Disney's 1941 feature Dumbo even referenced the war. © Disney Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved.

Disney's Dumbo (1941) is mentioned because next to a newspaper photo of Dumbo flying near the end of the film there is a headline that reads, "Bombers for Defense." There is also a reference in Dumbo to "fireside chats," one of President Roosevelt's method of talking directly to the American public on the radio. Another obscure and prophetic reference that they found was Donald Duck saying, "I might as well be in a concentration camp" when he is forced to chop down trees in a lumber camp after trying to steal some food in Timber, 1941.With the outbreak of war some films that were probably already in production had wartime details added. For example in Superman's The Bulleteers, released in March1942, there is a sign reading "Buy Defense Bonds" in one scene. Soon there were films that were taking potshots at Hitler, Mussolini, Goring and the leaders of Japan. Others urged Americans to do their part by starting victory gardens, recycling waste and scrap material and by buying bonds. You may not read this section cover to cover, but if this period of our country's history fascinates you, you will probably be using it in the future as a source for reference material. The book has an excellent index if you use it for research.

Perhaps the most interesting items in the book for me are the numerous explanations to topical references in cartoons. For example, when the films were made most people knew what the codes meant on gas rationing stickers, but when I first saw Russian Rhapsody, 1944, I didn't know the difference between an A and a C windshield sticker so the joke lost its punch (A was the lowest priority so you couldn't buy as much gas each month as a person with a C sticker).

Even Happy and Grumpy did their bit by buying war bonds. © Disney. All rights reserved.

In The Daffy Duckaroo, 1942, a sign on a motor scooter reads, "Keep `em under 40, U.S.A.," a reference to the lowering of the national speed limit in order to save on gasoline. In the discussion of Tire Trouble, 1942, I learned, "Tires were one of the first items to be restricted during the war; gas rationing was enforced mostly to save rubber, not gasoline."

The book has a solid chapter and separate filmography on the Snafu and Hook cartoons made for people in the armed forces. The authors explain several things most of us are unaware of today. For example the Snafu theme song is known as, "You're a Horse's Ass," and two Snafu cartoons that I haven't seen, Malaria Mike and Target Snafu, can be construed as warnings about both malaria and venereal diseases. Knowing these facts adds to our enjoyment and understanding.

They also discuss Going Home, 1944, an unreleased Snafu that might have been banned due to its suggestion that a civilian spied for the enemy, which resulted in Snafu's unit being wiped out. The censored film also includes a vague reference to a secret weapon that can wipe out an entire Japanese island. While Chuck Jones, who directed the short, couldn't have had any knowledge of our atomic weapons program, his fantasy weapon may have been too close to the truth for somebody at the Pentagon who saw the film and did know about our atomic projects. The 4 Hook cartoons mentioned were made for the U.S. Navy by Lantz and Warner Bros. to promote the sale of savings bond to sailors.