The Carpenters

Someone should put this one on a collection of WWII animation, though the only known print may (or may not) be in the garage of its late director. Paul Fennell said that there was nearly a riot in the aftermath of the Westwood premiere, as this very pro-war animated cartoon made its debut several months prior to the U.S. entering the global conflict and the country's sentiments were then far from united on the subject. In fact, shouts of "Warmonger!" were heard in the night from some departing patrons. "The Carpenters" is absolutely worth a look, if only for its historical significance and high level of craft. Paul Fennell later made many interesting wartime animated films for the U.S. government, with a young and talented crew, most of which unfortunately aren't available for viewing at this point anywhere. Fennell later ran his own TV commercial studio and lived into the 1980s.

With the death of Charles Mintz, Columbia Pictures was left without a source of cartoons to package to their markets. They gave Paul Fennell a trial and he produced this cartoon and two short current events cartoons before Columbia gave up on him or he left -- there's no way to be sure. Columbia's cartoon production went through at least four regimes before they settled on a longterm contract with UPA in the late 1940s.

THE CARPENTERS is a well-executed if standard cartoon for the era. It concerns two carpenters building a house under the eye of their short-tempered contractor. There's a big, dumb guy, a short smart guy and a plethora of the usual gags, from polishing a pane of glass that isn't there to drawing a door on a wall and then opening and walking through it. The gags are well timed and it was clearly intended as the start of a series, since the three characters are shown in portrait and named before the action starts. It's not great, but it was a solid start for a new studio. It's a pity it got no further.