Monday 30 December 2019

Goona!

Walter Lantz’s 1933 cartoon King Klunk climaxed just like the feature King Kong did—the giant beast fell from a skyscraper to the pavement.

In the Lantz version, the title character caught fire and turned into one of those skeletons so popular in early 1930s cartoons.



The big gorilla spent portions of the cartoon falling in love, thanks to arrows from what looks like an insect version of Cupid yelling “Goona!” at him. At the end, the taunting Cupid is smashed by the living skeleton, which flies into pieces. As the camera closes in, Cupid lifts up the skull and looks bewildered. Fortunately, our readers know more than I do. See their explanation in the comments.



Frankly, I’m bewildered by the “goona” business.

Evidently this cartoon was too much for the British Board of Film Censors. Motion Picture Herald reported on March 3, 1934:
'Pears they took objection to one of the Warner cartoon shorts. [sic] "King Klunk" it is called and it burlesques "King Kong." So they gave it an "Adults only" certificate and listed it as a "horrific" film, meaning that exhibitors would have to hang a notice on the theatre front to let patrons know it was a horror!
Manny Moreno, Tex Hastings, Les Kline, Ernie Smythe and Fred Kopietz are the credited artists, with Jimmy Dietrich littering the score with Arkansas Traveler.

5 comments:

  1. 'Goona Goona' apparently comes the name of a 1932 film (An Authentic Melodrama of the Island of Bali) involving a aphrodisiac.

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  2. "King Klunk" caused a black lady in the audience to cry, at a show I put on many years ago, thinking that the little African that says "Goona Goona" was some kind of horrible racist device. Of course I couldn't explain to her that the phrase was a gag reference to a documentary on Bali from 1932! With all due respect, I find it just a bit ignorant when people get all stirred up about so-called racism in 70 and 80 year old cartoons. Society has changed since then and the perception of ethnic humor has changed. Also cartoons have the unfair burden of being perceived as for the tiny tots, and we must shield the little ones from the horrible mistakes of the past, musn't we?

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    Replies
    1. It seems "moral guardians" have been trying to shame people for decades, but the target and reasons change with each generation.

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  3. Agreed. I raised my sons on the classic cartoons of that era. Also film. They grew up just fine. Both have never made fun of, or laughed at anyone because of their race. They laughed at gag. It was my job/resposibility to parent my sons and explain things to them when they were young. Not leave that task to a group or organization.

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  4. Hunh. A "Warner" cartoon short? Other than an error, the only thing I can think of is somehow WB was distributing this in England, which seems a long-shot.

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