h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Walt Disney's Wartime Animation - A87824334
Author: Bluebottle - U43530

A companion-piece to the Flea Market Rescue I did last year on Warner Brothers.

This article is dedicated to Gnomon, without whose help this article would not have been possible. (All rubbish written here is my responsibility, though, so don't blame him!)

<BB<

Thanks for the dedication, BB. I'll give this a thorough going through at some point, but I haven't time to do it today.

Very interesting Excellent header titles as usual, too

"A film entitled 'Aircraft Wood Repair' was highly restricted as it trained viewers on how to use wood glue"

Just a few queries as I read through:

In The Name's Bond section, "As this work was to be made practically for cost, to keep costs to a minimum it was decided to re-use existing cartoons", I vaguely understand what the sentence means, but the repetition of "cost" with two different meanings is perhaps confusing.

In the US Government Films section the sentence "Only the tip of the iceberg..." is repeated at the beginning and end.

In the Propaganda section this sentence sounds a bit funny: "burning books such as Einstein and the Bible" - the Bible is a book, but Einstein isn't.

The mention of "my aunt" and Beethoven's Fifth has gone right over my head... What does that mean?

I see you have spotted only the tip of the iceberg as far as repetition is concerned. I've changed that and the other suggestions you've raised.

The mention of "my aunt" in relation to Beethoven's Fifth is a 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'. In most versions Ford tries to persuade the Vogon guard not to throw them out of the airlock by appealing to his sense of wonderment at exploring a wider world he knew nothing of, using 'Da da da dum' from Beethoven's 5th as an example. In response, the Vogon decides to throw Arthur and Ford out of an airlock anyway, with the words 'I'll mention what you said to my aunt'.

I'll see what other people think about that bit, and remove it if most people think it should be deleted.

<BB<

Thanks BB

In the sentence bit "practically for cost", I'm still not quite clear about it - is it "for cost" or "at cost"? And what does it actually mean in this context? The government would pay Disney but only a small amount above what it actually cost to make it? Or the government would pay a certain small amount, so Disney wanted to minimise costs in order to maximise profit?

Ah, so the aunt shows up my woeful knowledge of the h2g2 canon I read the whole "trilogy" many years ago, so I've forgotten a lot of it, and many references escape me...

I'll definitely have to listen to the radio show tomorrow

Sorry - I thought I'd changed this last week. Definitely updated now (I think)

<BB<

I did indeed enjoy the first episode of the Hitchhiker's Radio Show and I played the first episode of the Game as well (but then I got stuck in 'the dark')

Entry: Walt Disney's Wartime Animation - A87824334
Author: Bluebottle - U43530


An excellent entry, Bluebottle
Very informative too. I've been a fan of Disney and his cartoon strips since I was a kid. This article really kept me enthralled.
Looking forward to see this on the Front Page.

BT

Hi Bluebottle! Good entry.

Thought I'd better finally review this, since it is dedicated to me. As usual, my review consists of urging you not to repeat yourself, interspersed with suggestions for changes.

Throughout the Second World -->
Throughout the Second World War

"Never before or since would characters such as Donald Duck and Goofy be seen attacking enemy airfields..."

This is clumsy because you've combined "never before had characters... been seen" and "never since would characters... be seen". The different constructions just don't go together.

You could reword it as: "At no other time would characters such as Donald Duck and Goofy be seen..."

I believe the Spanish Civil War is out of place here as it was unrelated to the Second World War, other than that it is what kept the Spanish neutral during the War.

Having lost a fortune following the financial failure of Fantasia -- "following" suggests this happened afterwards. Change it to:

Having lost a fortune due to the financial failure of Fantasia

close to its ruin -->
close to ruin

Disney turned to make government-sponsored films -->
Disney turned to making government-sponsored films

By 1943 over 75% of Disney's output, 94% in 1943, would be

-- do you mean:

By 1943, 94% of Disney's output would be

For most of the war, Disney would be making government-sponsored shorts -- this is out of place when you've just told us that 94% of their output was government-sponsored films. Reword this section so that it flows better.

