A Hitch in Time

A Hitch in Time
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Airdate:	1955
Series:	United States Army Shorts
Production Number:	1382
Crew
Voice Characterizations:	Mel Blanc Robert C. Bruce (uncredited)
Director:	Charles M. Jones
Written By:	Charles M. Jones
Producer:	Eddie Selzer
Animated By:	Ken Harris Gerry Chiniquy Ben Washam Abe Levitow Richard Thompson
Layout Artist:	Ernest Nordli
Background Artist:	Philip DeGuard
Film Editor:	Treg Brown
Musician:	Milt Franklyn

A Hitch in Time is a 1955 cartoon directed by Chuck Jones and produced by Warner Brothers for the United States Air Force to promote re-enlistment.

Title

The title is a play on the saying "a stitch in time saves nine."

Plot

John McRoger, an American airman, is looking forward to completing his tour of duty and becoming a civilian. A gremlin sergeant ("Grogan, technical gremlin first class") accompanies him on the way to the discharge office, ostensibly to ensure the airman doesn't decide to re-enlist. The gremlin then presents a series of arguments that superficially suggest that civilian life is better, but cumulatively favor re-enlistment. At the end, the airman re-enlists.

Availability

(2011) Blu-ray
Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1, Disc Three (restored)

Notes

• This is the only Chuck Jones cartoon to have Gerry Chiniquy as an animator. Chiniquy was mainly a regular animator for Friz Freleng.
• John McRoger and Grogan greatly resemble the characters Private Snafu and the Technical Fairy, characters also made for the US Army.
• As this short was created for the United States government, it was never copyrighted, thus it is in the public domain in the United States.
• In a rare instance, two versions of the short are known to exist:
  • Both shorts feature the same music cues but have different orchestrations variants from each other.
  • The voice acting is slightly different from each other as well, with Robert C. Bruce playing the narrator in only one of the versions.
  • Grogan has a different design in both versions, one where he appears with a more generic design, with the other version have him appear more similar to the Technical Fairy from the "Private Snafu" shorts.
    • Grogan's voice also differs from both versions.
  • The "John's Other Life" segment is slightly extended in one version, where Grogan acknowledges McRoger's lonely life in the city.
• Chuck Jones would later produce two more shorts that encourage re-enlistment, "90 Day Wondering" in 1956 and "Drafty, Isn't It?" in 1957.

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