When Rock Hudson and Jennifer Jones presented the award for best live action short film at The 30th Annual Academy Awards (1958), Hudson accidentally read the winner for the best animated short film instead, which was "Birds Anonymous". Shortly after John W. Burton accepted the award, Hudson and Jones read the nominees for the best animated short, followed by the winner for the best live action short.
The title refers to the national organization founded in California in 1957 based on the same 12 step principles as Alcoholics Anonymous to help people deal with alcohol addiction.
Although presented in a humorous way, the short nonetheless shows the constant struggle recovering addicts face in everyday life. Five years later, the 1962 film Days of Wine and Roses would bring a terrifying realism of addiction to cinema audiences in a groundbreaking story of alcoholism and how the AA program works.
As mid century design became more modern and streamlined, so did the background animation in cartoon shorts, though they were no less colorful.
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