''The Thrifty Pig'' (aka ''Thrifty Pig'' and ''Walt Disney's The Thrifty Pig'') is a 1941 four-minute educational

short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...

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

made by the Walt Disney Studios, for the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

. The film was released theatrically on November 19, 1941, as part of a series of four films directed at the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

public to learn about

war bonds 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 a ...

during the

Second World War 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 opposin ...

. ''The Thrifty Pig'' was directed by

Ford Beebe Ford Beebe (November 26, 1888 – November 26, 1978) was a screenwriter and Film director, director. He entered the film business as a writer around 1916 and over the next 60 years wrote and/or directed almost 200 films. He specialized in B-movi ...

. It is also a remake of the 1933 film of the same name ''The Thrifty Pig'' features reused and reconfigured animation from ''

Three Little Pigs "The Three Little Pigs" is a fable about three pigs who build three houses of different materials. A Big Bad Wolf blows down the first two pigs' houses which made of straw and sticks respectively, but is unable to destroy the third pig's house t ...

'' (1933). Although in production prior to 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, j ...

, the film is an example of a

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 opposin ...

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 ...

Plot

Practical Pig, Fiddler Pig and Fifer Pig are three brothers who build their own houses with bricks, sticks and straw respectively. Practical Pig warns his brothers to build their house with "War Savings Certificate" bricks so that the house will be a solid defence against the marauding

Wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

. Fifer and Fiddler ignore him and continue to play, singing "

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" is a popular song written by Frank Churchill with additional lyrics by Ann Ronell, which originally featured in the 1933 Disney cartoon ''Three Little Pigs'', where it was sung by Fiddler Pig and Fifer Pig (voi ...

". As they are singing, the Big Bad Wolf in

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. It ...

regalia attacks the two spendthrifts and blows Fifer's straw house down. Fifer manages to escape and hides at Fiddler's stick house but the Wolf also blows it down. The two pigs run and hide at Practical's brick house. The Wolf then tries to blow down the strong brick house (losing his clothing in the process) but is unable to make much progress, as the bricks have made a strong foundation. Finally, Practical Pig chases the wolf away in a flurry of bricks that unerringly hit the Nazi marauder in his rear. The three pigs then sing "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" but with the caution that their house has to be in order to keep the wolf away. A pastiche of war scenes follows, each of which ends with a message (such as an aircraft shooting out the message "Invest in Victory"). Other messages show the importance of spending less as well as lending savings to create the weapons of war. They recommend purchasing war savings certificates, which are sold in a "Five for Four" arrangement,

Characters

* Three Little Pigs (voiced by

Pinto Colvig Vance DeBar Colvig Sr. (September 11, 1892 – October 3, 1967), professionally Pinto Colvig, was an American voice actor, newspaper cartoonist, and circus and vaudeville performer whose schtick was playing the clarinet off-key while mugging. Co ...

Mary Moder Mary Moder (1905 – 1993) was an American voice actress for The Walt Disney Company known for the voice of the Fiddler Pig in the ''Three Little Pigs'' short subjects. She was a member of the vocal trio the Rhythmettes, which also included Bonni ...

and

Dorothy Compton Dorothy Compton was an American voice actress born in the early 1900s. An early friend of Walt Disney, she made her first acting debut in ''The Three Little Pigs'' (1933) as the voice of Fifer Pig. From 1933 onward she made more appearances in th ...

) * Big Bad Wolf (as a

Nazi German Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

) (voiced by

Billy Bletcher William Bletcher (September 24, 1894 – January 5, 1979) was an American actor. He was known for voice roles for various classic animated characters, most notably Pete in Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse short films and the Big Bad Wolf in Disney' ...

)

Production

With the outbreak of a global war, Walt Disney Studios felt a great pinch in their finances due to the loss of much of their European markets. This was further limited with the

invasion of France France has been invaded on numerous occasions, by foreign powers or rival French governments; there have also been unimplemented invasion plans. * the 1746 War of the Austrian Succession, Austria-Italian forces supported by the British navy attemp ...

by Nazi forces in 1940, which meant that the next Disney release ''

Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...

'' (1940) was only dubbed in Spanish and Portuguese, a great deal fewer languages than previous Disney works.Barrier 2003, p. 272. Due to this loss of profit, and losses on recent films, Disney studios faced a bleak outlook of a deficit of over half a million dollars, layoffs and pay cuts for the first time in the studio, and a $2.23 million ceiling on their credit allowance. With bleak prospects, the studio was made into a corporation in April 1940, which raised $3.6 million to help pay off debts owed by the studio. To enable his studios to keep afloat and producing films, Walt Disney sought out external funding to cover production costs, which would allow him to keep employees on the payroll and keep the studio working.Cheu 2013, p. 27. On March 3, 1941, Disney invited over three dozen different representatives of various national defence industries to a lunch meeting, in an attempt to solicit work from them. He followed this luncheon with formal letters offering work “For national defence industries at cost, and without profit. In making this offer, I am motivated solely by a desire to help as best I can in the present emergency.”Barrier 2003, p. 360. ''Four Methods of Flush Riveting'' (1941) was first training film that was commissioned by

Lockheed Aircraft Lockheed (originally spelled Loughead) may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Lockheed Corporation, a former American aircraft manufacturer * Lockheed Martin, formed in 1995 by the merger of Lockheed Corporation and Martin Marietta ** Lockheed Ma ...

. In response to Disney's efforts,

John Grierson John Grierson (26 April 1898 – 19 February 1972) was a pioneering Scottish documentary maker, often considered the father of British and Canadian documentary film. In 1926, Grierson coined the term "documentary" in a review of Robert J. Fla ...

, the head of the National Film Board of Canada entered into a co-production agreement for four animated films to promote the Canadian War Savings Plan. In addition, a training film for the Canadian Army, that eventually became '' Stop That Tank!'' (1942) was commissioned.St. Pierre, Marc
"70 years of animation, Part 1 – When animation marches off to war."
''NFB.ca'', 2011. Retrieved: March 7, 2016.

Reception

While intended for a theatrical audience, ''The Thrifty Pig'', along with the other three films in the series, was effective in delivering its message to Canadians through their local War Savings Committee. When America entered the war, these shorts were later released as part of the eight bond drives in the United States.

Home media

The short was released on May 18, 2004 on '' Walt Disney Treasures: Walt Disney on the Front Lines''.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Barrier, Michael. ''Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in its Golden Age''. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. . * Cheu, Johnson. (Ed.). ''Diversity in Disney Films: Critical Essays on Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Sexuality and Disability''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2013. . * Gabler, Neal. ''Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination''. New York: Vintage, 2007. . * Maltin, Leonard. ''The Disney Films'' (4th Edition). New York: JessieFilms Ltd., 2000. . * Shull, Michael S. and David E. Wilt. ''Doing Their Bit: Wartime American Animated Short Films, 1939-1945'' (2nd ed.) Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers, 2004. . * Telotte, J. P. ''Animating Space: From Mickey to WALL-E''. United States: The University Press of Kentucky, 2010. . * Van Riper, Bowdoin A. ''Learning from Mickey, Donald and Walt: Essays on Disney’s Edutainment films''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2011. .

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thrifty Pig, The 1941 short films 1941 animated films 1940s Disney animated short films Films directed by Ford Beebe Films produced by Walt Disney National Film Board of Canada animated short films Canadian World War II propaganda shorts Films based on The Three Little Pigs Canadian animated short films Quebec films 1940s English-language films Films about pigs Films about wolves 1940s Canadian films National Film Board of Canada short films Canadian educational films Canadian comedy short films