The Lion Tamer is a 1934

1934 in film

-Events:*January 26 - Samuel Goldwyn purchases the film rights to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the L. Frank Baum estate for $40,000.*February 19 - Bob Hope marries Dolores Reade...

 animated

Animation

Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...

 short film produced by the Van Beuren Studios

Van Beuren Studios

Van Beuren Studios was an American animation studio that produced theatrical cartoons from 1928 to 1936.Producer Amedee J. van Beuren first became involved in the animation industry in 1920, when he formed a partnership with Paul Terry and formed the "Aesop's Fables Studio" for the production of...

 and directed by Vernon Stallings and starring Charles J. Correll

Charles Correll

Charles James Correll was an American radio comedian, best known for his work on the Amos 'n' Andy show with Freeman S. Gosden. Correll voiced the central character of Andy Brown, along with various supporting characters. Before teaming up with Gosden, Correll worked as a stenographer and a...

 and Freeman F. Gosden

Freeman Gosden

Freeman Fisher "Gozzie" Gosden was an American radio comedian, and pioneer in the development of the situation comedy form. He is best known for his work in the Amos 'n' Andy series.-Biography:...

 as the voices of their popular radio characters, Amos 'n' Andy

Amos 'n' Andy

Amos 'n' Andy is a situation comedy set in the African-American community. It was very popular in the United States from the 1920s through the 1950s on both radio and television....

. It was one of two such films made that year, the other being The Rasslin' Match

The Rasslin' Match

The Rasslin' Match is a 1934 animated short film produced by the Van Beuren Studios and directed by Vernon Stallings and starring Charles J. Correll and Freeman F. Gosden as the voices of their popular radio characters, Amos 'n' Andy.-Story:...

. These two shorts and the 1930

1930 in film

-Events:* November 1: The Big Trail featuring a young John Wayne in his first starring role is released in both 35mm, and a very early form of 70mm film and was the first large scale big-budget film of the sound era costing over $2 million. The film was praised for its aesthetic quality and realism...

 live-action film Check and Double Check

Check and Double Check

Check and Double Check is a 1930 comedy film made and released by RKO Pictures based on the then-popular Amos 'n' Andy radio show. The title was derived from a catchphrase associated with the show.-Production:...

constitute the only visual representations of Amos 'n' Andy prior to the advent of network television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

.

Story

8 minutes 37 seconds long. An Official film Black & White. Kingfish talks Andy into being a lion tamer at a carnival. Andy decides against it till Kingfish tells him that it is a fake lion, then Andy agrees. There is a real lion there but the one Andy is to "tame" is Crawford in front and Lightning in back in a lion skin. In a cage Andy struts his stuff with a whip while an obviously fake lion tries to avoid the stinging blows (with Crawford sticking his head out of the lion's mouth and telling Andy to be careful with that whip). The crowd (all black people) cheer throughout.

The real lion meanwhile chews through its restraining rope and trails Andy who it saw earlier. While Andy is looking elsewhere, the real lion changes places with the fake lion (which promptly runs off into the distance). Andy starts flicking his whip again while Amos who is outside the cage tries to warn him that he now faces the real lion. The lion gets upset and Andy then decides to put his head inside the lion's mouth. Opening it, he sees a large tongue instead of Crawford and realises it is the real lion.

A fight ensues, hidden by clouds of dust and debris flying, and Amos manages to get Andy out of the cage. When the smoke clears, the triumphant lion is now wearing Andy's bowler and smoking his cigar.