"Any Bonds Today?" is a song written by

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Born in Imperial Russ ...

, featured in a 1942

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

propaganda film A propaganda film is a film that involves some form of propaganda. Propaganda films spread and promote certain ideas that are usually religious, political, or cultural in nature. A propaganda film is made with the intent that the viewer will ad ...

Cohen (2004), p. 40 starring

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Warner Bros. Cartoons, Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring role ...

. Both were used to sell

war bond War bonds (sometimes referred to as Victory bonds, particularly in propaganda) are debt securities issued by a government to finance military operations and other expenditure in times of war without raising taxes to an unpopular level. They are ...

s during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Song

"Any Bonds Today?" was based on Berlin's own "Any Yams Today," sung by

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...

in 1938's '' Carefree'', which in turn was a modified version of "Any Love Today," which he wrote in 1931 but didn't have recorded. Berlin wrote the tune "at the request" of Henry Morgenthau, Jr., then

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

, to promote the Treasury Department's defense bond and savings stamp drive, the National Defense Savings Program. The

United States Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and ...

adopted the piece as the official song of the National Defense Savings Program in 1941. Its copyright, held by Morgenthau, is dated June 16, 1941.Jones (2006), 198. Barry Wood introduced the song (along with another Berlin composition called "Arms for the Love of America") on Arsenal Day, June 10, 1941, at the

War College A war college is a senior military academy which is normally intended for veteran military officers and whose purpose is to educate and 'train on' senior military tacticians, strategists, and leaders. It is also often the place where advanced tact ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

; he also recorded the song in the same week for RCA Victor. Wood's performance of the song was the first broadcast on radio, "in late June 1941"; it was also performed by the Andrews Sisters, the

Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombo ...

Orchestra, Dick Robertson,

Kay Kyser James Kern Kyser (June 18, 1905 – July 23, 1985), known as Kay Kyser, was an American bandleader and radio personality of the 1930s and 1940s. Early years James Kern Kyser was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the son of pharmacists Emily ...

, and Gene Autry in the 1942 film '' Home in Wyomin'.'' Berlin signed over his royalty payments from the song to the war bond drive, as he did with several of his songs during the war.

Cartoon

The 90-second cartoon, commissioned by the Treasury, was designed to encourage movie theater audiences to buy defense bonds and stamps. Its title card identifies it as '' Leon Schlesinger Presents Bugs Bunny'',Cohen (2004), p. 40 but it is more widely known as "Any Bonds Today?" It was neither considered a '' Looney Tunes'' nor '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoon and was not part of the Bugs Bunny series (but a spin-off). Bob Clampett wrote and directed the film, which started production in late November 1941 and was completed eight days after the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...

. According to an article of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'', it took three weeks to complete. Counting from the drawing of the first sketch to the shipping of the first print.Cohen (2004), p. 40 The paper reported that production would typically last two months. It was reportedly produced "free of charge".Cohen (2004), p. 40 In it,

approaches the audience while fife-playing "

The Girl I Left Behind Me "The Girl I Left Behind", also known as "The Girl I Left Behind Me", is an English folk song dating back to the Elizabethan era. It is said to have been played when soldiers left for war or a naval vessel set sail. According to other sources ...

" on his carrot. He then sings a portion of Berlin's song against a patriotic backdrop, at one point going into a blackface

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Eizer Yoelson; June 9, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-American Jewish singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. He was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the 1920s, and was self-billed ...

. For the song's last refrain, he is joined by Porky Pig in a

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

uniform, and Elmer Fudd in

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

garb. The short ends with a graphic encouraging the audience "For defense, buy United States Savings Bonds and Stamps".Shull, Wilt (2004), p. 100-101 Another graphic briefly followed, reminding audiences they could buy bonds and stamps "At This Theatre". Because the short was made for the U.S. government, the short is automatically in the public domain in the United States.

Context

The cartoon was initially conceived to promote the sales of "defense bonds", which were renamed

s by the spring of 1942. Between feature films, or between the feature films and the animated shorts, the lights of the movie theater would come on and ushers would collect monetary contributions from the audience, to help finance the war effort.Sigall (2005), p. 54 Bonds and stamps were also available at the box office on a daily basis- "including Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays"- for the duration of the conflict.

Fat Elmer features

''Any Bonds Today?'' is also one of five cartoons featuring the Elmer Fudd modeled after his voice actor, Arthur Q. Bryan, which is fatter than the popular incarnation.

Sources

* * *

References

* Schneider, Steve (1990). ''That's All Folks!: The Art of Warner Bros. Animation''. Henry Holt & Co.

External links

*
Full lyrics to the song

includes partial lyrics, an audio clip and an edited version of the cartoon (does not include blackface sequence) * (full version) {{Irving Berlin songs 1942 films 1942 animated films 1942 short films American World War II propaganda shorts Blackface minstrel shows and films Films directed by Bob Clampett Songs of World War II Songs written by Irving Berlin Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films Bugs Bunny films Porky Pig films Warner Bros. short films Vitaphone short films Films produced by Leon Schlesinger Cultural depictions of Al Jolson 1940s Warner Bros. animated short films Film controversies African-American-related controversies in film Race-related controversies in animation Race-related controversies in film