Post-WW2 US Navy Re-Enlistment Cartoon | Sailor and the Seagull | 1949

● Please SUPPORT my work on Patreon: https://bit.ly/2LT6opZ ● Visit my 2ND CHANNEL: https://bit.ly/2ILbyX8 ►Facebook: https://bit.ly/2INA7yt ►Twitter: https://bit.ly/2Lz57nY ►Google+: https://bit.ly/2IPz7dl ✚ Watch my "Military Training Films" PLAYLIST: https://bit.ly/2G6XIrN This classic comic cartoon – originally titled as "The Sailor and the Seagull" – is an animated U.S. Navy training film. It was released in 1949 with a simple goal: encouraging WW2 sailors to re-enlist in the Navy after World War 2. The cartoon features a disgruntled U.S. Navy sailor, McGinty, who is down and annoyed with his menial tasks as a sailor. A shifty looking seagull encourages and tempts him to go off get drunk and quit. McGinty daydreams about an unrealistic view of civilian life with no work and pleasures a plenty. After he is discharged he wakes up to the reality of civilian life and regrets his decision seeing all the benefits he previously had with the military. He then eagerly reenlists and has a new attitude while doing his assigned duties. It is revealed at the end that the seagull works for the Navy and was tricking him the whole time just so he would realize how fortunate he was. The film ends with the message “Keep the Fleet to Keep the Peace”. The lead character, “McGinty” is voiced by John T. Smith. The seagull is voiced by veteran voice actor Daws Butler. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND / CONTEXT The Demobilization of United States armed forces after the Second World War began with the defeat of Germany in May 1945 and continued through 1946. The United States had more than 12 million men and women in the armed forces at the end of World War 2 of whom 7.6 million were stationed abroad. The American public demanded a rapid demobilization and soldiers protested the slowness of the process. Military personnel were returned to the United States in Operation Magic Carpet. By June 30, 1947, the number of active duty soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen in the armed forces had been reduced to 1,566,000. Rapid demobilization, in the view of military planners, left the U.S. military understaffed to accomplish its responsibilities. In addition, the number of conscripts being drafted into the army was smaller than those needed to replace demobilized soldiers. The unpopular draft was terminated on March 31, 1947 and the U.S. military became an all-volunteer force until new legislation authorizing a draft was adopted in 1948. The number of personnel in the US military between mid-1945 and mid-1947 was reduced almost 90 percent, from more than 12 million to about 1.5 million. The rapid demobilization of the U.S. military after World War 2, in the words of one scholar, reduced the army "to a state of near impotency,...weakened the prestige of our national policy, and endangered the security of the Nation." Although the combat capability of the U.S. certainly declined because of the demobilization, another assessment of the U.S. military in Germany concluded that the army still had defensive capability and the "ability to perform...occupational duties, to control the German population, and to suppress local uprisings". The occupation of Japan proved also to be relatively unchallenging. A new (and highly unpopular) Selective Service Act in 1948 restored conscription as a response to challenges by the Soviet Union in Greece and Berlin. U.S. military forces remained at a level of about 1.5 million personnel until the Korean War in 1950. Post-WW2 US Navy Re-Enlistment Cartoon | Sailor and the Seagull | 1949 TBFA_0137 NOTE: THE VIDEO REPRESENTS HISTORY. SINCE IT WAS PRODUCED DECADES AGO, IT HAS HISTORICAL VALUES AND CAN BE CONSIDERED AS A VALUABLE HISTORICAL DOCUMENT. THE VIDEO HAS BEEN UPLOADED WITH EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES. ITS TOPIC IS REPRESENTED WITHIN HISTORICAL CONTEXT. THE VIDEO DOES NOT CONTAIN SENSITIVE SCENES AT ALL!