Russian Rhapsody is a 1944 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Bob Clampett. The short was released on May 20, 1944.
Plot
German bombers are failing to make it to Moscow in World War II; infuriated by his soldiers' constant failure, Adolf Hitler announces his decision via a radio broadcast at a "New Odor" rally that he will personally fly a heavy bomber to attack the Russians. On the way to Moscow, Soviet gremlins sneak onto the plane in flight and without Hitler's being aware of what's going on, begin to dismantle it while singing "We Are Gremlins from the Kremlin" to the tunes of “Ochi Chyornye” and “Eh, ukhnem”, and the sabotage includes a "termiteski" busily devouring the plane's wing and a microscopic gremlin smashing the control panel dials with an enormous wooden mallet and announcing "I'm only three and a half years old!" Hitler eventually discovers the gremlins after he's been stabbed in the buttocks and tries to retaliate. He fails, being severely frightened by several gremlins holding a mask of Joseph Stalin. The gremlins succeed in ejecting him from the bomber by cutting a hole in the fuselage beneath him. As he falls, Hitler comes to and realizes the plane is right behind him in a power dive. He tries to outrun the plane and to hide behind a small sapling upon landing, but the plane alters course as seen by its shadow. Both Hitler and the plane are driven into the ground. The plane's tail with its swastika insignia erupts from the ground as a headstone. The cartoon ends with the gremlins celebrating in victory as Hitler pops out of the ground, with his face grimacing into the one of comedian Lew Lehr, and paraphrasing his famous catchphrase: "Monkeys is the cwaziest peoples!". A gremlin pounds Hitler back into the ground with a sledgehammer, ending the film under Clampett's signature ‘‘bee-woop’’ vocalization.
Production
The original title was "Gremlins from the Kremlin", but producer Leon Schlesinger changed the title when The Walt Disney Company began making its own wartime short about gremlins. In Falling Hare, Bugs Bunny was the victim, while Hitler is the victim and main character in this short.
In the scene of Hitler going after the gremlins, there's a strange jump between Hitler screaming at the sight of a Stalin-type mask. The next scene shows the gremlins sawing a hole in the plane to get rid of a semi-conscious Hitler. It's unknown if a missing scene between those scenes exists.
The lyrics reference the 1942 Disney cartoon and the 1942 song both titled Der Fuhrer's Face.
The gag showing a gremlin swapping windshield stickers is a reference to wartime U.S. gasoline rationing.
