1949 Marx Mechanical Hopping Cary The Crow In Original Box
Following a hunch, I did some research on this scarce mechanical tin litho toy. Piecing together information from several sources I believe that it does indeed represent one of the crows from the 1941 Disney animated film Dumbo. However, I was unable to find anything which specifically linked the toy to the film. In the film it was known as "Jim Crow" with voice by Cliff Edwards. The toy was produced eight years after the film's release to correspond with its 1949 re-release. It was produced in Japan, but under the Marx Toys, Louis Marx & Co., Inc, Made in Japan logo. The Marx logo was quickly eliminated when it became known that an American company could not produce a product in Japan with the same American name. Linemar quickly replaced Marx Japan. Only the "J" system for cataloging was retained by Linemar. (In this case it's J-2496). The logo was partially resurrected when manufacturing moved to China in the early 1970s, but with "Hong Kong" printed just below it. Toys with the original Marx Japan logo are few in number. In fact, this is the only the second example I've seen of the toy. It's the first time I've seen the box. Fortunately, despite its scarcity the toy is still in high grade condition. I've graded it near mint complete with its original felt cloth tail. It works beautifully and the box is complete. *The crow characters in the film are in fact African-American caricatures; the leader crow voiced by Cliff Edwards was Caucasian. The other crows are all voiced by African-American actors, all members of the Hall Johnson Choir. Though Dumbo is often criticized for the inclusion of the black crows, it is notable that they are the only truly sympathetic characters in the film outside of Dumbo, his mother and Timothy. They apologize for picking on the elephant, and they are in fact the ones that help Timothy teach Dumbo to fly. Size: 3¾" tall. Date Sold: Mar. 2008
Price Sold: $ 390
