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Disney Dons Dogtags: The Best of Disney Military Insignia from World War II
Swamped in World War II with requests from the military to use the world-famous Disney characters in creating distinctive unit insignia, the Disney Studio had to set up a special five-man crew of artists to meet the demand for designs. "They meant a lot to the men who were fighting," said Walt Disney. "How could you turn them down?" Imaginative, colorful, and well-executed, these insignia occupy a unique place in Disney history.
Over a five-year period, as a contribution to the war effort, the Studio created some 1,200 insignia, the best of which have been selected for this volume - the first comprehensive survey of this relatively unknown body of Disney art. For the most part, these delightful designs exist today only as fifty-year-old color transparencies or black-and-white photos in the Disney Archives, the originals having been sent directly to their respective units during the war. Nevertheless, period reproductions of the originals can still be found in wartime Disney comic books, on matchbook covers, poster stamps, and, indeed, the leather and woven patches that were inspired by the art - all of which are now very collectible.
It is a tribute to the success of the Disney animators in giving believable personalities to "drawings that move" that some well-known cartoon figures were suitable for military service while others were not. For instance, Donald Duck appeared in more than two hundred designs - his famous temper fit him for militant postures - while the lovable, bashful Mickey Mouse was rarely called upon except for home front causes. Where no Disney character quite fit the bill, the studio happily created new ones, as in the case of the well-known symbols for the Flying Tigers, the Mosquito Fleet, and the Seabees.
In addition to being of interest to Disney enthusiasts and collectors - imagine, after all these years, opening a treasure trove of forgotten Disney artwork - this book definitely will appeal to military buffs and veterans, especially during the marking of World War II's fiftieth anniversary.
Over a five-year period, as a contribution to the war effort, the Studio created some 1,200 insignia, the best of which have been selected for this volume - the first comprehensive survey of this relatively unknown body of Disney art. For the most part, these delightful designs exist today only as fifty-year-old color transparencies or black-and-white photos in the Disney Archives, the originals having been sent directly to their respective units during the war. Nevertheless, period reproductions of the originals can still be found in wartime Disney comic books, on matchbook covers, poster stamps, and, indeed, the leather and woven patches that were inspired by the art - all of which are now very collectible.
It is a tribute to the success of the Disney animators in giving believable personalities to "drawings that move" that some well-known cartoon figures were suitable for military service while others were not. For instance, Donald Duck appeared in more than two hundred designs - his famous temper fit him for militant postures - while the lovable, bashful Mickey Mouse was rarely called upon except for home front causes. Where no Disney character quite fit the bill, the studio happily created new ones, as in the case of the well-known symbols for the Flying Tigers, the Mosquito Fleet, and the Seabees.
In addition to being of interest to Disney enthusiasts and collectors - imagine, after all these years, opening a treasure trove of forgotten Disney artwork - this book definitely will appeal to military buffs and veterans, especially during the marking of World War II's fiftieth anniversary.
96 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1992
26 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 10, 2025
Little known contribution Disney made to WW II. I always like to read about 'intersections' that occur in culture; I never knew that Disney had anything to do with military insignia during WW II. Truth be told I kind of noticed the animation style that was used; but this book is the first that I have read that makes this fascinating connection.
October 17, 2016
A coffee table browsing book about Disney's artistic contribution to WWII insignias. The information is slight, but very intriguing and not mentioned in many other reference materials. For example, Donald Duck was naturally the most prolific of the characters requested for war insignias, due to his combative nature, but the rest of the book is divided up into other animals and the military branches they are often assigned to. Flower (from Bambi) was hilariously drawn for chemical platoons, Pluto was for retrieval or pointer units, California stationed military often got their state animal, the bear, Dumbo became a popular bomber request. And oddly Disney's animators didn't do many of the (in)famous pinup girls known in military insignia.
It's unfortunate that there isn't a more comprehensive book out there for this interesting joining of childhood imagination and adulthood's gritty reality, but the design of the book is nice. Unfortunately many of the pictures are uncredited so military enthusiasts will be disappointed, but those looking to see a glimpse of animation history won't mind as long as the pictures are given center stage.
It's unfortunate that there isn't a more comprehensive book out there for this interesting joining of childhood imagination and adulthood's gritty reality, but the design of the book is nice. Unfortunately many of the pictures are uncredited so military enthusiasts will be disappointed, but those looking to see a glimpse of animation history won't mind as long as the pictures are given center stage.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 25, 2021
I will guess that many of us have this on their bookshelf, but like myself may have only looked at the illustrations. That's very easy to do with our reference material. So while my computer has been warming up over the last couple of nights, I pulled it off the shelf to take a closer look at it.
My first comment is that this is not your standard military insignia reference. It is more of an art book, and even classified as such by some book dealers.
The insignia are not organized by type of unit, geographical location, or in a strict chronological order.
For the short narrative history, some of the patches are presented in a sequence that supports how Disney Studios first joined the war effort and then eventually got into the unit insignia business. At their height of this effort, five artists were devoted full time to answering unit requests and creating these emblems.
However, the latter portion of the book has the insignia organized by common characters, or themes... such as cats. That is not normal for a book about military collecting, and it makes it more difficult to find the insignia for a specific unit.
With that said, what did I learn from this book?
Disney insignia were not only made for US units, but also for a small number of UK (RAF an Royal Navy), Canadian, Free French and Free Polish Forces.
