Any Bonds Today?
About Any Bonds Today?
Bugs Bunny faces the audience and plays "The Girl I Left Behind Me" on a carrot as if it were a fife. He sings Irving Berlin's "Any Bonds Today?" against a patriotic backdrop, and for a stretch he performs it in blackface as an Al Jolson parody. Porky Pig, in a Navy uniform, and Elmer Fudd, in an Army uniform, join the last refrain. The short ends on a card telling the audience to buy United States Savings Bonds and Stamps for defense, then a second card: "At This Theatre."
Cast & crew
More about Any Bonds Today?
Bob Clampett wrote and directed the short for Leon Schlesinger. Warner Bros. and Vitaphone released it on April 2, 1942, in Technicolor. Drawing started in late November 1941. The Hollywood Reporter said the short was finished in three weeks, from first sketch to first print, and was produced free of charge. It was done eight days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Animators were Virgil Ross, Robert McKimson, Gerry Chiniquy, and Rod Scribner.
Themes
Background
The short was in production before Pearl Harbor and was shipped just after it, as a theater trailer for the bond drive rather than as a story cartoon.
Making
The Treasury used the song and the cartoon together to sell war bonds. A typical Schlesinger short took about two months. This one was pushed through in three weeks.
Music
Irving Berlin wrote "Any Bonds Today?" Bugs opens by playing "The Girl I Left Behind Me" on a carrot.
Notes
- Mel Blanc voices Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig. Arthur Q. Bryan voices Elmer Fudd.
- Berlin based "Any Bonds Today?" on "Any Yams Today," which Ginger Rogers sang in Carefree (1938). That tune came from his unrecorded 1931 song "Any Love Today.
- IMDb also lists the short as Bugs Bunny Bond Rally.
- The closing card reads "For defense, buy United States Savings Bonds and Stamps.
Scenes
- Bugs plays a carrot like a fife.
- He sings a chorus in blackface, parodying Al Jolson.
- Porky in Navy blue and Elmer in Army khaki join the last refrain.
Influenced by
- Any Yams Today
Quotes
For defense, buy United States Savings Bonds and Stamps.
