Thhe Year of 1940

Pinocchio
Walt Disney Productions releases its second full-length animated feature “Pinocchio” on February 7, 1940. The film was distributed by RKO Pictures. It was based on the book “The Adventures of Pinocchio” by Italian Carlo Collodi who released the first “The Adventures of Pinocchio” short story in 1881. The plot was about a wooden toy that comes to life and his quest to become a real boy. Made on a budget of just under $2.3 million dollars (Barrier), it would go on to earn $38,976,570 at theaters (Box Office Mojo)

Lascaux, France
On September 12, 1940, four teenagers, Marcel Ravidat, Jacques Marsal, Georges Agnel, and Simon Coencas (Bahn), hiking in southwest France discovered a series of paintings on the walls of caves by that were found out to be dating to the Paleolithic era, about 17,300 years ago (Capelo). Much of the art found there depict the type of animals that they hunted. It also showed humans as well as abstract figures. The numbers of images exceeds 2,000 with around 900 being of animals.

America on eve of war:

Winston Churchill takes over the role of Prime Minister of Great Britain from Neville Chamberlain on May 10, 1940 (Chamberlain Resigns, Churchill Becomes Prime Minister).  This was in the mist of World War II. The continent of Europe was being turned in to a battle scene as Hitler’s Nazi regime of Germany and Benito’s fascist Italy led a campaign to conquer land the lay in the way. In Asia, their ally Japan had invaded China (Fiscus). The continent was turning into ruble as cities were being leveled, including London which suffered attacks from Germany under the Blitz bombing campaign (Remembering the Blitz). Franklin Roosevelt would close out 1940 on December 29 with a radio speech aimed at reassuring Americans, that in the face of war, their freedoms would be protected where he claimed the nation had to be an Arsenal for Democracy. He championed Detroit’s motor industries for their rapid conversion to produce armaments for WWII (Roosevelt, Arsenal of Democracy).