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John Henry and the Inky-Poo

 John Henry and the Inky-Poo
type
TVTItem
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo
label
John Henry and the Inky-Poo
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo
page
JohnHenryAndTheInkyPoo
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo
comment
John Henry and the Inky-Poo is a 1946 animated short film (7 minutes) written and directed by George Pal, using Pal's "Puppetoons" style of stop-motion animation that employed carved wooden puppets.It is based on the legend of John Henry "the steel-drivin' man", a black laborer who pounded hammers on the railroad in the post-bellum American South. In this version of the story John Henry is not just the world's greatest swinger of hammers but a mythical giant rather reminiscent of Paul Bunyan. When a mechanical steel-driving machine threatens to put all the railroad laborers out of work, John Henry sets out to beat the machine in a race. He does, pounding rail spikes faster than the machine and crossing the finish line first, but he collapses and dies immediately afterward.Compare "Tulips Shall Grow", another highly regarded Pal short.
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo
fetched
2024-01-31T01:15:49Z
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo
parsed
2024-01-31T01:15:49Z
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo
isPartOf
DBTropes
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_119ea1fd
type
Stop Motion
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_119ea1fd
comment
Stop Motion: Pal's "Puppetoons" animation that involved posing intricately carved wood puppets.
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_119ea1fd
featureApplicability
1.0
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_119ea1fd
featureConfidence
1.0
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo
hasFeature
John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_119ea1fd
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_40cc0c7e
type
Bittersweet Ending
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_40cc0c7e
comment
Bittersweet Ending: John Henry wins his race, only to die.
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_40cc0c7e
featureApplicability
1.0
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_40cc0c7e
featureConfidence
1.0
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo
hasFeature
John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_40cc0c7e
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_50d71a78
type
Dual Wielding
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_50d71a78
comment
Dual Wielding: John Henry swings away with one hammer in each hand.
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_50d71a78
featureApplicability
1.0
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_50d71a78
featureConfidence
1.0
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo
hasFeature
John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_50d71a78
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_603f1a80
type
Pragmatic Adaptation
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_603f1a80
comment
Pragmatic Adaptation: The John Henry legends may or may not have been based on a real person who engaged in a race against a steam-driven power hammer, but in any case, John Henry is usually presented as a regular human being, who had a wife. As noted above, this cartoon presents him as a supernatural giant, Paul Bunyan style. Additionally, while most versions of the legend have John Henry hammering drills into rock in order to blast with explosives, this cartoon has him hammering railroad spikes.
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_603f1a80
featureApplicability
1.0
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_603f1a80
featureConfidence
1.0
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo
hasFeature
John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_603f1a80
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_6ca339ed
type
Born as an Adult
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_6ca339ed
comment
Born as an Adult: Not just an adult, but a 12-foot-tall giant. The story opens with John Henry's mother apparently in labor, but after a clap of thunder and lightning, John Henry appears full-sized, and greets his mother with "My name's John Henry, woman!"
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_6ca339ed
featureApplicability
1.0
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_6ca339ed
featureConfidence
1.0
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo
hasFeature
John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_6ca339ed
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_8b4f491c
type
Villainy-Free Villain
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_8b4f491c
comment
Villainy-Free Villain: The Inky-Poo, with the only threat it poses being robbing the local workers of their jobs, due to it being able to easily hammer down railroad spikes at a fast speed.
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_8b4f491c
featureApplicability
1.0
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_8b4f491c
featureConfidence
1.0
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo
hasFeature
John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_8b4f491c
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_a8982539
type
Gray Rain of Depression
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_a8982539
comment
Gray Rain of Depression: It's raining in the aftermath of John Henry's death.
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_a8982539
featureApplicability
1.0
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_a8982539
featureConfidence
1.0
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo
hasFeature
John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_a8982539
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_a8c6a317
type
Super-Strength
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_a8c6a317
comment
Super-Strength: Holy crap, John Henry sure can swing a hammer.
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_a8c6a317
featureApplicability
1.0
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_a8c6a317
featureConfidence
1.0
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo
hasFeature
John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_a8c6a317
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_ad9fbc1e
type
Pyrrhic Victory
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_ad9fbc1e
comment
Pyrrhic Victory: Really, it probably would have been better for John Henry to have found something else to do with those muscles.
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_ad9fbc1e
featureApplicability
1.0
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_ad9fbc1e
featureConfidence
1.0
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo
hasFeature
John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_ad9fbc1e
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_d54c5d44
type
Man Versus Machine
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_d54c5d44
comment
Man Versus Machine: One of the most famous instances of this trope, as John Henry competes against the steam hammer and wins, only to die at the end of the race.
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_d54c5d44
featureApplicability
1.0
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_d54c5d44
featureConfidence
1.0
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo
hasFeature
John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_d54c5d44
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_eb95ac77
type
Born During a Storm
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_eb95ac77
comment
Born During a Storm: There's thunder and lightning as John Henry is born, appropriate as he seems to be a supernatural being.
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_eb95ac77
featureApplicability
1.0
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_eb95ac77
featureConfidence
1.0
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo
hasFeature
John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_eb95ac77
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_name
type
ItemName
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_name
comment
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_name
featureApplicability
1.0
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_name
featureConfidence
1.0
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo
hasFeature
John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_name
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo / int_name
itemName
John Henry and the Inky-Poo

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 John Henry and the Inky-Poo
hasFeature
African-American Media / int_929c4ea2
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo
hasFeature
Born as an Adult / int_929c4ea2
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo
hasFeature
Born During a Storm / int_929c4ea2
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo
hasFeature
Man Versus Machine / int_929c4ea2
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo
hasFeature
Public Domain Animation / int_929c4ea2
 John Henry and the Inky-Poo
hasFeature
Short Film / int_929c4ea2