Mr Hook - Take Heed Mr. Tojo (1943)

Take Heed Mr. Tojo is the first of the wartime propaganda Hook Cartoons and it is a lot different from the last three. First, it was a color cartoon meant to raise bonds in America. As such, it was shown in regular theaters across the country to all audiences. Second, Mr. Hook just doesn't look or sound the same. Part of this is because the Walter Lantz folks had a different style than the Warner Brothers folks. Also, the voice talent is different, with Arthur Lake ("Dagwood") providing Hook's voice in the last three. And, because the last three cartoons were meant only to be shown to troops serving overseas, they saved a few bucks by producing them in glorious black and white. Additionally, Hook just acted differently in the later installments--much cuter and comical.

[@mikeshirer8198]

Awesome to see this! We have had in our family original 16mm reels of this feature. Every time we wanted a good laugh I’d haul out the projector and the family would watch and trade howls of laughter with gasps of the depictions of Japanese.

[@bunnybird9342]

Do you still have it?

[@mikeshirer8198]

@@bunnybird9342 yes I do

[@alexcarter8807]

War Bonds AKA US Savings Bonds. My Great-Aunt Mary swore by 'em. Well ... she never swore but you get the idea.

[@67nairb]

It's too bad Hideki Tojo was featured in this cartoon. Hook could've dropped a bomb on his prime minister's building in Tokyo and sent him straight to Hell.

[@bunnybird9342]

This was 2 years before the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Also I'm betting that the Japanese guy is just a generic Japanese guy and not Tojo himself (but again, the stereotypical anti-Japanese caricature from WWII propaganda was based on Tojo's likeness)

[@67nairb]

Excuse me. I meant to say it's too bad that Tojo "wasn''t" featured in this cartoon not "was." Sorry about thatt error. Tojo was probably more hated than Hitler in the United States. After all, he attacked us first not Hitler.@@bunnybird9342Actually, the Pearl Harbor attack was probably in preparation months before Tojo became prime minister. He just gave his approval, the go ahead for it.

[@bunnybird9342]

@@67nairb I wasn't saying that the cartoon was bad for that reason. I was just saying that despite this cartoon's name, Tojo himself never actually appears.

[@67nairb]

I never said the cartoon was bad. I was just pointing out the word mistake I made in my first post.@@bunnybird9342

[@ifeelsohungry]

Edgardo Negado B. Medinilla was died.

[@ifeelsohungry]

Huh?

[@gnikcohs]

Nice to see one of these in color. Hank Ketcham (creator of Dennis the Menace) character designed Mr Hook and the design was more or less maintained at Warner's so he has a similar look.

[@jonathanwilson5011]

This is the only Hook cartoon done at Walter Lantz's studio, directed by Shamus Culhane.

[@gnikcohs]

Jonathan Wilson Too bad they didn't do Snafu and Hook in color they look nice in Technicolor. Didn't know Culhane directed this.

[@jonathanwilson5011]

gnikcohs This is the only Hook cartoon released to the public. The Snafus & Hooks were just made for the men overseas, so they might not have any access to color for these types of films.

[@gnikcohs]

No doubt it was all about budget.