| The Thrifty Pig | |
| Director: | Ford Beebe |
| Producer: | Walt Disney |
| Music: | Frank Churchill Paul J. Smith (reused music from The Practical Pig) |
| Studio: |
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| Distributor: |
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| Color Process: | Technicolor |
| Runtime: | 3:41 |
| Country: | Canada |
| Language: | English |
The Thrifty Pig (aka Thrifty Pig and Walt Disney's The Thrifty Pig) is a four-minute educational short animated film made by Walt Disney Studios for the National Film Board of Canada. A World War II propaganda film, it was released theatrically on November 19, 1941, as part of a series of four films directed at the Canadian public to learn about war bonds. The Thrifty Pig was directed by Ford Beebe. It is also a remake of the 1933 film of the same name.[1]
Practical Pig, Fiddler Pig, and Fifer Pig are three brothers who build their own houses with bricks, sticks, and straw respectively. Practical Pig warns his brothers to build their house with "War Savings Certificate" bricks so that the house will be a solid defence against the marauding Wolf. Fifer and Fiddler ignore him and continue to play, singing "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?".
As they are singing, the Big Bad Wolf in Nazi swastika regalia attacks the two spendthrifts and blows Fifer's straw house down. Fifer manages to escape and hides at Fiddler's stick house, but the Wolf also blows it down, forcing the pair to hide at Practical's brick house. The Wolf tries to blow down the strong brick house (losing his clothing in the process) but is unable to make much progress, as the bricks have made a strong foundation.
Finally, Practical Pig chases the wolf away in a flurry of bricks that unerringly hit the Nazi marauder in his rear. The three pigs then sing "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" but with the caution that their house has to be in order to keep the wolf away.
A pastiche of war scenes follows, each of which ends with a message (such as an aircraft shooting out the message "Invest in Victory"). Other messages show the importance of spending less as well as lending savings to create the weapons of war. They recommend purchasing war savings certificates, which are sold in a "Five for Four" arrangement.
With the outbreak of a global war, Walt Disney Studios felt a great pinch in their finances due to the loss of much of their European markets. This was further limited with the invasion of France by Nazi forces in 1940, which meant that the next Disney release Pinocchio (1940) was only dubbed in Spanish and Portuguese, a great deal fewer languages than previous Disney works.[2]
Due to this loss of profit, and losses on recent films, Disney studios faced a bleak outlook of a deficit of over half a million dollars, layoffs and pay cuts for the first time in the studio, and a $2.23 million ceiling on their credit allowance.[3] With bleak prospects, the studio was made into a corporation in April 1940, which raised $3.6 million to help pay off debts owed by the studio.[2] To enable his studios to keep afloat and producing films, Walt Disney sought out external funding to cover production costs, which would allow him to keep employees on the payroll and keep the studio working.[4]
On March 3, 1941, Disney invited over three dozen different representatives of various national defence industries to a lunch meeting, in an attempt to solicit work from them.[5] He followed this luncheon with formal letters offering work "for national defence industries at cost, and without profit. In making this offer, I am motivated solely by a desire to help as best I can in the present emergency".[6] Four Methods of Flush Riveting (1941) was first training film that was commissioned by Lockheed Aircraft.
In response to Disney's efforts, John Grierson, the head of the National Film Board of Canada entered into a co-production agreement for four animated films to promote the Canadian War Savings Plan.[7] In addition, a training film for the Canadian Army, that eventually became Stop That Tank! (1942) was commissioned.[8]
While intended for a theatrical audience, The Thrifty Pig, along with the other three films in the series, was effective in delivering its message to Canadians through their local War Savings Committee. When America entered the war, these shorts were later released as part of the eight bond drives in the United States.[9]
The short was released on May 18, 2004, on Walt Disney Treasures: Walt Disney on the Front Lines.[10]