The Infamous Fifinella by Julia Lauria-Blum

A beloved, mischievous female gremlin with a mission of morale!

During the Second World War, Walt Disney Productions created over 1,200 unit insignia for all branches of the U.S. armed forces, as well as insignia that was requested by the Allied units in Europe, Canada, China, South Africa, and New Zealand. Individual units, such as civil defense and war industries, were also permitted to request designs directly from Disney without the need to reach out to higher headquarters at the company.

Walt Disney, himself, served in World War I at the age of 16, after forging his birth date on his birth certificate. He joined the Red Cross in 1918 as an ambulance driver. On the side, he drew cartoons on his ambulance, and some of his work was later published in Stars and Stripes. He understood the worth of cartoon humor for unit morale. 

By the early 1940s, with American military mobilization efforts taking hold, the Disney Studio was swamped with requests for insignia designs. During the war years, Disney was dedicated to the vital war effort on the U.S. home front and overseas, producing training films and public information, in addition to finding the resources to create hundreds of insignia designs. In support of this effort, Disney dedicated several of his studio’s artists the task of designing unit logos, full-time and free of charge, as a donation to the war effort.

For the duration of World War II, Disney insignia designs, logos, and nose art helped to keep up the morale of Allies units and civilian forces, and nearly all Disney characters appeared on unit insignia with Donald Duck being the most requested.

Throughout the war, the Disney insignia designs helped boost the morale of Allied fighting forces. While Walt Disney Productions made many award-winning contributions to the war effort, a unit’s unique insignia provided a great deal of personal pride and satisfaction amongst its members.

The Disney team also created hundreds of original and new characters, such as tigers, cats, dogs, owls, apes, birds, and more. And then there were the Gremlins…. of which some 30 emblems were created for divisional weather squadrons, military flying schools, the Royal Air Force (RAF), and of course, the infamous female gremlin, ‘Fifinella’ for the Women Airforce Service Pilots, who appeared on patches, decals, letterheads, matchbook covers, and even on some ads.

Fifinella , or Fifi, was based on the British Flight Lieutenant and author, Roald Dahl’s children’s book, The Gremlins. Fifi was designed by Walt Disney for a proposed film based on Dahl’s book. The film itself, however, never came to be.

Gremlins became a subject of fascination as the incarnation of mechanical and technical dangers involved with aircraft flying in combat. When unexplainable issues occurred, pilots blamed it on a Gremlin—a mysterious, pesky, elf-like creature who crawled about an airplane’s surface, wreaking havoc on the aircraft.

Female Gremlins were known as Fifinellas. The original design of Fifinella displayed a small, winged gremlin coming for a landing with a red circle behind her. She was portrayed with horns, a yellow flight cap, a red top, yellow slacks, red boots, long black gloves, and goggles. Variations portray her in a red coat and purple trousers with a dark blue circle, and many patches were customized with some differences between them.

Byrd Howell Granger was a member of WASP (WFTD) 43-W-1. She graduated with the first class in Houston and was the editor-in-chief of the WASP newsletter, titled the ‘Fifinella Gazette’.  In late November 1942, Granger wrote to the Disney Studios requesting an insignia. When the Studio agreed to provide the WASP with a mascot, she announced the news in the unit’s first newsletter, dated February 10, 1943, and wrote:

“In answer to a telegram forwarded to Walt Disney asking for permission to use Fifinella . . . the following message was received – ’Permission granted for two years from the date hereof- to use without charge, the name and design of Fifinella.’ The cheers which greeted the above when it was announced at mess are an indication of the group’s thanks to Mr. Disney and his staff.”

After the WASP were deactivated in December 1944, Walt Disney Productions sent a letter to the Women Airforce Service Pilots organization regarding the continued use of ‘Fifinella’ as their insignia. The letter and its preceding paragraph below were printed in an undated ‘Fifinella Gazette

“Fifinella, the little winged pilot, is a symbol of our organization and all that we stand for. For creating her and giving us permission to use her, we thank Walt Disney. The following is a wire from Walt Disney, in connection with Fifi, which we thought you might be interested in reading” :

‘‘This will serve as your authorization to use the name and insignia of Fifinella in connection with the post inactivation organization of the WASPs, which is tentatively titled the Order of Fifinella. The name and insigne may not be used for commercial purposes or in connection with any merchandising endeavors from which profit is derived without our specific permission in writing. Also, you will be obligated to append copyright notices to all publications. Walt deems it an honor to be numbered among your members with the understanding that because of his many commitments, he will be unable to take advice or assume any obligations unless specifically agreed to in each instance. I trust you will understand the valid reasons for these reservations. We regret your organization’s inactivation, but you are entitled to rest on your laurels with the consciousness of a wonderful work wonderfully and efficiently performed during times of great stress.” – Gunther R. Lessing, Vice President, Walt Disney Productions.

The Order of Fifinella was an organization established by the WASP in November 1944. Its purpose was to distribute information to its members about reemployment opportunities, to maintain communication among the WASP, and to form a unified organization to influence legislation and potential employers in aviation. The organization lasted for sixty-five years until its disbandment in 2009.