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{{Infobox Shorts wTabs
{{Infobox_Shorts
 
 
|name = The Isle of Pingo Pongo
 
|name = The Isle of Pingo Pongo
|image = The Isle of Pingo Pongo.jpg
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|image = <tabber>
  +
|-|Original=[[File:The Isle of Pingo Pongo.jpg|274px]]
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|-|Reissue=[[File:Pingo1.jpg|274px]]
  +
</tabber>
 
|Director = [[Tex Avery|Fred Avery]]
 
|Director = [[Tex Avery|Fred Avery]]
 
|producer = [[Leon Schlesinger]]
 
|producer = [[Leon Schlesinger]]
 
|airdate = May 28, 1938
 
|airdate = May 28, 1938
 
|series = [[Merrie Melodies]]
 
|series = [[Merrie Melodies]]
|Voice = [[Mel Blanc]]<br>[[Tex Avery]]<br>[[Gil Warren]]<br>[[The Sing Band]]
+
|Voice = [[Mel Blanc]]<br>[[Tex Avery]]<br>[[Gil Warren]]<br>[[The Basin Street Boys]]<br>[[The Sons of the Pioneers]]
  +
|Starring = [[Egghead]]
|Starring = [[Narrator]]<br>[[Egghead]]<br>Zulu Natives<br>Mockingbird<br>Canary<br>Elephant<br>Gazelles<br>Polar Bear<br>Vacationing Eskimo
 
 
|previous = [[Injun Trouble (1938 film)|Injun Trouble]]
 
|previous = [[Injun Trouble (1938 film)|Injun Trouble]]
 
|next = [[Porky the Fireman]]
 
|next = [[Porky the Fireman]]
 
|Writer = [[George Manuell|Geo Manuell]]
 
|Writer = [[George Manuell|Geo Manuell]]
 
|Animators = [[Irven Spence]]<br>[[Virgil Ross]] (uncredited)
 
|Animators = [[Irven Spence]]<br>[[Virgil Ross]] (uncredited)
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|video = [[File:The Isle of Pingo-Pongo (1938) - with original titles|thumb|center|280 px]]
|Layout-artist = TBA
 
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[[File:1938-05-28 The Isle Of Pingo Pongo (MM (Egghead))|thumb|center|280px]]
|Background-artist = TBA
 
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[[File:Banned Cartoon - The Isle Of Pingo Pongo|thumb|center|280px]]
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[[File:The Isle of Pingo Pongo (1938)|thumb|center|280px]]
 
|Layout-artist =
 
|Background-artist =
 
|Sound effects = [[Treg Brown]]
 
|Sound effects = [[Treg Brown]]
 
|Musician = [[Carl W. Stalling]]
 
|Musician = [[Carl W. Stalling]]
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}}'''The Isle of Pingo Pongo''' is a [[1938]] ''[[Merrie Melodies]]'' short directed by [[Tex Avery]].
|Video = www.dailymotion.com/video/x3qqpyp
 
}}
 
   
  +
== Plot ==
[[File:Pingo1.jpg|thumb|300px|Blue-Ribbon Re-Issue Titles]][[File:Pingo 2.jpg|thumb|300px|right]]
 
 
A cruise ship's trip from New York starts departing to the island of Pingo-Pongo, presumably located in the South Seas. The ship sails past the Statue of Liberty, who acts as a traffic cop, past the “Canary Islands” and “Sandwich Islands,” to the remote island. The inhabitants are mostly tall, black, and have big feet and lips. They at first play drums, then break into a jazz beat, still described as a “primitive savage rhythm.”
   
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A running gag including Egghead runs a few times.
[[File:46.jpg|thumb|Lobby Card]]
 
   
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== Home Video ==
'''The Isle of Pingo Pongo''' is a 1938 [[Warner Bros.]] cartoon directed by [[Tex Avery]]. It is the first of Avery's spoofs of travelogues. The cartoon was banned from TV syndication in 1968 by United Artists (the owners at the time) for racist depictions of black people and is one of the "[[Censored Eleven]]". UA believed that no amount of editing could make it allowed to be distributed on United States television.
 
  +
None, but bootleg VHS and DVD sets have this cartoon, obviously unrestored and in low pitch, as no such restored print has ever been released on home video.
   
  +
== Notes ==
This is the final Merrie Melodies cartoon to end with RELEASED BY WARNER BROS. PRODUCTIONS CORP and the last cartoon to have the lowercase f in "That's all Folks!".
 
