Swing Shift Cinderella
| Swing Shift Cinderella | |
|---|---|
 Title screen | |
| Directed by | Tex Avery |
| Produced by | Fred Quimby (unc. on original issue) |
| Story by | Heck Allen |
| Voices by |
Frank Graham Colleen Collins |
| Music by | Scott Bradley |
| Animation by |
Ray Abrams Preston Blair Ed Love |
| Studio | MGM |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) |
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| Color process | Technicolor |
| Running time | 5 minutes, 30 seconds |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | Red Hot Riding Hood |
| Followed by | Little Rural Riding Hood |
Swing Shift Cinderella is an animated cartoon short subject. It is in the same vein as Red Hot Riding Hood. Frank Graham voiced the wolf, and Colleen Collins voiced Cinderella, with Imogene Lynn providing her singing voice.[1]
Plot
At the beginning, the Big Bad Wolf is chasing the young version of Little Red Riding Hood from the beginning of Red Hot Riding Hood. But then Little Red stops and points out that the two of them are in the wrong cartoon. The Wolf shoos away Little Red and decides to go and meet Cinderella (played by Red from Red Hot Riding Hood). He takes a taxi to her house and immediately falls in love with her upon seeing her, but she sternly rebuffs him. Eventually, Cinderella calls her Fairy Godmother (played by Grandma from Red Hot Riding Hood) to get rid of him and set her up for that night's ball. The second the Fairy Godmother hears that there's a Wolf, she rushes right over. The Fairy Godmother traps the Wolf, then gives Cinderella a sexy dress and transforms a pumpkin into a Woodie for her to go the ball, but tells Cinderella that she has to get home by midnight (just like in the classic fairy tale).
The oversexed Fairy Godmother then keeps the Wolf busy. She appears before him in an old-fashioned 1890s swimsuit ("Miss Repulsive 1898") and then an evening gown before trying to snuggle up to him on the couch. She chases him all around Cinderella's house and, eventually, to the nightclub where Cinderella's performing (the Wolf got the wand briefly and turned Cinderella's bathtub into a convertible; the Fairy Godmother got the wand back and turned Cinderella's trash can into a Jeep). At one point, the Wolf accidentally kisses the Fairy Godmother, thinking she was Cinderella, which only further deepens her lust for the Wolf. More chasing ensues, though more low-key, until Cinderella comes out on-stage and performs an exotic dance while singing the song "Oh Wolfie" (to the tune of "Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh!"). The Wolf runs to dance with Cinderella on stage but the smitten Godmother intercepts him and she dances with the Wolf. The Fairy Godmother even chains the Wolf to her leg at one point so he can't get too far from her.
After the performance, more brief chasing ensues until the clock strikes midnight. Cinderella rushes home, on the way her station wagon predictably changes back into a pumpkin, but she makes it in time to catch the bus to the factory; turns out that she's actually a Rosie the Riveter by night and she has to work the midnight shift.
- The ultimate punchline of the cartoon: the bus, in addition to Cinderella, is full of wolves, who start wolf-whistling and catcalling at her.
Analysis
This short includes wartime references. The motor scooter of the fairy godmother displays an "A" gas ration sticker. She later uses a jeep. Cinderella is a welder, working the midnight shift at the Lockweed Aircraft Plant. There is also a female cabdriver depicted, a frequently used motif during the War.[2]
Sources
- Shull, Michael S.; Wilt, David E. (2004), "Filmography 1945", Doing Their Bit: Wartime American Animated Short Films, 1939-1945, McFarland & Company, ISBN 978-0786481699
References
- ↑ "Swing Shift Cinderella". www.bcdb.com, April 13, 2012
- ↑ Shull, Wilt (2004), p. 185
External links
- Swing Shift Cinderella at The Big Cartoon DataBase
- Swing Shift Cinderella at the Internet Movie Database
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