Animation cel of Jo Jitsu from the animated series Dick Tracy
date: label: date made
content: 1960-1962
name: label: performer
content: Rubin, Benny
label: maker
content: United Productions of America
notes: label: Description
content: Animation cel used in the production of the television series The Dick Tracy Show (1961-1962) depicting the character Jo Jitsu. The mustachioed character is wearing a suit, black tie, hat with a black band, and large black framed glasses, and holds a black umbrella. The Dick Tracy Show was produced by the United Productions of America (UPA) animation studio as an animated television adaptation of the comic strip crime series created by Chester Gould. The series aired from 1961 to 1962 in syndication. The series featured a narrative frame in which policeman Dick Tracy would use his two-way wrist watch communicator to call upon cartoonish subordinates to investigate and fight crime. Joe Jitsu was one of these police detectives, a parody of stock film characters Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto who is depicted as intelligent, scheming, and proficient in martial arts. He would frequently capture criminals by grappling them to the ground while saying "So sorry!... Excuse me, please!... Begging your pardon!" in an exaggerated Japanese-accented English. Benny Rubin provided the voice for Jo Jitsu. While the series was successful at the time, it did draw criticism for its employment of racial stereotypes and caricature, especially in the years after the initial run, when pressure applied by community groups succeeded in convincing UPA to pull the series from syndication. Some stations aired versions of the series with the racist characters edited out, but for the most part this series and its stereotyped characters has remained obscure since the 1970s.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: California, Burbank
topic: label: associated subject
content: Animation
label: associated subject
content: Law Enforcement
label: associated subject
content: Ethnic Stereotype
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
label: See more items in
content: Popular Entertainment
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2023.0178.03
label: accession number
content: 2023.0178
label: catalog number
content: 2023.0178.03
objectType: label: Object Name
content: animation cel
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: plastic (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 10 1/4 in x 12 1/2 in; 26.035 cm x 31.75 cm