Cartoons in Hard Times by Tracey Mollet

Author:Tracey Mollet
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781501328756
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA

Figure 5.7 Meet John Doughboy (1941). Looney Tunes Golden Collection.

Using the power of the many shorts released in 1939 and 1940, showcasing the importance and symbolism of America’s landmarks, this sequence clearly promotes interventionism. Given the number of times that the Statue of Liberty is utilized in the wartime shorts as a symbol for the United States (see chapters 6 and 7) its use here is particularly important. This sequence proves unequivocally that animation was using these symbols before war even broke out. In Robert Spencer Carr’s memorandum of January 1942, he refers to the need for the creation of an animated character to symbolize America, stating that this figure-head should be a ‘cross between Lady Liberty and the Virgin Mary’. 9 This icon had already been created by 1941. The fact that Lady Liberty is also the first to take up arms against the enemy bombers also highlights the implied morality of the fight against Nazism.

Despite the power of this symbolism, there is much to be said for the use of narration in this short. Questions are directed explicitly towards the audience, inciting them into action. The power of narration is also mentioned in Carr’s memorandum and is used extensively during the wartime shorts but here, it is used before the attack on Pearl Harbor. The audience are told how to interpret the images they are seeing. There is no room for ambiguity. This makes it all the more astounding that the Production Code Certificate for Meet John Doughboy is dated 11 July 1941, nearly a week after its premiere. 10

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