Crows have been used a few times as "black characters." The one that most immediately comes to mind is the jungle book. If we're talking abuot black sterotypes, tehre's also the crow dressed as the sterotypical "mammy" (think aunt jemima) and the saxophone/piano playing jazzy crows.

This wasn't really the animators being "lazy". It was more of an homage to Jungle Book (it being the last movie that Walt Disney oversaw before he died). Also, since Little John was a bear AND he was being voiced by Phil Harris....who did the voice for Baloo in the Jungle Book.

And really, it was only the motions being copied...as everything else had to be totally hand drawn and animated again from scratch. This was pre-CGI so it's not like they could just "cut-n-paste" or anything.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

Robin Hood was way b4 B&B. Jungle Book is probably my all time favourite - mainly for Louie Prima.

Description:

Narrated by Orson Wells, this animated cartoon is an adaptation of a short story titled "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" from The Jungle Book (1894) by Rudyard Kipling. The story focuses on an English family in India who discover a mongoose half drowned from a storm and decide to keep it. Rikki-Tikki soon finds himself confronted by two murderous cobras, Nag and Nagaina. When Nag is killed by Rikki after waiting to ambush the patriarch, Nagaina vows revenge for the death of her mate. Rikki must then come to the family's rescue again and rid Nagaina from the garden once and for all.

The story is a favorite of Kipling fans and is notable for its frightening and serious tone. Some epic features (heightened prosaic style; songs to the hero) add to the standard typology of hero defeating villain. It has often been anthologised and has also been published more than once as a short book in its own right.

The animated version first aired on CBS January 9, 1975 was directed by Chuck Jones and was released by Family Home Entertainment on both VHS and DVD. The DVD is also paired with another of Jones' cartoons, "Yankee Doodle Cricket"