sucks the helium in and turns into a voluptuous caricature of singer Kate Smith. She sings “Shine On, Harvest Moon” while two Scottie dogs ask “Are ya listenin’?” Wow, two Tony Wons references in a row! I do like the caricature of Kate Smith. I always enjoy seeing Harman and Ising deviate from their usual standard “human” style.

A toy soldier is happily bouncing on a tree bough, when a lot candle falls to the ground and ignites the tree in flames. I’d like to see a version of this cartoon done in the '50s with those aluminum trees, that’d REALLY be a fire hazard! This tree doesn’t even have any tinsel on it. Not enough of a threat! 

Any flame is a threat enough, obviously. Toys riding on a fire truck try to put out the blaze, but nothing’s helping.

Never fear—the cute little orphan boy is here with a hose attached to some bagpipes! He squeezes the bag, prompting a steady stream of water to flow out the pipes, putting the fire at bay. The toys cheer their new hero, who has found a home at last. Iris out.

Normally, I prefer the second half of these cartoons, since that’s when the pace picks up. However, I actually like the first half more for this one! It’s very sentimental and cute, and the boy is cute and likable. The music was catchy and there were some interesting visuals, but the staging of the first half was too good. I also think the slew of blackface gags (which, there weren’t too many, but a blackface gag is already too much. I mean in comparison to other cartoons we’ll be seeing) dampened my enjoyment of the second half. Our next Merrie Melody, One Step Ahead of My Shadow, is (to quote Daffy) slopping over with Chinese stereotypes... so, needless to say, as entertaining as Harman and Ising were, and their cartoons certainly have been getting better, I’ll be relieved when they move on and not every cartoon one after the other has some sort of racist stereotyping or caricatures. Nevertheless, cute cartoon worthy of a watch, but heed caution at the blackface gags towards the middle.

Link!