Best Family Movies of 1943

As Tom and Jerry stage their typical fight sequences, the patriotic soldier theme of the title is evidenced by such things as a carton of eggs labeled "Hen Grenades"; Jerry dropping light bulbs from an airplane like bombs; and Jerry sending a telegram with the message "Sighted Cat - Sank Same." Musical phrasings from various patriotic war songs are heard throughout.

Bugs challenges Cecil Turtle to race, only this time he's wearing an aerodynamic suit like Cecil's. Unfortunately, the gambling ring has bet everything on the rabbit, and Bugs now looks like a tortoise.

The wolf escapes from prison but can't get away from police dog Droopy no matter how hard he tries. This is the first cartoon starring Droopy.

On a tropical island a pair of castaways look to Bugs as a source of food.

Teenager Homer Macauley stays at home in small-town Ithaca to support his family while his older brother Marcus prepares to go to war.

Daffy is an agent representing Sleepy LaGoof, trying to sell him to talent scout Porky. Daffy spends a great deal of time and energy explaining and demonstrating what the kid can do, while the kid sits on a couch licking a giant sucker.

Two bumblers, failures as businessmen and air raid wardens, stumble across a nest of Nazi saboteurs bent on blowing up the local magnesium plant.

An exceedingly mild-mannered man is sent out to kill a duck for dinner by his wife. Unfortunately for him, he picks Daffy Duck as his victim. The two face off and do battle for the remainder of the cartoon.

Elmer threatens to give his dog a bath if he doesn't stop scratching, but the poor pooch is the victim of a hungry flea whose tools of the trade include pickaxes and dynamite.

It's a peaceful day at the local poultry farm until Foxy Loxy happens along intent on a chicken dinner. He takes the advice of a book on psychology by striking "the least intelligent" first and convinces dim witted Chicken Little the sky is falling. Chicken Little spreads the word but when head man Cocky Locky proves the story to be false, Foxy Loxy spreads rumors that Cocky Locky isn't the smart chicken he appears to be, which leads to the ultimate undoing of the chickens at the hands of Foxy Loxy.

Bugs Bunny becomes a superhero who does battle with a rabbit hating cowboy and horse.

Two buzzards suffer from acute food shortage and make up for it by cooking each other, or at least trying to.

A tuxedo-clad wolf Master of Ceremonies announces the evening's program: the tale of the Big Bad Wolf and the Three Little Pigs, set to the music of Johannes Brahms's Hungarian Dances. Queue the fairy tale.

Meadows the butler quits after being tormented by the spoiled family cat, who finds he is unable to survive on his own, especially after meeting the mice Hubie and Bertie.

During World War Two, Daffy Duck owns a junkyard which collects scrap metal to use in building weapons to continue the Allied fight against the Axis powers. Hitler reads about Daffy's scrap pile and about Daffy's stated intent to win the war with junk and, after throwing a fit and chewing a carpet like a mad dog, orders Daffy's scrap pile destroyed...

Sniffles the mouse's non-stop talking foils both the burglar and a tipsy Officer Bear, who's trying to sneak past his rolling pin-toting, sleepwalking wife.

Ken McLaughlin (Roddy McDowall) is a precocious 10-year-old who lives with his family on a remote Wyoming ranch. When Ken returns home from school with failing grades, his father, Rob (Preston Foster), blames the boy's lack of personal responsibility. At the suggestion of his wife, Nell (Rita Johnson), Rob allows Ken to choose a single colt from the herd to raise as his own. Much to his father's dismay, Ken chooses a fiery mustang filly -- but the two soon become fast friends.

Barney is settling in for his hibernation when a squirrel spots his bedtime snack: a bowl of walnuts. The squirrel sneaks in and wakes Barney up. Barney chases out the squirrel, who proceeds to drop first the nut, then himself, down Barney's noisy tin roof.

Once again, the mysterious minah bird hops his syncopated way into Inki's lion-hunting expedition. This time the little black bird has a new reality- defying way to disappear: he hops into a haystack which gradually (and with the same catchy hip-hop) shrinks down to a single straw, which vanishes.

Our Gang member Janet Burston believes that her family is neglecting her, so she decides to run away from home. The other gang members try to help Janet get adopted (or "adapted") by a more agreeable family, choosing a kindly elderly couple (Sarah Padden and Harry C. Bradley) for the honor.

Froggy hatches a plan to get Mickey, Buckwheat, and himself sent home from school early so they can go fishing. When the plan backfires, the boys decide to play hooky the next day. At the fishing hole, there are plenty of lunkers just waiting for the bait, but the boys have some comic trouble. After Buckwheat finds a new way to catch fish, an old man gives them a life lesson. Will they keep fishing or change their ways?

Mickey and Froggy are candidates running to be president of the Gang's club. When the vote continues to end in a tie, the club winds up split. Buckwheat then reminds everyone of the lessons learned from Abraham Lincoln when America was once divided.