Duck and Cover

1952 AnimationFamily 9 minutes Directed by Anthony Rizzo

Open in new tab

About Duck and Cover

Bert the Turtle walks down a road, smells a flower, and ducks into his shell when a monkey sets off a firecracker. He is unhurt. A chorus tells children to do the same. Live action then shows them dropping under desks and facing a wall when they see the flash of an atomic bomb.

Cast & crew

More about Duck and Cover

Anthony Rizzo directed this civil-defense short for the US Federal Civil Defense Administration. It mixes animation and live action. Carl Ritchie voices Bert. English Wikipedia dates the release to January 1952 and times the film at 9 minutes 15 seconds. Wikidata says 9 minutes. It was shown to schoolchildren through the 1950s.

Themes

  • duck and cover
  • a classroom drill
  • the flash of a bomb
  • Bert the Turtle
  • school desk
  • atomic bomb
  • civil defense
  • firecracker

Background

Made for American classrooms in 1952, during the early nuclear civil-defense campaign.

Look

Animation of Bert is cut against live-action drills of children dropping to the floor.

Preservation

Inducted into the National Film Registry in 2004.

Notes

  • The theme names him: "There was a turtle by the name of Bert, and Bert the turtle was very alert.
  • The monkey and the firecracker are the cartoon's stand-in for the blast.
  • The Library of Congress selected it for the National Film Registry in 2004.
  • The catalog's Internet Archive identifier is DuckandC1951.

Scenes

  • Bert pulls into his shell as the monkey's firecracker goes off.
  • Children crawl under desks and face a wall at the flash.

Also available

  • Internet Archive (DuckandC1951)
  • Wikimedia Commons (Duck and Cover 1440 x 1080 01836081.webm)

Quotes

There was a turtle by the name of Bert, and Bert the turtle was very alert.