Today's Video Link

I have in the past linked to several of the Private Snafu cartoons produced for the U.S. Army during World War II, primarily by the same folks making the Warner Brothers cartoons. Less well known is that that studio (Leon Schlesinger's company) also did a few shorts in a series for the U.S. Navy. It featured a a sailor named Mr. Hook and his voice was supplied by Arthur Lake, who was then appearing on-screen and on radio as Dagwood Bumstead in the Blondie series. Very little is known about the Hook series other than that Hank Ketcham, who later created the Dennis the Menace newspaper strip, was among the writers.

There were three or four Hook cartoons made. This one is called Tokyo Woes and it reportedly was directed by Bob Clampett, though I don't see a lot of his style evident in it. Apart from Hook, all the male voices are Mel Blanc, including the cameo of the Sad Sack character that Mel was then performing on radio. The female voice appears to be that of Sara Berner.

I guess I should warn you before you click that this is an extremely racist, Japanese-hating cartoon. Okay, you've been warned. Go ahead and click.