John Henry and the Inky-Poo (1946)
John Henry and the Inky-Poo Review
John Henry and the Inky-Poo is a 1946 animated short film directed by George Pal. It’s pretty good.
There is only a five-minute version of this film to be found on the Internet, so I did not get to see two minutes of it. Still, judging by the majority that I did get to see, this was a very interesting short, especially for its time, as it features a positive depiction of black people for once.
The movie deals with this folklore tale of a very strong black man who gets to work on the railroad. The story is fun, though a bit more context for it could have been included. I loved the stop-motion animation with the character designs not being great, but the imagery is excellent. I also found the music a whole lot of fun.
John Henry and the Inky-Poo is a different kind of Oscar nominee that benefits from a positive depiction of black people and strong animation.
