Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs Review

Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs is a 1943 animated short film from the Merry Melodies series. It is a phenomenal short.

This is one of the most controversial of all Merry Melodies mainly because it depicts black people with the usual large lips and stereotypical accents. But honestly, other than that, the film is otherwise very respectful toward their culture and it depicts their jazz positively. It definitely does not deserve to be forbidden these days, especially when it’s so damn good. Yes, it takes its time to get there owing to a slower start, but when it does, it’s a blast to watch.

The protagonist is quite memorable and of course the dwarfs are so amusing. The film transports the tale of Snow White to the 20th century and the characters are all black which was an admirably fresh and unique choice that paid off significantly. It’s an original parody which is superbly animated and with phenomenal music too. But the highlight is its great humor with a lot of memorable sequences such as that truly hilarious ending where it turns out Coal does not care for prince, but actually finds Dopey hot. So funny.

Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs is a prime example of a film that is overly harshly judged. It needs to be respected more for its amusing characters, an original parody approach and fantastic humor.