The Saber and Scroll Journal Volume 8, Number 2, Winter 2019 | Page 93

w Disney and Warner Bros. Animation
ans During the Great Depression
3
many more Warner Bros. characters to
follow. 56 He was the original inspiration
for Warner Bros. characters, like Bugs
Bunny and Daffy Duck, who “put into
question the very idea of a hero.” 57 In
his debut, Bosko is a bit of a parody of
Mickey Mouse, using streams of water
as instruments and with his bathtub
and car being sentient beings. He was
Warner Bros.’ answer to Mickey and
often parodies fantasy musical shorts.
One long scene in Sinkin’ in the Bathtub
can be interpreted as an attempt to
imbue a bit of hope amid the Depression.
At one point, Bosko and his girl
are tumbling down a hill, then down a
tree trunk, hitting every obstacle on the
way, with no relief in sight. When they
finally do stop, they land back in the
bathtub, ready to sing and play lily pads
as drums. 58
While Disney’s cartoons turned
to the fantasy world to comment on
real-life issues, Warner Bros. “allowed
their cartoon characters to interact with
and comment on the events and trends
of the day” more directly. 59 In Holiday
Highlights from 1940, the cartoon traces
various holidays throughout the year
with some snark. June is graduation
season, and as a young man receives his
diploma, the presenter tells him he is
“now equipped to take your place in society.
Good luck!” Still in his graduation
garb, the young man marches off stage
and immediately into the breadline. 60
When the cartoon gets to Thanksgiving,
two dates are given: one for Democrats
and one for Republicans. This
was a comment on the 1939 presidential
declaration that wanted to shift the
Thanksgiving holiday back one week