A Lost VAN BEUREN Cartoon?
Actually this cartoon isn’t lost, but title was. The original title card to the right was never seen on a release print. This Van Beuren cartoon was released as PLANE DUMB (6/25/32), a Tom & Jerry cartoon. Miller and Lyles were a a blackface vaudeville team. They obviously recorded the track, but something we’ve yet to discover happened and the title was replaced. The Tom & Jerry characters appear at the begining of the film, shown flying via plane to Africa. When they spot the country, they “go native”. Suddenly their voices change (to the “Miller & Lyles” track) and crash the plane into the ocean. Tom & Jerry (in blackface) soon encounter sharks and cannibals. Miller & Lyles buff Chris Lehman wrote in with this: “Miller and Lyles were Flournoy Miller (April 18, 1887–June 6, 1971) and Aubrey Lyles (1884–July 28, 1932). They were an African-American comedy team that performed and wrote shows from 1907 to 1928. They are often credited for originating dialogue like “I’se regusted!” and
