Goldilocks and the Jivin' Bears

Goldilocks and the Jivin' Bears is a 1944 Merrie Melodies short directed by I. Freleng.

Title[]

The title, as well as the cartoon, is a play on the English fairy tale Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

Plot[]

The Three Bears, a jazz trio, are enjoying a hot jam session, when their instruments catch fire. After consulting a storybook, they find that they must go out for a walk to let the instruments cool off.

Across the street (in a house with a neon sign saying "GRANMA'S"), the Big Bad Wolf is expecting Red Riding Hood's arrival. Instead, he receives a telegram that says Red Riding Hood will be late because she is "working at Lockheed as a rivetater." The frustrated wolf looks out the window and sees an attractive young Goldilocks entering the Three Bears' house. Because there is a "food shortage" going on, the wolf decides to pursue Goldilocks.

Inside the Three Bears' house, Goldilocks tries all the beds and lies down in the best one, only to find the wolf in bed with her. The wolf chases Goldilocks through the house until the Three Bears return. Finding Goldilocks and the wolf struggling in the living room, they shout "Jitterbugs!" and begin playing a dance tune. The wolf and Goldilocks dance the jitterbug until the wolf is exhausted and flees to Grandma's house.

Red Riding Hood returns to find the wolf in Grandma's bed, but the wolf is too tired to eat her. The Three Bears rush in, shout "Dere's dat jitterbug!" and resume playing. This causes Grandma to burst out of a cupboard and jitterbug with the wolf, who turns to the audience and says, in a Jimmy Durante voice, "Everybody wants to get into the act!"

Caricatures[]

• Stepin Fetchit
• Lena Horne - Goldilocks
• Eddie "Rochester" Anderson - "That's what he said. That's what the man said, He said that!"
• Jimmy Durante - "Everybody wants to get into the act!"

Notes[]

• Because the short contains stereotyped portrayals of African-Americans, it is no longer available in any type of authorized release and is among the group of controversial cartoons known to animation buffs as the Censored Eleven.
• The short subject's premise combines elements of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" and "Little Red Riding Hood". All of the characters are drawn in blackface style.
  • The combination of both fairy tales is similar to the previous Tex Avery short "The Bear's Tale".
• With the Censored Eleven restoration that has yet to be released, it does not survive with its original titles, therefore they are assumed to be lost. It is the only cartoon in the Censored Eleven that does not survive with its original titles.
• This is also the only cartoon in the Censored Eleven not to be produced by Leon Schlesinger.
• This is the first Warner Bros. short to be produced by Eddie Selzer, as Leon Schlesinger sold the studio to Warner Bros. However, unlike Schlesinger, Selzer did not want to receive credit, hence the credit was changed to "PRODUCED BY WARNER BROS. CARTOONS Inc." Prior to the sale of the studio, Warner Bros. subcontracted Schlesinger's company to produce cartoons for them. Prints of cartoons up to "The Old Grey Hare" will have still have the byline "WARNER BROS." before adding the legend "PICTURES INC." under it starting with "Stage Door Cartoon".
• This cartoon was shown in theatres with Janie during its original release.
• While there are three bears in this short, they are not to be confused with Chuck Jones' Three Bears characters.

Gallery[]

Lobby card

Model sheet

References[]