The Saber and Scroll Journal Volume 8, Number 2, Winter 2019 | Page 95

and Scroll
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genre. Through Streamline’s skepticism
and pessimism, many Americans could
“hear their hopes and their fears echoing
back from the movie screen.” 66
Walt Disney and the Warner
Brothers found success amid the economic
crisis of the 1930s because of
their cartoons’ ability to cater to the
average American audience. The lines
between economic classes blurred
during the Great Depression as the entire
nation suffered in varying degrees
for a decade. The class lines also blurred
when it came to popular culture. The
line between the high culture of art and
movie houses and the “low culture” of
raucous neighborhood theaters almost
ceased to exist after the stock market
crashed.
While Warner Bros. and Disney
competed fiercely with one another—
and with Warner Bros. and Universal
often giving cheeky answers to Disney
characters and fairytales—the hundreds
of cartoon shorts pushed out of
these two studios provided cheap, digestible
entertainment for millions of
Americans looking for a temporary escape
from reality. Even as entertaining
escapes, these quirky characters and
silly storylines reflected the mood of
America during the Depression. Many
showed hopeless heroes’ triumphs,
most were family-friendly, some gave
adults reasons to laugh at naughty jokes,
and some poked fun at other cartoons,
political figures, and the news. They set
a standard for future movie studios to
achieve when it came to giving Americans
the entertainment they wanted
and needed, and their animated shorts