In the US Government Films section, you tell us:

"Most of the animations made during this period were Government-sponsored training films."
and then in the next sentence:
"Disney spent most of the war making training films for various branches of the US Government. "

Reword to eliminate repetition.

The majority of these Government films were for the war effort, and many of which were highly classified -->
Most of these Government films were for the war effort, and many of them were highly classified

to ensure pilots do not bomb friendly forces -->
to ensure pilots did not bomb friendly forces


"most were not seen by a general audience" -- you mentioned at the start of this section that these were not released to the general public, and in the second paragraph that they were for a limited audience.

between $4-$12 --> between $4 and $12 (the dash signifies "to" and you can't say "between 4 to 12").

"Disney also provided animation for the Why We Fight series, which explained to mystified Americans, whose politicians over the last decade had been determined to avoid any forthcoming conflicts, why America had undertaken a U-turn and was now at war with Germany, when it was Japan, and not Germany, which had launched the Pearl Harbor attack."

- this is too long and convoluted. I'd reword it like this:

Disney also provided animation for the Why We Fight series. American politicians had over the last decade been determined to avoid any forthcoming conflicts. This series explained to mystified Americans why the nation had undertaken a U-turn and was now at war with Germany, when it was Japan, and not Germany, which had launched the Pearl Harbor attack.

"In order to meet their tightest deadline ever, 20 members of staff worked 18 hours a day, sleeping in the animation studio, in order to finish it on time."

-- the phrase "in order to meet their tightest deadline ever" and "in order to finish it on time" mean basically the same thing, so you should one or the other, not both.

only the Spendthrift looks like Hitler --> except that the Spendthrift looks like Hitler

"struggling to get a good night's sleep. He doesn't get a good night's sleep either in " -- say it differently the second time

house wives --> housewives

Is it Co-ordinator of Inter-America Affairs or Co-ordinator of Inter-American Affairs? You use both titles.

The film was effectively animated... you use the word "effectively" at the start of this and the next sentence. Reword one of them.

"This would prove naïve." -- you seem to be saying that film predicts the introduction of a type of aircraft, but that this prediction is naive. You then go on to say the prediction was correct. I think what you meant was that it was naive to think this would end the war.

designing insignia for all arms --> designing insignias for all arms

destroyed into little pieces -- it can be destroyed, or broken into little pieces, but not destroyed into little pieces.

You have Pearl Harbour with an "-our" in a footnote, although you have Harbor everywhere else.

Thanks for such a thorough read-through in which you let nothing get by you - I'm glad that you like the entry and have taken the time to make sure it lives up to your high standards.

I believe the Spanish Civil War is out of place here as it was unrelated to the Second World War, other than that it is what kept the Spanish neutral during the War.
This isn't an entry about the Spanish Civil War. So any arguments I might raise that the war allowed the Luftwaffe to hone their tactics that they later used to great effect, or that it indicated a growing division between Fascist and Democratic Europe would, as you say, be out of place. So that conceded, I've deleted it.

I've reworded the Disney's Output section,

Basically, I've made amendments everywhere else suggested, so let me know what you think!

<BB<

Thanks, BB. It looks good. I won't read it again in quite such detail, but a quick only spotted one thing I'd change:

"In 1943 94% of Disney's output" -- this would be better with a comma after 1943 as I suggested, because it separates the two numbers. At the moment, the eye tends to run them together, making it hard to read.

I came, I saw, I commad.

<BB<

Your Guide Entry has just been picked from Peer Review by one of our Scouts, and is now heading off into the Editorial Process, which ends with publication in the Edited Guide. We've moved this Review Conversation out of Peer Review and to the entry itself.

If you'd like to know what happens now, check out the page on 'What Happens after your Entry has been Recommended?' at EditedGuide-Process. We hope this explains everything.

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<BB<