The Black Duck
1929
Comedy
Animation
Short
Synopsis
Okay, this is an entry in the "Aesop's Sound Fables" and is a version of the little-black-duck and the wolf-in-sheep's clothing fables about the sibling duck who was shunned because of his color, and not because of race---Aesop was not into revisionist racial-sightings. Perhaps those who see Race in this one overlooked the fact that the hero (who is a Mickey Mouse swipe) is 'black' and all of the cats are black (especially the one who is a dead-ringer swipe of 'Felix the Cat.) It is a tad-bit on the adult side, which was not unusual for cartoons made in the pre-code days of 1934. There is a duck-herder (a black mouse ) leading his flock, with a sheepherder's staff, to water. All the ducklings are white except the one who is black, and it is not unusual in the animal-and-barnyard kingdom to find various colors in the litters, broods and egg-hatching departments. The black-hero mouse finally gets all the ducks afloat in the lake and he takes a break. Up on the hill is a cat, wearing an eye-patch and named Butch, and he is pulling a little cage with a real-little black-mouse in it, for Butch, it turns out, is in the duck-napping racket. Cut to a saloon/jazz joint/cat-house (a couple of the ladies appear to have been around the friendly-for-pay course a few times) called the "Day & Night Club." That is because this gin-joint is open 24-7 and has nothing to do with light and dark. There is a whole lot of hot-piano playing (and one of the cats is playing a hot harp), dancing, b
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