Doing their bit : wartime American animated short films, 1939-1945

The golden age of animation stretched from the early 1930s to the mid-1950s, with movie cartoons reaching an extraordinarily high level of artistry and technique--far higher than today's TV cartoons, for instance.

Nearly 1000 cartoons were produced by the seven major animation studios in the U.S. between January 1, 1939, and September 30, 1945--the immediate pre-World War II period up to the cessation of hostilities. More than a quarter of the cartoons substantially refer to the war, and thereby are invaluable in helping to understand American attitudes and Hollywood's reflection of them.

The meat of Doing Their Bit is a filmography with extremely detailed summaries of the 260 or so commercially produced, animated, war-related shorts, 1939-1945. There is also a good bit of overall commentary on these films as a group. Two chapters wrap up animated cartoons of World War I and the general political tenor of animated talkies of the 1930s. This edition also includes a new chapter on the outrageous government-sponsored Pvt Snafus.

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Shull and Wilt's narrowly focused filmography is an excellent entry in the growing field of animation studies. Until recently, animation has been considered a stepchild in the film industry. Shull and Wilt contribute to the destruction of that myth, concentrating on one part of the golden age of animation. This volume demonstrates the value of the art form to the study of 20th-century American history. It is roughly divided between an extended historical analysis of the films and a 271-item filmography. A typical entry lists title, distribution company, release or copyright date, producer, director, writer, animation personnel, music director, and story outline. Voice credits were rarely listed on films during this period. The story outlines are well written, accurately depicting the tone and the telling details of each film. There are six appendixes, two of special note: frequency of selected topical references and index of featured characters. There is an index to the filmography. Good typeface and binding. Recommended for libraries with collections in WW II, film history, or popular culture.-D.A. Schmitt, St. Louis Community College at Meramec

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Acknowledgments	p. vii
Preface to the Second Edition	p. 1
1. Not for Kids Only	p. 3
2. Moving Lines Behind the Lines: Cartoons of World War I	p. 17
3. Animated Talkies During the 1930s: A Political Overview	p. 28
4. Meet John Doughboy: 1939-1941	p. 36
5. All Out for V: 1942	p. 40
6. Seein' Red, White 'n' Blue: 1943	p. 55
7. Slow Fade on the Home Front: 1944-1945	p. 68
8. The Adventures of Private Snafu, or, How to Laugh at the Military While Learning What Not to Do	p. 80
9. That's All, Folks!	p. 90
Filmography	p. 93
Private Snafu Cartoons	p. 187
Mr. Hook Cartoons	p. 203
Appendix A. War-Related American Cartoons	p. 207
Appendix B. Frequency of Selected Topical References (All Cartoons)	p. 208
Appendix C. War Relevancy	p. 210
Appendix D. Featured Characters	p. 211
Appendix E. "Ambiguous" List	p. 214
Appendix F. Selected War-Related Commercial Animated Shorts: 1915-1918	p. 217
Notes	p. 221
Bibliography	p. 227
Text Index (to page numbers)	p. 231
Filmography Index (to entry numbers)	p. 236

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Table des matières