AllMovie

This animated Puppetoon short is set in Holland features a pair of young Dutch lovers, Jan and Janette, who dress in traditional Dutch garb. Jan arrives at Janette's windmill one bright, lovely morning and proceeds to woo her with a tulip, which he sends up to her on one of the windmill's arms. Janette responds by writing "I love Jan" on a cake and sending it down to him, and then coming downstairs to greet him. Jan attaches his accordion to a butter churn, so that the churn can provide a little music, and he and Janette do a little clog dance. Their happy idyll is interrupted when the skies cloud over and lightning appears, followed immediately by the arrival of the Nazi-like Screwball army. The screwballs are large metallic balls with screws for feet and a nut-and-bolt head. They goosestep into Jan and Janette's beautiful country, followed by see-through bat-like airplanes and metallic tanks, all of which lay waste to the surroundings. Jan and Janette flee and are separated. Distraught and fearful, Jan makes his way to a desolate, half-destroyed church and tearfully prays. As if in answer to his prayers, a mighty rainstorm appears. Lightning strikes the Screwball planes, knocking them from the skies, while the torrential rain rusts and destroys the army, and the tanks sink into deep mud holes. The enemy vanquishes, Jan returns to what is left of Janette's windmill. The churn is still playing the accordion, and after a moment, Jan discovers that his beloved is still alive. Joyously, the two dance away as the sun shines overhead and tulips pop up all around them.