The Dover Boys at Pimento University, a Leon Schlesinger Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Charles M. “Chuck” Jones, released September 19, 1942.
With America fully engulfed in the Second World War, Chuck Jones looked back forty years to make this whimsical parody of the Rover Boys series of books for boys. And yet the stripped-down and highly stylized design of the cartoon provided a glimpse into the future, by influencing John Hubley, one of the founders of the UPA animation studio. Even the way the letters “P” and “U” are animated at the beginning of the cartoon was years ahead of its time.