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This jaunty animation was one of some 70 short films commissioned by the
Ministry of Information from the Halas & Batchelor studio between 1941 and
1945 and dealing with a wide range of wartime needs, from growing one's own
vegetables to guarding against enemy spies.
Dustbin Parade is an artful combination of animation, striking music and
witty dialogue, all deployed with a lightness of touch that disguises the very
particular practical challenges faced by the filmmakers: notably the wartime
shortages of film stock, pencils and paper.
Partners John Halas and Joy Batchelor engagingly combine characters inspired
by American cartoons and a style reminiscent of Eastern Europe - the latter a
likely result of Halas's Hungarian upbringing and his training under former
Bauhaus tutors such as Laszlo Moholy-Nagy. The shadowy street, dramatic music,
and yowling cat of the opening, meanwhile, establish an atmosphere reminiscent
of contemporary Hollywood film noir. This provides a strong hook to grab and
hold the audience - important in a short film that would have been shown as
support to the main feature rather than on its own.
There is a neat analogy in which a collection point for scrap materials
becomes a 'Recruiting Centre'. The anthropomorphism extends to the different
types of scrap having speaking roles, with a bone taking the leading part, and
demanding "We want to be a shell." The film succeeds as both a morale booster
and an encouragement to recycle - a key element of the war
effort.
Ros Cranston
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Complete film (5:13)
