I was looking around for some info on the classic Japanese Spider and Ladybug cartoon (well, I think the Ladybug is Japanese, the Spider, not so much). Anyway, I found this analysis on Japanese animation. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that English is probably not his/her first language.
(If I recall correctly, as the spider makes a hammock from his web, he’s singing something like “Who will sleep in my hammock, today.” Also, I think the translated title is more like “Ladybug and Tulip.”)
Here is something IMDB called “spider and tulip”
Here it is on Youtube:
Hope that helps.
Ha! I saw it on youtube a couple of years ago and loved it. I posted about it here, and got a bit razzed about promoting something which portrayed a “blackface” character.
Your idea is similar to mine: I think the spider represents foreigners, what with the blackface, the straw hat and all, and he’s threatening to the insularity of Japan.
It’s a brilliant cartoon, and the spider’s song is surprisingly haunting and beautiful, IMO. Thanks for reminding me of it; I’ll have to watch it again.
I don’t have time to search right at the moment, but I watched another classic Japanese cartoon on youtube recently. Search for “routing the tengu”. It’s not as good, but it’s certainly watchable.
ETA: Oh, yeah, and the film entitled something like “Momotaru and the divine sea warriors”, a piece of strange and mesmerizing wartime propaganda.