Blitz Wolf
Encyclopedia
Blitz Wolf is an early anti-German World War II
Hitler
-parodying cartoon produced in 1942 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
. It was directed by Tex Avery
and produced by Fred Quimby
. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons
.
, told from a Second World War
anti-German propaganda perspective. In this cartoon, the pigs go to war against Adolf Wolf (Adolf Hitler
), who is set on invading Pigmania. The two pigs who built their houses of straw and sticks claim they don't have to take precautions against the wolf, because they signed non-aggression pact
s with him. The pig who built his house of stone, Sergeant Pork, does take his precautions and outfits his house with defense machinery.
Adolf Wolf invades Pigmania, despite the two pigs arguing that he signed a treaty with them. He destroys their houses whereupon the pigs flee to the third pig's house. Then the Wolf and pigs start fighting. Towards the end of the cartoon Adolf Wolf is blown out of his bomber plane with the pigs' Defense bonds
and falls down to Earth, together with a bomb which blows him up to Hell
. There he realizes he is dead and says: "Where am I? Have I been blown to... ?", whereupon a group of devils adds: "Aaaah, it's a possibility!", in reference to a then well known catchphrase by Jerry Colonna.
with cuts made:
On Cartoon Network
's ToonHeads
airing of this cartoon, there were two cuts:
You're in the Army Now,
You're Not Behind the Plow,
You're Diggin' a Ditch,
[pause and motion freeze],
You're in the Army Now!
The pause was inserted to replace the line "You Son of a Bitch", which would be inappropriate for a film at the time. This is much similar to a gag in the Warner Bros.
cartoon The Draft Horse
.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
-parodying cartoon produced in 1942 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
. It was directed by Tex Avery
Tex Avery
Frederick Bean "Fred/Tex" Avery was an American animator, cartoonist, voice actor and director, famous for producing animated cartoons during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. He did his most significant work for the Warner Bros...
and produced by Fred Quimby
Fred Quimby
Frederick C. "Fred" Quimby was an American cartoon producer, best known as a producer of Tom and Jerry cartoons, for which he won seven Academy Awards...
. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons
Academy Award for Animated Short Film
The Academy Award for Animated Short Film is an award which has been given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as part of the Academy Awards every year since the 5th Academy Awards, covering the year 1931-32, to the present....
.
Plot
The plot is a parody of the Three Little PigsThree Little Pigs
Three Little Pigs is a fairy tale featuring anthropomorphic animals. Printed versions date back to the 1840s, but the story itself is thought to be much older...
, told from a Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
anti-German propaganda perspective. In this cartoon, the pigs go to war against Adolf Wolf (Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
), who is set on invading Pigmania. The two pigs who built their houses of straw and sticks claim they don't have to take precautions against the wolf, because they signed non-aggression pact
Non-aggression pact
A non-aggression pact is an international treaty between two or more states/countries agreeing to avoid war or armed conflict between them and resolve their disputes through peaceful negotiations...
s with him. The pig who built his house of stone, Sergeant Pork, does take his precautions and outfits his house with defense machinery.
Adolf Wolf invades Pigmania, despite the two pigs arguing that he signed a treaty with them. He destroys their houses whereupon the pigs flee to the third pig's house. Then the Wolf and pigs start fighting. Towards the end of the cartoon Adolf Wolf is blown out of his bomber plane with the pigs' Defense bonds
War bond
War bonds are debt securities issued by a government for the purpose of financing military operations during times of war. War bonds generate capital for the government and make civilians feel involved in their national militaries...
and falls down to Earth, together with a bomb which blows him up to Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
. There he realizes he is dead and says: "Where am I? Have I been blown to... ?", whereupon a group of devils adds: "Aaaah, it's a possibility!", in reference to a then well known catchphrase by Jerry Colonna.
Censorship
This cartoon has rarely been shown in the United States outside of the World War II years. However, it was shown on TNT and Cartoon NetworkCartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
with cuts made:
-
- On TNT, the Wolf's German voice was redubbed, most of the scenes that feature English subtitles to his faux German speech had the subtitles cropped out, and the end with the "If you'll buy a stamp or bond, we'll skin that skunk across the pond" end card was replaced with a regular MGM end card commonly seen at the end of Tom and Jerry cartoons.
On Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
's ToonHeads
ToonHeads
The TV series ToonHeads is an animation anthology series consisting of uncut Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer & Warner Bros. cartoon shorts, with interesting background information and trivia, prominently by animators and voice actors like: Mel Blanc, Tex Avery, Hugh Harman, Rudy Ising, David H. DePatie, Friz...
airing of this cartoon, there were two cuts:
-
- The sign labeled "No Dogs Allowed" ( with the word "dogs" crossed out and replaced by "Japs") on the third pig's house had the word "Japs" blurred out with yellow digital paint, and,
- The punchline to the long gun gag where the artillery shell is fired and blasts the city of Tokyo to pieces was altered to make it look like the gun was being aimed at the Hitler Wolf.
