Nothing fascinates Disney buffs more today than Walt Disney’s production activities during World War II. Almost immediately, in 1941, the studio was overtaken by the US Military. Ambitious plans for future features (Peter Pan, Alice In Wonderland, Mickey and The Beanstalk, etc) were placed on hold. Training films, propaganda shorts, War Bond sales films, and the “Good Neighbor” policy shorts (and features) became top priority.
A friend of mine recently came into a bound volume of wartime era LIFE magazines, pointed me toward this article, Disney Goes To War from the August 31st 1942 issue, and I thought it would be worth posting here.
What’s great about it is that it allows us to see some of the preliminary art and storyboard drawings to these somewhat rare films. I love those early drawings for Reason And Emotion, a film I still show in my Cal Arts Disney history class – for it and Education For Death relay powerful messages that, unfortunately, still need to be heard. This 1942 article also mentions (and shows) Disney being hard at work on Victory Through Air Power and the South America films.
While I was at it – I figured I’d rifle through my personal archive of Disney still photos – and scan a few and add them to this post (below) for your enjoyment. I started collecting publicity stills for animated cartoons back in the 1970s (egad!) when – at the time – it was somewhat impossible to illustrate articles and books about animation. We barely had video tape recorders then, and frame grabs from 16mm and 35mm film always looked grainy. But publicity stills or artwork seemed to be made for all theatrical cartoons back then – and finding them has become a lifetime pursuit (even though, thanks to screen grabs from blu-rays, we really don’t need them anymore to illustrate books and articles). That said, I still enjoy my collection – and occasionally these stills yield info about the films they publicize.
Click the thumbnails below to enlarge the article pages and still pics.
The stills here are from The Thrifty Pig (1941) the first project that Ub Iwerks supervised (actually co-supervised with Ford Beebe) upon his return to Disney in 1940; Storyboard drawing for the abandoned project The Gremlins, based on the Roald Dahl book; Another NFB war bond short by Iwerks and Beebe, Donald’s Decision (1942); A nice still from Bill Robert’s Reason and Emotion; a story sketch from Der Fuehrer’s Face (1943); and the final shot from Donald Gets Drafted (Jack King, 1941). (click to enlarge)
(Thanks to Mark Trost and Devon Baxter for their help with this post)
Jerry Beck is a writer, animation producer, college professor and author of more than 15 books on animation history. He is a former studio exec with Nickelodeon Movies and Disney, and has written for The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. He has curated cartoons for DVD and Blu-ray compilations and has lent his expertise to dozens of bonus documentaries and audio commentaries on such. Beck is currently on the faculty of CalArts in Valencia, UCLA in Westwood and Woodbury University in Burbank – teaching animation history. More about Jerry Beck [
Those early drawings for “Reason and Emotion” were evidently made before Ward Kimball stamped the caveman character with his own likeness.
Personally, I find many other aspects of Disney history more fascinating than its wartime output. But it’s interesting to see how the studio’s contributions to the war effort were presented to the public in the leading photojournalism magazine of the time.
Interesting that the text of the Life article makes it seem as though Walt himself drew everything,
Thanks Jerry.
I’m a Warner guy all the way, but that On The Front Lines DVD is the prize title in my video vault. Not just for its then-scarcity, or the expected Disney artistry, but the extra energy in that material is hard to miss.
It’s one of the best of the Treasures.
Disney during the War was both a good and bad era. It was a time of Package Features (eh…), but also of Jack Kinney (awesome!).
I for one like Stop That Tank!, an excellent Kimballian attempt at Warnerism.
I happen to like the package features. Granted, some segments were better than others, but there were some stand outs. Just wish “Make Mine Music” was available complete on DVD and included on Disney+ with Kinney’s “Martin and McCoys” segment.
The best were The Three Caballeros and Make Mine Music. Fun and Fancy Free is my one of my least favorites (so far) of the Snow White-to-Sleeping Beauty era. The worst is VTAP.
Here, in New Orleans, at the National WWII Museum, is a several-months’ long Disney Exhibit. I can’t wait to check it out!!
Interesting…
I wondered where the pictures dad drew for Disney in 1937 were all about. This answers my concern.
MG
Was your father Bob Givens? He made me so happy in my childhood…