  +
* This is the first cartoon to use the name [[Elmer Fudd]], although it only uses "Elmer" on the lobby card. The first cartoon to use the name in the actual short subject is "[[A Feud There Was]]".
  +
* The short was banned from syndication in the United States by [[United Artists]] in 1968. Ten other Warner Bros. shorts were also banned, dubbing the banned collection, the [[Censored Eleven]]. This ban has been upheld by the cartoon's successive owners (Ted Turner) and is unlikely to be released on home video (except for bootleg VHS and DVDs, see above), however, as ''The New York Times'' reports<ref>Cartoons of a Racist Past Lurk on YouTube http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/28/business/media/28cartoon.html</ref>, unauthorized copies are relatively easy to find.
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* Despite the reissue, a copy with the original titles and the first line is known to exist.<ref><-dead link->https://my.mail.ru/inbox/mail.personal/video/82/7505.html</-dead link-></ref>
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:*The original credits show up while the ''Merrie Melodies'' theme is playing. Thus, there is no original title cue to go along with the titles. After the cue ends, the video skips to where the Blue Ribbon reissue started, although the first sentence that the narrator says is missing in the reissue.<ref>"The Isle Of Pingo Pongo" (1938) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h98ImdTlQh4</ref>
  +
* The short's reissue print can be easily found on video streaming sites of varying quality.
 
* Additionally, the short was recently viewed with seven films part of the Censored Eleven at the TCM Film Festival in Hollywood on April 24, 2010, as part of a classic film series, presented by Donald Bogle. It is unknown if the original titles have been restored for the future DVD release. The release has yet to come, but Jerry Beck has said that transfers are done with a few extra banned films owned by [[WarnerMedia]]. However, around August 2016, Jerry Beck said that [[Warner Bros.]] was not going to release their Censored 11 DVD until their DVD market goes up in sales again.<ref>email, I can post it if you like</ref>
   
==Plot==
+
== Gallery ==
  +
<gallery>
The short follows a cruise ship’s trip from New York to the island, presumably located in the South Seas. The ship sails past the Statue of Liberty, who acts as a traffic cop, past the “Canary Islands” and “Sandwich Islands,” and the overall story was less plausible than some of Tex Avery's other cartoons.<ref>Barrier, Michael. Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in Its Golden Age. Oxford University Press, 2003. page 343</ref>
 
  +
Pingo 2.jpg
  +
Osle-pingo-pongo-lobby600.jpg|Lobby Card
  +
</gallery>
   
 
== References ==
The cartoon revolves around themes of jazz and primitivism, and is set on a remote island. The central character is an early version of [[Elmer Fudd]] known as Egghead, and most of the cartoon consists of travelogue-type narration and blackout gags, many including Egghead. The inhabitants of Pingo-Pongo are mostly tall, black, and have big feet and lips. Like other cartoons at this time, the native inhabitants resemble animals and reflect stereotypes of the time. The natives are at first playing drums, then break into a jazz beat, still described as a “primitive savage rhythm,” which leads the audience to connect the savage jungle to modern jazz music. <ref>{{cite book|title=Tunes for 'toons: Music and the Hollywood Cartoon|last=Goldmark|first=Daniel|publisher=University of California Press|year=2005|isbn=0520236173|pages=[http://books.google.com/books?id=6a1ZsCJNvwEC&pg=PA91 91-92]}}</ref>
 
 
<references/>
   
 
== External Links ==
This is one of Avery's first travelogues and Egghead's running gag where he says, "Now Boss?", but the narrator keeps saying not now, until the sun didn't go down. Egghead then shot the sun and the film ended.
 
 
* {{imdb title|0030280|The Isle of Pingo Pongo}}
   
==Bans==
 
The ban has been upheld by the cartoon's successive owners and is unlikely to be released on home video, however, as ''The New York Times'' [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/28/business/media/28cartoon.html] reports, unauthorized copies are relatively easy to find. The cartoon was reissued as a Blue Ribbon Classic, however, the original titles are known to exist. There is the original titles recreation on YouTube, with the title card showing up during the MM song playing, then forwarding to where the blue ribbon started.
 
