The Stork's Holiday

The birth rate is dropping and it's a big mystery. Dr. Stork has gone missing. He recounts a harrowing encounter with anti-aircraft guns and the reason why he's taking a long vacation for the duration.

I'm not sure if this is actually funny. I'm also not sure if this is NOT funny. This is two years after anti-aircraft batteries were saving London from the Blitz. I guess it's now the Germans who are shooting down American bombers. The question then becomes where the Stork was delivering the babies. I can see how someone was pitching an idea to equate a Stork with American bomber planes. I'm just not sure if it's the right idea.

This was one of a number of cartoons from MGM that uses World War II as a significant aspect of the cartoon. While most cartoons produced during the war had referential material (like, "Is this trip really necessary?"), relatively few revolved around the war itself. This cartoon would not have been made (indeed, probably could not have been made) without the war as background. The key premise is triggered by the war. The idea of the stork "closed for the duration" means no more births, which carries as many and as far-reaching consequences as the idea that death might stop. Not a particularly subtle cartoon, there being a war on at the time. But it's still a cute and fascinating cartoon that also has some fairly thought-provoking ideas to consider. Maybe it's just me. Well worth watching. Recommended.

"The Stork's Holiday" is a cartoon from MGM that you rarely see today. This is likely because of the subject matter, as it's clearly a WWII propaganda cartoon and was definitely a product of its times.

When the story begins, the stork has decided enough is enough...he'll deliver no more babies. This is because when flying over Axis Europe, he was attacked! However, his conscience convinces him to try again...and like the previous time, he's attacked.

This is only a fair cartoon because it was so fixed on being propaganda that it forgot to get laughs...something you'd expect with a cartoon. The animation is fine...but it's more a curiosity than a film you should rush to see.

The Stork is strongly considering taking time off from his job delivering babies. It's tough enough during peace time, but during war time, getting through the defenses against Luftwaffe attacks -- or a foray by the Seagram Submarine -- means he's taking his life in his hands for every batch of kittens, not to mention the threat to his battered top hat.

It's one of the occasional cartoons by George Gordon. Gordon was one of the first animators that Fred Quimby hired when he was told to start a cartoon department at MGM. While he had the needed talent, he never seemed to be able to produce in any volume. This one has some nice bits, including character design -- always a strong point of Gordon's work -- but it has aged poorly due to its wartime content.

During WWII, the birth rate dropped and this obscure cartoon provides a clever explanation, the Stork quit. He recalls getting ambushed by anti-aircraft missiles while making a routine delivery.

This would be George Gordon's only direction screen credit. The five cartoons he directed take a lot of inspiration from the Donald and Pluto shorts from this timeframe. Specifically the basic situations. They have a distinctive style from Avery and Hanna-Barbera, but still maintain the MGM house style.

Disney story veterans Otto Englander and Webb Smith are credited as the writers for this short. The suspenseful mood of Disney's darker films carries over here. The anthropomorphic weapons and military equipment looks reminiscent of some of Disney's propaganda films from the same timeframe. The fact that there's little movement or expression makes them menacing, while still cartoony at the same time. The most clever touches of the film.

While a product of WWII, it's more entertaining and timely nowadays, because of the baby boom that would come just two years later.

A very richly illustrated gem, worth seeking out.