The Return of Mr. Hook

This was my second look at "Mr. Hook" and since it had a similar theme as the first one I saw ("The Good Egg"), I obviously learned that this cartoon character was here mainly, if not solely, to promote the sale of war bonds during World War II. The U.S. Navy produced these 3-5-minute cartoons.

This one has the added talents of director Robert McKimson and the voice of Mel Blanc, adding to Arthur Lake's "Mr. Hook." You can tell because it looks pretty good and the voices are better than the other animated short I watched. Hank Ketcham, who gained fame with his "Dennis The Menace" comic strip, wrote the material here. Oddly, it isn't as funny you would think with this great talent behind it.

Mainly, Mr. Hook shows the audience, who saw this in the last year of The War, what practical things he can do when the war is over and he's a civilian again....such as finally getting out of his sailor's duds and dressing up with a new suit and hat so he can impress his girl "Choo Choo" and ask her to marry her. Then, money is needed for other incidental items, like a house, furniture, marriage, kids, etc..

Note: The cartoon ran three minutes and 50 seconds, not two minutes as stated here on the title page (not that it's important)..

This is the first cartoon Mckimson directed. It was made for the U.S. Navy and stars a character named Hook. Similar to the Pvt. SNAFU cartoons, it was meant to teach the sailors various lessons of Navy life. In the cartoon we see illustrated Hook's plans about using his war bond savings to fulfill his postwar dreams. These are presented in a rather mainstream and pedestrian manner. Compared to the innovative use of graphics of Chuck Jones' SNAFU cartoons or UPA's industrial films of the same period and you realize how staid Mckimson's approach really is. There is also very little comedy present, the story being told in a straightforward fashion, unlike Clampett who would sugar coat his lessons to the soldiers with outrageous ribald humor. Hook's design is very cartoony, but the animation doesn't reflect this and instead is done in a very literal style. Hook's fellow crewmen are drawn in a realistic manner, which contrasts uncomfortably with Hook. One can see in this cartoon all of the qualities that would later plague Mckimson's cartoons of the fifties. For a first time director this is a polished and professional product, presented without any flair.

This is the last of the Mr. Hook cartoons made for the Navy I watched on YouTube. In this one, he tells his fellow sailors what he plans to do with the war bonds he bought, like getting married, raising a family, etc. This was supposedly Robert McKimson's first as director. There weren't too many gags I thought was funny though I really liked the one where the doorway is shaped like someone carrying his bride over the threshold with Hook doing just that with his new bride! I should now note that the character was created by Hank Ketcham who would later draw and write the comic strip "Dennis the Menace". Oh, and the voice of Hook, Arthur Lake, had made these cartoons between the one and a half year hiatus between Blondie movie entries. He also made various live action movies during that same period. So on that note, The Return of Mr. Hook was an amusing enough short. Incidentally, both Lake and the previous voice of Hook-George O'Hanlon-would both team with Penny Singleton-Lake on the Blondie movie and radio series and O'Hanlon on the animated series "The Jetsons".

Robert McKimson had worked as a dependable animator and model design specialist at the Warner Bros. cartoon unit for a full fifteen years before receiving his first directorial assignment, "The Return of Mr. Hook." Mr. Hook appeared in three very short black and white cartoons and one color item made for the U.S. Navy; he was created by Hank Ketcham, later of "Dennis the Menace" fame. Hook was a thinly disguised version of the Army's Private Snafu, with a piggish, turned up nose being the major difference in his appearance. In this outing, he explains to his fellow sailors -- who are in the midst of gambling -- his post-war plans and illustrates how buying war bonds play into an integral part of his dreams for the future.

McKimson probably got the go ahead for this project as the war was seen as ending relatively soon, and the Navy needed this one in a hurry. His boss, Frank Tashlin, was up to his own nose in projects already and, indeed, McKimson would not direct again until he overtook the unit in the wake of Tashlin's departure the following year. McKimson's first job at direction once he assumed control was to finish "Daffy Doodles," a cartoon that Tashlin had started, and likewise "The Return of Mr. Hook" follows very closely in Tashlin's footsteps, particularly in the breathless middle section where Hook reunites with his sweetheart, buys furnishings for their home, marries her and settles down to start a family in just over two minutes' screen time.

The most effective sequence in the cartoon is the montage when the end of war is declared; the battleships race back from the Pacific theater to the US and Hook propels himself past the crowd -- and the burlesque house -- to the tailor's to transition back into civilian life. Hook's character -- voiced by "Dagwood" actor Arthur Lake -- is presented as an everyman, but actually comes off as kind of a jerk. There is a nod to the spicy humor employed in Private Snafu and designed to strike the funny-bones of hardened military men, but "The Return of Mr. Hook" stops short of the coarser, "freeze the nuts off a jeep" similes employed in U.S. Army subjects. Nevertheless, it is the message, rather than the humor, that is driving this picture, and it succeeds effectively in that, though for a seaman stationed on an aircraft carrier or battleship out in the Pacific all those many months, the card game may have seemed more attractive.

This is a cute little WWII propaganda film that was made with American servicemen in mind. It is a cute little cartoon that extols the virtue of investing your monthly stipend in war bonds. Since it was not intended to be seen by the general public but only by servicemen, there are two things you'll notice. First, to save money, unlike other Warner Brothers cartoons, this one is in black & white--a money-saving maneuver. Second, as impressionable children wouldn't see it, the jokes are a tad risqué--at least by WWII standards. There are lots of hints at sex--which makes a lot of sense considering the soldiers were no doubt preoccupied with it! The film consists of cute Mr. Hook teaching his fellow sailors not to waste their money gambling but investing in bonds. It does so with a great sense of humor and is quite charming. Well done.