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Swooner Crooner

by Nicholas Sammond

This 1944 Warner Bros. cartoon describes the intersection of popular culture and patriotism during WWII. Porky Pig operates a factory egg farm, the products of which support the war effort. Porky's hens, a not particularly generous parody of women defense workers, fall behind when they fall under the spell of rooster versions of Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby. While the crooning first causes the hens to walk off the job, its erotic delivery eventually stimulates them into prolific overproduction. The type of cartoon that would have horrified Horkheimer and Adorno, this short demonstrates the industrialization of war, and the imbrication of popular music into that military-industrial enterprise.

Swooner Crooner

by Nicholas Sammond

This 1944 Warner Bros. cartoon describes the intersection of popular culture and patriotism during WWII. Porky Pig operates a factory egg farm, the products of which support the war effort. Porky's hens, a not particularly generous parody of women defense workers, fall behind when they fall under the spell of rooster versions of Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby. While the crooning first causes the hens to walk off the job, its erotic delivery eventually stimulates them into prolific overproduction. The type of cartoon that would have horrified Horkheimer and Adorno, this short demonstrates the industrialization of war, and the imbrication of popular music into that military-industrial enterprise.

Swooner Crooner

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This 1944 cartoon features Raymond Scott’s anthem to industrialism, “Powerhouse.” Featuring caricatures of teen idols Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby, it parodies the shift of women workers into wartime manufacturing jobs.

from Merrie Melodies (1944)
Creator: Frank Tashlin
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Posted by Nicholas Sammond
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