Cartoons in Hard Times - by Tracey Mollet (Paperback)

About the Book

Cartoons in Hard Times provides a comprehensive analysis of the short subject animation released by the Walt Disney and Warner Brothers from 1932 and 1945, one of the most turbulent periods in Unites States history. Through a combination of content analysis, historical understanding and archival research, this book sheds new light on a hitherto unexplored area of animation, suggesting the ways in which Disney and Warner Brothers animation engaged with historical, social, economic and political changes in this era. The book also traces the development of animation into a medium fit for propaganda in 1941 and the changes in characters, tone, music and narrative that took place to facilitate this transition. Animation transformed in this era from a medium of entertainment, to a socio-political commentator before finally undertaking government sponsored propaganda during the Second World War.

Book Synopsis

Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2018

Cartoons in Hard Times provides a comprehensive analysis of the short subject animation released by the Walt Disney and Warner Brothers from 1932 and 1945, one of the most turbulent periods in Unites States history. Through a combination of content analysis, historical understanding and archival research, this book sheds new light on a hitherto unexplored area of animation, suggesting the ways in which Disney and Warner Brothers animation engaged with historical, social, economic and political changes in this era.

The book also traces the development of animation into a medium fit for propaganda in 1941 and the changes in characters, tone, music and narrative that took place to facilitate this transition. Animation transformed in this era from a medium of entertainment, to a socio-political commentator before finally undertaking government sponsored propaganda during the Second World War.

Review Quotes

An essential guide for animation and film historians, and historians of American social history. Very few books have touched on the cultural significance of the Disney and Warner Brothers animated shorts of the 1930s and 1940s, and few have delved into the kind of precise detail that Mollet employs in her skilled analysis of this important period of American animation.
Animation: an Interdisciplinary Journal

Mollet offers a close study of those cartoons produced by Disney and Warner's beginning in 1930 with the outset of the Great Depression and concludes with the end of World War II in 1945. Her volume is expertly conceived, scrupulously researched, and smartly written, providing just the right balance between objective information and personal interpretation. This will immediately become the definitive study of this fascinating and unique niche in the history of Hollywood animation.
Douglas Brode, author of From Walt To Woodstock: How Disney Created the Counterculture

Offering balanced coverage of the short-form animations of both Walt Disney and Warner Brothers, between 1932 and 1945, Mollet provides a compelling account of how both studios gradually established the persuasive - and at times propagandistic - credentials of animation at a time of significant economic, social, and political transformation. By providing a detailed analysis of the themes, stories, and symbols found in these animated shorts, Mollet's book is sure to become a lasting reference point for readers wishing to learn more about how these films engaged with the prevailing issues of their time.
Chris Pallant, Senior Lecturer, Canterbury Christ Church University, UK

About the Author

Tracey Louise Mollet is a Lecturer in Media and Communication at the University of Leeds, UK.