Many cartoon characters from the early days of film and TV, such as Mickey and Bugs, have their roots in minstrel shows. ...This influence is also partly the reason why characters like Mickey and Goofy are always depicted wearing white gloves. https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20210715-has-hollywood-animation-truly-left-racism-behind
@estherschindler I was watching a bunch of pre 1960s cartoons the other day and I have to admit, many of them made me very uncomfortable. They are of their time of course, and I have no particular criticism other than that. I am glad we have moved on though as some of it was just blatantly racist by today's standards. Felix the Cat was REALLY disturbing!
@estherschindler Oh the early stuff was just incredibly creepy in general. Verging on psychedelic in places, but also, understandably the minstrel influence was very up front.
In the one I watched, Felix got very, very drunk and began hallucinating!!
@stueytheround I watched a lot of Felix when I was small, but I confess I don't recall anything specific (other than "I liked it at the time"). What were some of the uncomfortable elements?