Jerky Turkey - [1945]

Jerky Turkey is an animated theatrical short, directed by Tex Avery, released on 7 April 1945 by MGM. The story for this cartoon was written by Heck Allen, the music by Scott Bradley, and the animation was done by Preston Blair, Ed Love and Ray Abrams. Voices were provided by radio actors Harry Lang, who appeared on the Cisco Kid, and Leone LeDoux,^[1] who specialised in baby cries. Internet sources claiming Daws Butler provided a voice are incorrect, as he did not arrive in Hollywood until after World War II.^[2]

The Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock and found a colony. A very large number of Pilgrims (some of them caricatures of Avery's animation crew) can be seen standing in line... for their cigarette rations. A Pilgrim goes hunting for a turkey for Thanksgivingdinner. The turkey outsmarts the pilgrim many times and eventually the two make up and decide to eat at "Joe's restaurant" which is being advertised by a bear, at the end the bear has eaten the two and reveals that he is Joe and the two complain inside the bear's stomach. Many of the gags revolve around life on the home front in the United States during WWII, rationing and the black market. The turkey is a caricature of the comedian Jimmy Durante.

Some Cartoon Network and TBS showings remove the "half breed" scene, depicting an American Indian who is dressed in native garb on one half of his body and a suit and tie on the other side. TNT aired this scene uncut.

Momotarō: Umi no Shinpei (Momotaro's Divine Sea Warriors) - Mitsuyo Seo [1945]

First feature length animated film from Japan. Released in March 1945. Directed by Mitsuyo Seo.

Momotarō: Umi no Shinpei (桃太郎 海の神兵, lit. Momotarou: God Warriors of the Sea or Momotaro, Sacred Sailors) is the first Japanese feature-lengthanimated film. It was directed by Mitsuyo Seo, who was ordered to make apropaganda film for World War II by the Japanese Naval Ministry. Shochiku Moving Picture Laboratory shot the 74-minute film in 1944 and screened it on April 12, 1945. It is a sequel to Momotarō no Umiwashi, a 37-minute film released in 1943 by the same director. It is black and white.^[4]

In English, the film is known as Momotaro's Divine Sea Warriors.

After completing naval training, a bear cub, a monkey, a pheasant, and a puppy say goodbye to their families. While they are preoccupied, the monkey's younger brother falls into a river while chasing the monkey's cap and is carried towards a waterfall. The dog and the monkey work together to save the child just before he is swept downstream. A time skip occurs and Japanese forces are seen clearing a forest and constructing an air base in a Pacific island with the help of the jungle animals. A plane lands in the airstrip and from inside emerges Momotaro, depicted as a General, together with the bear, monkey, dog and pheasant, who by this point have became high-ranking officials. The subsequent scenes show the jungle animals being taught the alphabet via singing, washing clothes, given military training, and loading weapons in warplanes. The animal residents of the island are shown as simple primitives who are star struck by the glamorous and advanced Japanese animals.

A narration of the story of how the island of Celebes was acquired by the Dutch East Indian Company follows and it is revealed that the Japanese are attempting to invade it. The monkey, dog and bear cub become parachute jumpers while the pheasant becomes a pilot. The paratroopers ambush a halftrack and hastily invade a British fort, causing the unprepared British soldiers to panic and flee. Momotaro, the monkey and the puppy are then shown negotiating with three British officials and after a brief argument, the British agree to surrender Celebes and the surrounding islands to Japanese rule in exchange for freedom. A brief epilogue shows children playing at parachuting onto continental America outlined on the ground. Plainly the United States is to be the target of their generation.

There are some musical scenes. Of note is The Song of AIUEO (アイウエオの歌 AIUEO no Uta), a scene where Japanese soldiers teach local animals how to speak.

The Naval Ministry previously showed Seo Fantasia, a 1940 Disney film. Inspired by this, Seo tried to give dreams to children, as well as to instill the hope for peace, just as he did in the prequel movie, Momotaro's Sea Eagles.

For a long time, the film was presumed to have been confiscated and burnt by the American occupation. However, a negative copy of the film was found in Shochiku's Ofuna warehouse in 1983 and was re-released in 1984. A reproduced movie was later screened and the VHS package is now available in Japan.

The Song of AIUEO (アイウエオの歌 AIUEO no Uta) is famous for being given a homage in the series Kimba the White Lion (ジャングル大帝 Janguru Taitei) by Osamu Tezuka. Tezuka had seen the film in April 1945. He later said that he was moved to tears by the movie's hints of dreams and hopes, hidden under the appearance of war propaganda.

• Production: Shochiku Moving Picture Laboratory
• Auspices: Naval Ministry of Japan
• Movie organization: Kiichiro Kumaki
• Script, Choreography, and Direction: Mitsuyo Seo
• Shadow play: Kenzo Masaoka
• Musical direction: Yuji Koseki
• Lyrics: Hachiro Sato
• Film Editor: Pauvre Pierrot
• Distributed by Scalera Film Coporation Inc.