Ration Bored is the ninth animated cartoon

Animated cartoon

An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...

 short subject

Short subject

A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...

 in the Woody Woodpecker

Woody Woodpecker

Woody Woodpecker is an animated cartoon character, an anthropomorphic acorn woodpecker who appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz animation studio and distributed by Universal Pictures...

series. Released theatrically on July 26, 1943, the film was produced by Walter Lantz Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures

Universal Studios

Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....

. The film is set mostly in a salvage yard. It features Kent Rogers

Kent Rogers

Kent Rogers was a Hollywood impressionist who appeared in several live-action shorts and features and a voice actor for Warner Bros..-Career:...

 as the voice of Woody Woodpecker, even though he is uncredited in the film's title card.

Plot summary

While driving his car, Woody sees a sign that reads: "Conserve gas & tires. Is this trip really necessary?" Woody refers to himself as a "necessary evil" and speeds down the road. While cresting a hill, he runs out of gas and rolls to the gas station below.

The gas attendant asks to see Woody's "ABC" book (see below), and Woody hands him an alphabet book. Insulted, the attendant grabs a hammer and knocks Woody's car into a salvage yard. Woody decides to steal gasoline from the wrecked vehicles in the lot. He unknowingly siphons gas from a parked police car.

A cop chases Woody around the salvage yard. They get caught up in stacks of tires, and Woody ends up riding the cop like an automobile out of the yard and into a large storage unit of gasoline.
In heaven

Heaven

Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...

, the cop leaves the "Wing Rationing Board" with a small pair of wings. He starts chasing Woody again when he realizes that the wings Woody has received are much larger.

Woody's appearance

Walter Lantz had been criticized from the start that Woody's garish appearance was detrimental to the appeal of the burgeoning star. The addition of white gloves on Woody's hands (like those of cartoon counterparts Mickey Mouse

Mickey Mouse

Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...

 and Bugs Bunny

Bugs Bunny

Bugs Bunny is a animated character created in 1938 at Leon Schlesinger Productions, later Warner Bros. Cartoons. Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray rabbit and is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality and his portrayal as a trickster. He has primarily appeared in animated cartoons, most...

) marked the first notable attempt at giving the woodpecker a more streamlined character design. By the following film, The Barber of Seville

The Barber of Seville (cartoon)

The Barber of Seville is the 10th animated cartoon short subject in the Woody Woodpecker series. Released theatrically on April 22, 1944, the film was produced by Walter Lantz Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures.-Plot:...

, Woody's appearance would get a complete makeover, making Ration Bored the last Woody Woodpecker film featuring the original manic design.

Cultural references

• This film is a spoof on army
  United States Army
  The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
  
   rationing
  Rationing
  Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, or services. Rationing controls the size of the ration, one's allotted portion of the resources being distributed on a particular day or at a particular time.- In economics :...
  
  . During World War II
  World War II
  World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
  
   United States citizens were asked to conserve gasoline and rubber, as well as other items and food supplies. Decisions on rationing were made by a Ration Board, hence the punning title.

• During the 1940s war ration, American automobiles were classified as either A, B, C, T, or X. This is why the attendant refers to the ration book as an ABC book.

• The card at the end of the film asks viewers to buy war bonds.