Going by what was included in the book, a large number of these insignia seemed to have been made for stateside units. That might just be based on the one's chosen for illustration.
Thought was given as to what characters were suited for which units, and vice versa. Mickey, for example, was not considered particularly belligerent or warlike, so was often reserved for Home Front activities. Donald Duck, on the other hand, with his fierce temper, was considered perfect for fighting units.
Naval units, in particular submarines named after fish, presented a problem for the Disney staff... mainly because prior to World War II the Disney universe was notably lacking in aquatic creatures.
Requests for insignia came from high and low, including Captain Lord Lewis Mountbatten.
The book recites some interesting statistics as to who were the most popular characters for insignia with, you guessed it, Donald Duck leading the pack. Oddly, female characters were few and far in between.
There were a few shortcomings as well.
Some insignia are shown but not identified.
Some iconic insignia are included, but without the story behind them, such as the famous Stalag Luft III "I Wanted Wings". I believe we have actually had the story of that one here on the USMF.
Some of the insignia are shown in black and white, possibly because the color versions no longer exist.
While most of the insignia are shown in a reasonable size, some of them are a bit small and used as space fillers. And, not surprising for an art book, many of them overlap, which unfortunately cuts out part of the shapes.
The full title of the book is "Disney Dons Dogtags: The Best of Disney Military Insignia From WWII". For a collector, that just leaves you wondering about the ones that didn't make the book.
With that said, for years it has been the best printed reference book available for Disney insignia.
And for it's lack of organization, it is a fun book! It almost reminds you of those Disney Golden Books you had as a kid.
And while the narrative is not extensive, there is enough information there to give you the basic facts about these unique insignia.
One downfall if you don't already have a copy is price and availability. Amazon has used copies available starting at $46 currently.
Although printed in 1992, both the pages and binding hold up very well. It is printed on a semi-gloss stock, and my copy does not show a bit of aging.
If World War II is your area of interest I recommend it. If you just like unique insignia, it's equally worth your time. And if you are just simply a Disney fan, it sheds light on a very unique time in the company's history and contributions to America.
My first comment is that this is not your standard military insignia reference. It is more of an art book, and even classified as such by some book dealers.
The insignia are not organized by type of unit, geographical location, or in a strict chronological order.
For the short narrative history, some of the patches are presented in a sequence that supports how Disney Studios first joined the war effort and then eventually got into the unit insignia business. At their height of this effort, five artists were devoted full time to answering unit requests and creating these emblems.
However, the latter portion of the book has the insignia organized by common characters, or themes... such as cats. That is not normal for a book about military collecting, and it makes it more difficult to find the insignia for a specific unit.
With that said, what did I learn from this book?
Disney insignia were not only made for US units, but also for a small number of UK (RAF an Royal Navy), Canadian, Free French and Free Polish Forces.
Going by what was included in the book, a large number of these insignia seemed to have been made for stateside units. That might just be based on the one's chosen for illustration.
Thought was given as to what characters were suited for which units, and vice versa. Mickey, for example, was not considered particularly belligerent or warlike, so was often reserved for Home Front activities. Donald Duck, on the other hand, with his fierce temper, was considered perfect for fighting units.
Naval units, in particular submarines named after fish, presented a problem for the Disney staff... mainly because prior to World War II the Disney universe was notably lacking in aquatic creatures.
Requests for insignia came from high and low, including Captain Lord Lewis Mountbatten.
The book recites some interesting statistics as to who were the most popular characters for insignia with, you guessed it, Donald Duck leading the pack. Oddly, female characters were few and far in between.
There were a few shortcomings as well.
Some insignia are shown but not identified.
Some iconic insignia are included, but without the story behind them, such as the famous Stalag Luft III "I Wanted Wings". I believe we have actually had the story of that one here on the USMF.
Some of the insignia are shown in black and white, possibly because the color versions no longer exist.
While most of the insignia are shown in a reasonable size, some of them are a bit small and used as space fillers. And, not surprising for an art book, many of them overlap, which unfortunately cuts out part of the shapes.
The full title of the book is "Disney Dons Dogtags: The Best of Disney Military Insignia From WWII". For a collector, that just leaves you wondering about the ones that didn't make the book.
With that said, for years it has been the best printed reference book available for Disney insignia.
And for it's lack of organization, it is a fun book! It almost reminds you of those Disney Golden Books you had as a kid.
And while the narrative is not extensive, there is enough information there to give you the basic facts about these unique insignia.
One downfall if you don't already have a copy is price and availability. Amazon has used copies available starting at $46 currently.
Although printed in 1992, both the pages and binding hold up very well. It is printed on a semi-gloss stock, and my copy does not show a bit of aging.
If World War II is your area of interest I recommend it. If you just like unique insignia, it's equally worth your time. And if you are just simply a Disney fan, it sheds light on a very unique time in the company's history and contributions to America.
April 2, 2013
four stars for the pictures. two for the information.
many of the patches aren't captioned either character (p91 - obviously horace horsecollar) or service. no index. some of the patches look like heckle or jeckle - not disney (p48). this will work as a gift book for someone just wanting some disney photos and will make you curious for a much thicker, annotated version.
many of the patches aren't captioned either character (p91 - obviously horace horsecollar) or service. no index. some of the patches look like heckle or jeckle - not disney (p48). this will work as a gift book for someone just wanting some disney photos and will make you curious for a much thicker, annotated version.
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