This is a notorious Looney Tunes cartoon from celebrated exponent Robert Clampett, one of a handful of 'outrageous' efforts from The Golden Age Of Animation which were subsequently banned. Of course, as can be gleaned immediately from its altered title, it's a modernized all-black retelling of the Snow White fairy-tale with rampant (but not really offensive) racist – and even sexual – attitudes that were prevalent during the wartime era. As ever with the classic Warners style of animation, the short moves at breakneck speed – throwing in a plethora of visual and verbal gags along the way, while being held firmly together by a constant and wholly agreeable jazz soundtrack (complete with half-sung and rhyming dialogue). All in all, however, given its reputation and prolonged suppression, I wouldn't count it among the best or even funniest shorts that Warners produced under the "Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies" banner.

This cartoon, Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs, has a unique place among the Warner "Censored 11" cartoons: This one is highly inventive and very entertaining! Oh, yeah, there's some unflattering stereotypes here like Prince Chawmin' having a couple of dice for front teeth and the Queen being an ugly Mammy character (who seems to speak with a male voice) so jealous of So White she intends to have her "blacked out" but otherwise, it's so full of the fast pace of gags typical of Bob Clampett that you can't help but laugh your behind off! And wait till you see Chawmin's face after constantly trying to bring So White back to life with his kisses! Or the Dopey-looking dwarf's energy that he gives when doing the same thing! There's also great use of jazz music that livens the short considerably. Perhaps the most interesting thing to point out here is that the storytelling Mammy in the beginning and end is Dorothy Dandridge's mom, Ruby, and So White is her older sister, Vivian. There's also a dated reference to killing Japs that I can excuse because of the wartime setting. So for all that, if you want to watch Warner Bros. cartoons at their wackiest as done by the highly creative Bob Clampett, I highly recommend Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs, stereotypes and all!

I do not watch cartoons normally, but I genuinely enjoyed this. The music and rhymes are quite clever. Everything fits together to make an impressive production. The story is different enough from Snow White to avoid feeling like a rip-off. The racial stereotyping is extensive. It shocked me in a way but, in another way, I thought that it was not all that different from Dave Chapelle shows or gangsta rap films. I wondered to myself, "What if I did not know that the maker of this film was White or Black?" It is very strange how the stereotypes in this film are still used today by mainstream Black comedians and entertainers. However, the slogan of the Murder Inc. firm is definitely racist against the Japanese.

And you'll love every second. I could comment at length about the excellent and fast director provided by the directors and animators, or the sound pattern and music that never lets up and is determined to not let a second of silence infect the pictures, but really, the reason this makes such a great cartoon is probably because there's no way it will ever get a DVD release today. Imagine every stereotype the Greatest Generation ever engaged in, and now set it to the music that same generation bopped out to before getting on the boat to go over there. And here's the thing: we have to laugh at 'Coal Black...' We have to laugh at it because the energy of piece never lets up. It starts out fast with quick music and dialog and keeps a beat- the pictures move in concert with the various ebbs and flows of the music. It's poetry in animated motion. And it's funny. The stereotypes are so silly and unrealistic that what gets the suits nervous make us laugh. We've got your Welfare Queen, your Dark Chocolate hottie, your Swingin' Playa, and your seven soul brothers. And an offer to kill Japs for free! This could only be misconstrued by the most humorless critic as insulting. They would have to so buried in their opinions and others' opinions that they would be prevented from seeing the beat and rhythm inside the cartoon's 7 minutes. You can't take it seriously. You can't take away a world view from it. All you can do, is laugh.