   
  +
{{DEFAULTSORT:Isle of Pingo Pongo, The}}
The short in its 1944 reissue can be easily found on DailyMotion. There are 2 copies, 1 in good condition, the other is a poor bootleg copy. Additionally, the short was recently viewed with 7 films part of the Censored Eleven at the TCM Film Festival in Hollywood on April 24, 2010 as part of a classic film series, presented by Donald Bogle. It is unknown if the original titles have been restored for the future DVD release. The release has yet to come, but Jerry Beck said transfers are done with a few extra banned films owned by WB, they just have to release it soon.
 
 
==References==
 
<references />
 
 
==External links==
 
* {{imdb title|0030280|The Isle of Pingo Pongo}}
 
 
[[Category:Merrie Melodies Shorts]]
 
[[Category:Merrie Melodies Shorts]]
 
[[Category:Censored Eleven]]
 
[[Category:Censored Eleven]]
 
[[Category:Cartoons directed by Tex Avery]]
 
[[Category:Cartoons directed by Tex Avery]]
 
[[Category:Egghead Cartoons]]
 
[[Category:Egghead Cartoons]]
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[[Category:Spot Gag Cartoons]]
 
[[Category:Shorts]]
 
[[Category:Shorts]]
 
[[Category:Featured Media]]
 
[[Category:Featured Media]]
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[[Category:Cartoons written by George Manuell]]
 
[[Category:Cartoons written by George Manuell]]
 
[[Category:Cartoons animated by Irven Spence]]
 
[[Category:Cartoons animated by Irven Spence]]
[[Category:Cartoons animated by Virgil Ross]]
 
 
[[Category:Cartoons with music by Carl W. Stalling]]
 
[[Category:Cartoons with music by Carl W. Stalling]]
 
[[Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown]]
 
[[Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown]]
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[[Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc]]
 
[[Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc]]
 
[[Category:Cartoons produced by Leon Schlesinger]]
 
[[Category:Cartoons produced by Leon Schlesinger]]
 
[[Category:Cartoons in a.a.p. package]]
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[[Category:Re-released cartoons whose original titles are known to exist]]

Revision as of 08:38, 25 November 2019

Template:Infobox Shorts wTabsThe Isle of Pingo Pongo is a 1938 Merrie Melodies short directed by Tex Avery.

Plot

A cruise ship's trip from New York starts departing to the island of Pingo-Pongo, presumably located in the South Seas. The ship sails past the Statue of Liberty, who acts as a traffic cop, past the “Canary Islands” and “Sandwich Islands,” to the remote island. The inhabitants are mostly tall, black, and have big feet and lips. They at first play drums, then break into a jazz beat, still described as a “primitive savage rhythm.”

A running gag including Egghead runs a few times.

Home Video

None, but bootleg VHS and DVD sets have this cartoon, obviously unrestored and in low pitch, as no such restored print has ever been released on home video.

Notes

  • This is the first cartoon to use the name Elmer Fudd, although it only uses "Elmer" on the lobby card. The first cartoon to use the name in the actual short subject is "A Feud There Was".
  • The short was banned from syndication in the United States by United Artists in 1968. Ten other Warner Bros. shorts were also banned, dubbing the banned collection, the Censored Eleven. This ban has been upheld by the cartoon's successive owners (Ted Turner) and is unlikely to be released on home video (except for bootleg VHS and DVDs, see above), however, as The New York Times reports[1], unauthorized copies are relatively easy to find.
  • Despite the reissue, a copy with the original titles and the first line is known to exist.[2]
  • The original credits show up while the Merrie Melodies theme is playing. Thus, there is no original title cue to go along with the titles. After the cue ends, the video skips to where the Blue Ribbon reissue started, although the first sentence that the narrator says is missing in the reissue.[3]
  • The short's reissue print can be easily found on video streaming sites of varying quality.
  • Additionally, the short was recently viewed with seven films part of the Censored Eleven at the TCM Film Festival in Hollywood on April 24, 2010, as part of a classic film series, presented by Donald Bogle. It is unknown if the original titles have been restored for the future DVD release. The release has yet to come, but Jerry Beck has said that transfers are done with a few extra banned films owned by WarnerMedia. However, around August 2016, Jerry Beck said that Warner Bros. was not going to release their Censored 11 DVD until their DVD market goes up in sales again.[4]

Gallery

References

  1. Cartoons of a Racist Past Lurk on YouTube http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/28/business/media/28cartoon.html
  2. <-dead link->https://my.mail.ru/inbox/mail.personal/video/82/7505.html</-dead link->
  3. "The Isle Of Pingo Pongo" (1938) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h98ImdTlQh4
  4. email, I can post it if you like

External Links