Hittin' the Trail for Hallelujah Land is a 1931 Merrie Melodies animated cartoon directed by Rudy Ising.
The film is infamous for being one of the Censored Eleven, although it is probably considered the least offensive of the 11, due to the Blackface-Style Caricature characters being animal-like, as opposed to human. The only reasons it is on the list is due to its use of the racial epithet "Uncle Tom" and some characters being in blackface.
This cartoon contains examples of:
- Damsel in Distress: Fluffy is nearly carried off by a Dastardly Whiplash.
- Dark Reprise: The skeletons sing a reprise of the titular song while terrorising Uncle Tom.
- Dastardly Whiplash: One tries to kidnap Fluffy near the end of the cartoon.
- Dem Bones: Uncle Tom is menaced by three skeletons.
- Kick the Dog: One of the skeletons literally kicks a skeleton dog.
- Oh, Crap!: Uncle Tom's reaction when he realizes that he's landed in a graveyard.
- Quaking with Fear: While being menaced by the skeletons, Uncle Tom states that he can "feel [his] nerves a-quaking."
- Random Events Plot: However, it has more of a plot than most Merrie Melodies of the time, which barely have any plot at all.
- Title Drop: The cartoon opens with three blackface characters singing the titular song.
- Uncle Tomfoolery: Subverted. Despite there being a character named Uncle Tom, he doesn't act like one.
