CROSSOVER MADNESS

The 1944 Warners short GOLDILOCKS AND THE JIVIN' BEARS should win some award for the daffiest "fairy tale crossover" ever, and not only because all of the characters, both human and animal, are supposed to be Southern Black people seen through the cartoon lens of director Friz Freleng and writer Tedd Pierce. In contrast to many other "ethnic stereotype" cartoons of the time, this one just harps on one stereotypical trait: all the "Black-adjacent" characters-- and that's everyone in the short-- are crazy for jive music. 

We start with the Three Bears, who are all male players of jazz/jive. They play their music with such enthusiasm that their instruments catch fire, so they have to leave the house to let everything cool down. While they're gone, Goldilocks, a teenager in high heels, enters their house.

Next door is Grandma's House from "Little Red Riding Hood." The Big Bad Wolf, decked out in Grandma;s clothes, is hungrily waiting the arrival of Little Red, but he gets a telegram (from a Steppin Fetchit type) saying that Red has been delayed, working at Lockheed as a "rivetator." Then the Wolf sees Goldie show up at the Bears' house, and he decides that she's the solution to his hunger pangs. By the time Goldie gets into bed for a good nap, the Wolf's waiting for her, and he chases her around the house, with intentions that are presumably carnivorous.

The Bears return to see Goldie and the Wolf, but they think the two are "jitterbugs," so they jump to their instruments and begin playing hot jazz. Instantly Goldie forget her peril and begins a free style dance with the confused Wolf, flinging him around and forcing him to dance until he's pooped. Wolfie escapes back to Grandma's house and crawls into bed, just as Red (who sticks to being a little girl rather than altering her age) shows up, ready to play her part. The Wolf doesn't want to chase her because his feet are too sore, at which point the Bears show up again and began playing more hot jazz. Grandma, who's been cooped up in a wardrobe this whole time, bursts out and forces the Wolf to continue dancing with her. The cartoon ends with the exhausted Wolf dropping a familiar Jimmy Durante catch-phrase, the only time any of the characters abandons the usual dialect.