Cultural references
- This is Tex Avery's first cartoon at MGM, and also the first film at MGM for animators Preston BlairPreston BlairPreston Blair was an American character animator, most noted for his work at Walt Disney Productions and the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animation department...
and Ed LoveEd LoveEdward H. Love was an American animator who has worked at various studios during the golden age of animation. He is well known for his work at Disney , MGM , Walter Lantz , and his work on television shows such as Yogi Bear and The Flintstones.Love won a Golden Award at the 1984 Motion Pictures...
(Love had arrived at MGM with Kenneth MuseKenneth MuseKenneth Lee Muse was an American animator. He is best known for his work on the Tom and Jerry series at MGM.-Biography:...
just after the 1941 Disney animators' strike). - The MGM lionLeo the Lion (MGM)Leo the Lion is the mascot for the Hollywood film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and one of its predecessors, Goldwyn Pictures, featured in the studio's production logo, which was created by the Paramount Studios art director Lionel S. Reiss....
roars to the tune of "Hold That Tiger". - This short was widely available, uncut, on the MGM/UA video label's VHS release, Tex Avery's Screwball Classics, Vol. 4.
- There is a reference to the Doolittle RaidDoolittle RaidThe Doolittle Raid, on 18 April 1942, was the first air raid by the United States to strike the Japanese Home Islands during World War II. By demonstrating that Japan itself was vulnerable to American air attack, it provided a vital morale boost and opportunity for U.S. retaliation after the...
on Tokyo (when the bomb lands and destroys Tokio, there is a sign "Doolittle Dood It!" coming out from the water). - Pinto ColvigPinto ColvigVance DeBar "Pinto" Colvig was an American vaudeville actor, radio actor, newspaper cartoonist, prolific movie voice actor, and circus performer whose schtick was playing clarinet off-key while mugging....
provides the voice of "Practical Pig", as he did in Disney's Three Little PigsThree Little Pigs (film)Three Little Pigs is an animated short film released on May 27, 1933 by United Artists, produced by Walt Disney and directed by Burt Gillett. Based on a fairy tale of the same name, Three Little Pigs won the 1934 Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons. In 1994, it was voted #11 of the 50...
. - Adolf Wolf's voice was provided by Bill ThompsonBill Thompson (voice actor)Bill Thompson was an American radio actor and voice actor whose career stretched from the 1930s until his death.-Early career:...
, who would later voice Droopy.
- In the beginning, the two little pigs sing to Sergeant Pork:
You're in the Army Now,
You're Not Behind the Plow,
You're Diggin' a Ditch,
[pause and motion freeze],
You're in the Army Now!
The pause was inserted to replace the line "You Son of a Bitch", which would be inappropriate for a film at the time. This is much similar to a gag in the Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
cartoon The Draft Horse
The Draft Horse
The Draft Horse is a Warner Bros. cartoon released in 1942, directed by Chuck Jones. Mel Blanc provided the voices. Robert Cannon is the animator, Tedd Pierce is the screenwriter and the music of this cartoon was done by Carl Stalling....
.
- Most of the scenery doesn't resemble World War II at all. The trenches resemble World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. - As the tanks arrive one small tank has the line "Good HumorGood HumorGood Humor is an American brand of ice cream novelties sold from ice cream trucks as well as stores and other retail outlets. Originally, Good Humors were chocolate-coated ice cream bars on a stick, but the line was expanded over the years to include a wide range of novelties...
" written on its side and makes the sound of an ice cream truck. This is similar to a joke later used in Bugs Bunny Nips the NipsBugs Bunny Nips the NipsBugs Bunny Nips the Nips is a Merrie Melodies animated cartoon directed by Friz Freleng, produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions, and released to theaters on April 22, 1944 by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Vitaphone Corporation....
. - A tank with a flame thrower holds up a sign with the line I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire.
- When the straw house is blown away, a sign says Gone with the WindGone with the WindThe slaves depicted in Gone with the Wind are primarily loyal house servants, such as Mammy, Pork and Uncle Peter, and these slaves stay on with their masters even after the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 sets them free...
, while another one points and adds '"Corny gag, isn't it?" - At one point, Sgt. Pork distracts incoming shellfire by holding up a copy of EsquireEsquire (magazine)Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
magazine's (unseen-by-the-audience) Petty Girl pin-up artwork by George PettyGeorge PettyGeorge Brown Petty IV was an American pin-up artist. His pin-up art appeared primarily in Esquire and Fawcett Publications's True but was also in calendars marketed by Esquire, True and Ridgid Tool Company. Petty's Esquire gatefolds originated and popularized the magazine device of centerfold...
.
External links
- Full video on YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
- Screenshots and commentary on Classic Cartoons