Leon Schlesinger

A Merrie Melodies short directed by Rudolf Ising, and the first appearance of Goopy Geer, a tall, lanky piano-playing dog who entertains patrons at a nightclub. The cartoon is built around the Herman Hupfeld title song, with gags involving a gorilla waiter, a drunk horse seeing hallucinations in a mirror, and a chicken swimming in soup before it is served. Goopy Geer appeared in only three shorts before fading into obscurity, but the character remains a charming artifact of the early Merrie Melodies era when each cartoon was built around a song. The film is in the public domain.

Animation · Short · Comedy · Music

A Private Snafu training short directed by Frank Tashlin for Leon Schlesinger Productions, commissioned by the US Army Signal Corps during World War II. An armada of malaria-laden mosquitoes trains like a military squadron and attacks American troops, finding Private Snafu woefully unprepared with his mosquito netting and repellent. The cartoon was part of a series written by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel and voiced by Mel Blanc, designed to teach soldiers about hygiene and discipline through humor that was too risqué for civilian audiences. The film is in the public domain as a US government work.

Animation · Short · Comedy · War

A Looney Tunes wartime cartoon directed by Bob Clampett, set on a farm where the animals are preparing for World War II in a series of blackout skits. A narrator tours the barnyard, finding chickens rationing feed, a horse collecting scrap metal, and a duck dodging air raid drills. The gags are disconnected and rapid-fire, mixing patriotic messaging with Clampett's characteristic absurdity. Released July 11, 1942, the short was produced by Leon Schlesinger for Warner Bros. and is in the public domain.

Animation · Short · Comedy