After the financial disappointments of Pinocchio and Fantasia, Dumbo was planned as an inexpensive way to turn the studio’s sour box-office run around.

It was short at 64 minutes, and featured simple watercolour backgrounds, but it was the success the studio was looking for. Costing a little over $800,000 the film made twice that in cinemas, despite a divisive animator’s strike causing a five-week delay to production.

The final film released by Disney before the war effort took full hold was 1942’s Bambi. It was originally planned as the studio’s second feature after Snow White, but adapting the dark source material and realistically animating animals proved complex and Walt put the project on hold. Efforts to overcome these obstacles included the creation of a small zoo in the studio so animators could study the movement of animals first-hand. With the world at war Bambi lost money during its initial run, but was hugely influential and, six re-releases later, has made over a quarter of a billion dollars theatrically.