The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

This is a Terrytoon musical wartime patriotic cartoon. There will be spoilers ahead:Terrytoons produced cartoons with patriotic themes during World War II, just like the other studios did. This one could be considered a poor man's Rhapsody In Rivets. While there are some nice bits in here, the cartoon itself is a minor effort. Decent enough for a Paul Terry short, but nothing special.At a shipyard, a golden eagle on a flagpole takes wing, to land at a podium, unfurl a blueprint and begin conducting a symphony. There follows a series of animals doing various construction-related tasks set to music. Various pieces of equipment and materials serve as instruments along the way, including cables on a crane as harp strings.One of the better gags was when a piece of equipment "shuffles" two stacks of metal sheets and then "deals" them into place along the keel of the ship to be riveted into place. There's also a semi-running gag where a monkey is sweeping up that has a little humor, but there are too many gags which go flat.This short is worth watching once.

Close up: the carved eagle atop a flagpole in a shipyard. The camera pulls back as the eagle flies off and, while animal performers and seagulls impatient wait, picks up a baton and conducts a medley of patriotic songs. While the music plays, shipyard workers put together a battleship in this wartime Terrytoon.Friz Freleng over at Leon Schlesinger's cartoon was the master of this synchronized musical cartoon, but Paul Terry's staff certainly knew how to do this sort of cartoon. From 1929 through 1932, that's what sound cartoons were: gags timed to a score, in this case still written by Terry's musical director, Philip Scheib back then and still written by and conducted by him. Techniques had advanced, but every studio did this sort of cartoon occasionally and this is a good example of the genre: no words, just music and well-executed gags. Sit back, enjoy the music and the fun.