Of course you know, this means war! Yes, 1942 launches us into the war years for American animation, and each and every studio did its part to keep morale high. Several animated films were specifically commissioned by the government as propaganda, including Disney’s
The New Spirit, where Donald Duck learns the importance of paying his income tax, and Warner Bros.’s
Any Bonds Today, where Bugs Bunny sings an Irving Berlin tune to encourage audiences to buy war bonds and stamps.
But even in general release films, WWII was a major presence.
Characters like Donald Duck (
Donald Gets Drafted), Pluto (
The Army Mascot), Gandy Goose (
Night Life in the Army) and Woody Woodpecker (
Ace in the Hole) were all drafted into the army, while Barney Bear (
Barney Bear’s Victory Garden), Andy Panda (
Air Raid Warden) and Nancy (
Doin’ Their Bit) supported the troops from the home front. Superman fought for the U.S. in films like
Japoteurs and
Eleventh Hour, Popeye took on the Japanese in Y
ou’re a Sap, Mr. Jap and
Scrap the Japs and Porky busted an undercover Nazi in
Confusions of a Nutzy Spy.
Cartoons like Walter Lantz’s
Pigeon Patrol, Columbia’s
Wolf Chases Pig and Warner Bros.’s
The Draft Horse invented new characters to enthusiastically join up in the army, while other cartoons skewered Hitler himself, such as Warner Bros.’s T
he Ducktators, Columbia’s
Song of Victory and MGM’s
The Blitz Wolf. Even films that didn’t focus on the war often had a wartime topicality;
A Tale of Two Kitties ends with a blackout reference.
Ding Dog Daddy stars a canine who falls in love with a dog statue, only to find it taken away as scrap metal. And
Crazy Cruise features a cameo from Bugs Bunny, whose ears turn into a V for Victory as he tells the audience, “thumbs up, doc, thumbs up.”
1942 also involved a few goodbyes. The Max Fleischer studio, Disney’s greatest rival in the 1930s, finally closed its doors this year. Also, Walt Disney decided to retire his most famous character, Mickey Mouse, because his mild personality was out of step with the brazen attitude of the era. And
Bambi marked Disney’s final full-length animated feature of the 1940s (the cost of making such films was too great now that foreign markets were cut off). Disney did continue to produce “package features” throughout the ‘40s, starting with
Saludos Amigos in 1942. The film was made to capitalize on the United States’ Good Neighbor Policy with South America, as the government wanted to counteract any ties Latin America had with the Nazis. Disney didn’t make another fully-animated feature with one overriding story until
Cinderella in 1950.
But 1942 also launched a new studio, Paramount’s Famous Studios in New York (which took over the Popeye and Superman series from Fleischer), and the year saw the debut of several new characters, including Mighty Mouse at Terrytoons (then called Super Mouse) and Tweety, Beaky the Buzzard and Henery Hawk at Warner Bros. Moreover, with Tex Avery hired as a director at MGM, Bob Clampett trying out the “Lichty animation” that would be the hallmark of his style and Chuck Jones discovering comedy in
The Draft Horse and
The Dover Boys, this year sees the beginning of the greatest era in animation history. On the list you’ll find shorts from Warner Bros., Disney and MGM, as well as one from the newly created Famous Studios and a couple from George Pal.
Take a look:
Read more »![]()
