Episode 143: "Eliza on Ice"

Apparently the story of a slave master and his dogs chasing down a runaway slave woman and her infant son was a funny idea for a cartoon not too long ago. "Eliza on Ice" is a rare Mighty Mouse cartoon (does anyone out there remember Mighty Mouse?) from 1944 that was a parody of the classic novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" featuring the characters Eliza, her young son Harry, Simon Legree, and Lil' Eva (similar to previous episode 13, you'll have to scroll way down to go back to that one). Overall, this cartoon is just strange, and it completely distorts the plot of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in the worst way. First of all, Uncle Tom is the race starter in this piece, asking everyone (including the dogs) if they're ready before the chase ensues. Then Simon and his dogs go about chasing Eliza and the baby through several scenes of winter landscape, including the famous river crossing scene (in which Eliza runs across a slot machine that jackpots the ice that keeps the chase going). Watching this episode after episode 13's "Uncle Tom's Bungalow", it's funny how the cartoons seemed to copy each other's gags (although "Uncle Tom's Bungalow" was produced seven years earlier...I guess some jokes are so good you can rip 'em off and do 'em twice). Finally, after getting a call from the angelic form of Lil' Eva in heaven, Mighty Mouse springs into action. Mighty Mouse flies down just in time to battle Simon Legree and his dogs aboard a river paddle boat, and save Eliza and Harry from plummeting to their demise over a waterfall. As much as I love cartoons, the subcontext of this one is still puzzling to me (but I'd love to hear anyone else's opinion of it). So in the end Mighty Mouse is a freedom fighting abolitionist! Who woulda thunk it!!