May 20, 1944 –
The Merrie Melodies short, Russian Rhapsody (a propaganda short during World War II,) directed by Bob Clampett, debuted on this date.
In the early 1940s Walt Disney was developing a feature film based on Roald Dahl’s book Gremlin Lore, and asked the other studios to refrain from producing Gremlin films. While most of the studios complied, Warner Bros. already had two cartoons too far into production – Falling Hare and this cartoon. As a compromise, Leon Schlesinger retitled the cartoons to remove any reference to gremlins. The original title was Gremlins From the Kremlin.
The Haus of Dcaligari 