A Walt Disney Commercial Cartoon.
Parading in front of Ottawa's Parliament Building, a collection of Disney characters show they are ALL TOGETHER for buying War Savings Certificates to help win the war against the Axis.
Commissioned by The National Film Board of Canada, this very short little film pulled no punches in its direct message to viewers to support their country's war effort by putting their finances into the fight. For the record, in the parade by order of appearance are: Pinocchio, Geppetto, Figaro, Donald Duck, Huey, Dewey, Louie & Pluto. On a vehicle rides Mickey Mouse, conducting his BAND CONCERT (1935) buddies - including Clarabelle Cow, Horace Horsecollar & Goofy - in Bagley's National Emblem March. Bringing up the rear are the Seven Dwarves: Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy & Dopey. Of them all, only Donald speaks and his voice is provided by Clarence `Ducky' Nash.
Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a blizzard of doomsayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that simplicity of message and lots of hard work will always pay off.
