Walt Disney Studios entered the winter of 1941 still in a financial crisis. That December, after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by the Axis-affiliated Empire of Japan, 500 United States Army troops began an occupation of Walt Disney Studios in Burbank that would last for the next eight months—the only Hollywood film studio under military occupation in history. The soldiers were stationed there to protect a nearby Lockheed aircraft plant from the enemy air raids. While there, they converted parking garages into ammunition depots, and worked on fixing equipment in large soundstages.
Soon after the start of the occupation, Walt Disney was approached with requests from the U.S. services to produce propaganda films. On December 8, Walt Disney settled on its first film contract with the Navy. The contract required that Disney produce twenty war-related animated shorts for the United States government for a compensation of $90,000 ($1,765,898 in 2023). Walt Disney Studios received $4,500 for each short it produced which was significantly higher than its standard profit for shorts.
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