Tex Avery on Appeasement (UPDATED)
Everyone tempted to endorse or adopt the recommendations of the Baker/Hamilton Iraq Study Group--i.e. appeasement of Iran and Syria--needs to look at the first five minutes of this 1942 cartoon. It should also be required viewing for European heads of state:
Question: There are a bunch of little musical jokes throughout the score here, some of which I get, some I don't. At about two minutes in, right after they read the treaty signed by "Adolf Wolf", there's a loud, brassy chorus of what sounds like "Bright College Years"--Yale's fight song, if I'm not mistaken. It's not the theme for the wolf, which I believe is a snippet of "Have you ever seen a laddie" usually in the bass instruments. Are they trying to say something there? Is it that the third little pig's a smart guy for recognizing the treaty is worthless? Or was that just a recognizable tune to people in 1942?
MORE: I notice that right before that, as the other two little pigs insist that "we signed a treaty with him!" the tune is London Bridge is Falling Down. Clever.
UPDATED: Well, this makes sense. From Hondo in the comments:
The tune of “Bright College Years” comes from “Die Wacht am Rhein,” a German patriotic song.Martial and patriotic. It might be particularly familiar to 1942 viewers because of this scene, too:
Ain't blogging neat?
PS If the video isn't showing up for you--it's not for me right now, it's a YouTube problem--here's a direct link.