If you dig deep into the vaults at Disney, you’re guaranteed to find a wide variety oddities. And I’m not just talking about Song of the South, either — I’m talking about “The Story of Menstruation,” a 10-minute animated short from 1946 that’s aaaaaaall about what our lovely ladybits get up to during That Time of the Month. For reals.
In addition to sketching out exactly what’s going on in the female body during menstruation, this unintentionally hilarious (at least, by today’s standards) video also imparts important lessons on how to take care of yourself: Stay cheerful, eat your fruits and veggies and drink lots of water, and don’t slouch (“Slumpy posture is just as bad inside as it looks outside,” says our perky yet maternal narrator). It was played in health classes up until the 1960s, and now, we’ve got the chance to view it for ourselves.
According to Film Threat, Disney was really hurting circa World War II. The European market was a no-go because, y’know, war, and the massive flop that was Fantasia cost the company a boatload of moolah. In order to bring in money fast, Disney started taking commissions from both major corporations and the government, resulting in short films like “The Right Spark Plug in the Right Place” for the Electric Auto-Lite Company and this little “Story of Menstruation” gem for the precursor to Kimberly-Clark, the International Cell-Cotton Company. That’s right: Disney was making sponsored content, something with which I’m sure the bloggers in the audience are intimately familiar.
Oh, and each time the video was screened for girls, they were also given a pamphlet called "Very Personally Yours." True story.
Parting shot: Goofy learning how to fish. Classic.
Image: Chelsea LaSalle/Bustle
