I think about how hype this short was to this day. Most influential black history story on my childhood by far. Also that animation hold up to this day beyond belief.
@@Dreamy526 Yes. As a child, death as well as the triumph of the human spirit were not as impactful or impressive to me as they are in adulthood. Or the other things this story tells that, for me, took a bit more of a developed life to appreciate. It was a story while in school, as I said, my consciousness chalked the tale up to "thats awesome." ..not seeing or feeling what now as an adult if I were to try to have words It'd be an injustice to the feeling.
John Henry is the perfect representation of equality and strength of the working people. He shows that no matter what color you are you should still be proud of WHO you are, especially that of the blue color worker
"John Henry, John Henry, John Henry was a mighty man. Born with a hammer, born with a hammer, born with a hammer right in his hand." This has been unlocked from my memories from a while ago lol. Loved watching this on repeat. Always wholesome.
Some people claim that John Henry did not die, but instead he fell into a very deep sleep. And that to this day, you could still hear John Henry whacking away at the rail road nails and singing his song. I would say that this alternative ending is very wholesome.
“Said my names John Henry, and I’m a natural man, I was born one mornin’ With a hammer in my hand. And if one night I find myself Out here all alone, I’ll hammer through the evenin’ And pound my way back home.”
Yeah, I’d heard this story and remembered it but totally forgot his name and when I saw this video and was reminded of his name I was like “wait a minute…..” Steel even uses a big hammer! How did I not clock this?!
As soon as a saw the picture my mind was like “John Henry, John henry, John henry was a mighty man, born with a hammer, born with a hammer, born with a hammer right in his hand”
I'm a white kid and my parents read the legend of John Henery to me and my brothers and sisters from a young age they told us he was symbol of perseverance and courage we should aspire to
Nice, good way to show black representation to kids as role models instead of remaking/rebooting already made characters as black ruining the character/being unoriginal
@@imhuemankeepURcolorsforcrayons yo...everyone literally everyone regardless of race can be deemed a LITTLE racist. The only thing that matters is if they accept that what they did or say was wrong and stopped doing it and improved
This has always been a story I kept in my heart since I was a kid. Through our lives we meet opposition and we meet hardship, but it’s up to us to pick up that hammer and push through. If we don’t make our dreams come true, they never will.
@@Mark-pz3lq just like James Bond ain’t real the point is so they can stop acting like they don’t have any hero’s they can relate or look to instead ruining classics 😂
I remember watching this when I was younger, I loved ti cheer him on knowing already he was going to win, and always acted surprised when he did. This short was the best 👌
This was one of my favorite stories growing up, and to this day it still means a lot to me because it really puts into perspective that replacing man with machine isn’t the answer to everything. Sometimes, the decisiveness and determination of a person can achieve great success.
Depends on the job. I don’t see a problem with replacing people with machines it’s just that the people need to realize that they need to move on with the times and get jobs that are relevant. Jobs that require basically no skill and are very easy should never be looked at as a permanent gig and there are tons of entry level jobs that will require a person no matter what but a lot of production type jobs will only be a matter of when and not if
@@experienceofchris1108 a lot of people can not get skilled work, as try as they might they are not intelligent. We need low skill menial labor for those with a below average intelligence which of course is half the country. It’s a telling a truck driving to learn to code. One driving truck is highly skilled and is a great job to have but he isn’t going to go into f.ing coding and never could.
I remember watching this in elementary school, one of my favorite stories out there period. Tell you that hard work and determination can get you through any challenges you face on life. Love it.
They used to show these “educational” videos at a local pumpkin patch on school field trips in elementary school, up in a hay loft. You can go pick a pumpkin, jump in corn kernels, go through a hay maze, small petting zoo…. Very fun for my children. Later they built some more things at the farm and started doing functions like weddings etc. there. Very nice place just outside Huntsville Al.
Yeah! I was trying to remember all the other stories on this tape. John Henry obviously stands out to me because of the ending....and Paul Bunyan because I liked Babe~
I loved this story because I like how he drove himself beyond his limits. And I admire the fact he never game up even though a mountain was in his way.
That's because the story has nothing to do with race. There are points in history directly after slavery ended with less racism than the Zoomers introduced to society
I remember watching this movie as a kid bro I was like: “how he catching up with the train??” Then afterwards I got sad because of happened to him, it’s spoilers so I won’t say.
"When John Henry was a little baby, Sitting on his mama's knee, His papa picked him up, And put him in his arms, And said, My baby is a steel-driving man, Lord, Lord My baby is a steel-driving man! " Old folk song
"I heard John's momma liked to show it tight! So he pulled down the moon for a little bit of light! Took a lot of cooking to keep John fed: ten dozen eggs and eight loaves of bread!" That song was so catchy. I remember this cartoon being in a collection of classic American folktales on DVD. Each story was introduced by James Earl Jones too. Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed, Casey Jones, and John Henry. A blast from the past to be sure.
Breaks my heart when people haven’t heard of stories like John Henry, Molly Pitcher, Paul Bunyan, and Johnny Appleseed. Those stories are a pretty important part of the American lexicon, and they’re what keeps the spirit of our country alive.
Pretty sure that's the case. He was a young guy that was sentenced to hard labor in the railroad. But he was one of the coolest legends I remember from when I was a kid.
@@invictusbp1prop143 that not a legend that a slave. And not a very smart one because he died trying to prove something to the same people that oppressed him. This was a legend to you, how?
Sorry just didn't reference the " blues" . I am speaking from a place of compassion and love so going around and laughing at someone who is just trying to be a good human being..is counterproductive no?
@@holiwood72 uh... first off, you need to toughen up, buttercup, I wasn't laughing at you. I was simply stating this is Classic Americana and several songs that either reference him or are entirely about him. I really don't see why you took that so personally.
@@holiwood72 hah! You're 'trying to be a good human being?' Try harder, you're failing... no one was 'laughing' at you, and I dont think you know or understand what compassion and love even mean, but you go ahead and keep the passive aggressive nastiness coming from your 'place of love...' that's all the comment section is good for anyways, but damn I can only imagine the suffering your kids feel, if you have any
John Henry was forced into hard labor for taking 1/3 of a loaf of bread 🍞 which the lady said was paid for. He was between 5'5"-5'7" . He was free labor. He didn't die because of Exhaustion . He died do to an I'm aneurysm! Another real person lost to the past.
You know what they say about that John Henry; John Henry is a mighty man. Born with a hammer, a ten pound hammer, a twenty pound hammer right in his hand.
John Henry is THE BEST. I had an old tape with all the stories about the Tall Tales, John Henry was my favorite because I Loved trains when I was younger. But if I recall, he died beating that steam hammer.
