Blitz Wolf

Blitz Wolf

Poster for Blitz Wolf
Directed by Tex Avery
Produced by Fred Quimby
Story by Rich Hogan
Voices by Bill Thompson (Adolf Wolf, uncredited)
Pinto Colvig (pigs, uncredited)
Frank Graham (narrator, uncredited)
Music by Scott Bradley
Animation by Ray Abrams
Irven Spence
Preston Blair
Ed Love
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s) 22 August 1942
Color process Technicolor
Running time 10 minutes
Language English

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.

Contents

Plot

The plot is a parody of the Three Little Pigs, 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 pacts with him. The pig who built his house of stone, "Sergeant Pork" (an homage to Sergeant York), 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.

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 Network with cuts made:

On Cartoon Network's ToonHeads airing of this cartoon, there were two cuts:

Cultural references

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.

See also

External links