During World War II malaria was a major threat to troops, and US soldiers resisted antimalarial drugs. The War Department commissioned Warner Bros animators, including Chuck Jones, to make a comic short in which a mosquito named Mike targets the careless soldier Private SNAFU. Quinine had been the main treatment since World War I, but the Japanese occupation of Java in 1941 cut off the US supply of cinchona bark. The Allies turned to synthetic Atabrine, whose side effects such as nausea, nightmares and psychosis made many troops reject it, so the film stressed prevention and repellent use.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.