1941 was a time filled with global conflict, and the United States of America plunged into World War II with a new ally: Walt Disney. Armed with a studio that was embellished with beloved characters, and a revolutionary medium, Disney was a shiny new weapon ready to be wielded, one animated short at a time. Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, and a lot more were drafted into the cinematic front lines of what was to be a wild era of cartoons.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States was in full-combat mode and began to dig deep into its military machinery. The Disney studio in Burbank was requisitioned and turned into an anti-aircraft base. Reeling from a financial crisis that led to a labor strike, Walt Disney found himself with several requests from the US government to produce war-related shorts for public consumption. With his hand forced by the circumstances, he agreed. Generally speaking, the contracts from these transactions were the reason why they managed to stay afloat. From 1941 to 1945, the studio released a number of animated films for several branches of the government. These pictures' main objectives were to garner support for the war cause and to uplift the morale of its citizens. The most popular of these sets of shorts holds fascinating insights for the modern viewer.
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What Were Disney's War Shorts About?
One of the most famous WWII shorts from the Disney vault is the Academy Award-winning Der Fuhrer's Face. This nine-minute propaganda flick features Donald Duck experiencing a fever dream of being stuck in Nazi Germany. He wakes up to stale wood-like bread (which may be a reference to sawdust used as a filler for Kommissbrot bread in war-torn Germany) and the mere scent of eggs and bacon for breakfast. He spends the entirety of his day fixing shells for the Fuhrer's war efforts. All the while, he is being "serenaded" by a band composed of Joseph Goebbels, Heinrich Himmler, Hermann Goering, Benito Mussolini, and Hideki Tojo, with a humorous song about praising Hitler and saluting his face. These ridiculous circumstances overwhelm him, and he wakes up to a morning under the freedom and safety provided by the might of the United States of America.
Another one of these pictures is Education for Death: The Making of the Nazi which presents, as the title suggests, the birth and growth of a Nazi from childhood to the battlefield. Hans, born of pure Aryan parents, experiences the assembly line development of children to almost worship the Nazi party. As he recovers from illness, he enters school to learn that mercy is for the weak and that the strong will always prevail. In line with this is learning how to revere the images of Hitler, Goebbels, and Goring. As he grows old, he partakes in book burning, the changing of the bible to Mein Kampf, and the crucifix with the Nazi symbol. It concludes with the striking image of his battalion transitioning into rows and rows of graves, completing his "education for death."
Along with the other similar pictures from the Disney vault, Der Fuhrer's Face and Education for Death: The Making of the Nazi sent a chilling message to whoever was watching: the Nazi powers will unleash hell, and we should all join in to stop their uprising. This is most evident in the imagery of the Axis' top management. Hitler is presented in both pictures as a bumbling buffoon, particularly in the latter picture, where he is shown to be the figurative knight in shining armor, failing to gracefully carry The Sleeping Beauty that is Germany. Goebbels, Himmler, Goering, Tojo, and Mussolini are cartoonish figures of themselves, acting as henchmen to the despicable objectives of the Nazis. Their movements and characterizations are rooted in cartoonish slapstick gags, and it results in them looking like complete nitwits, unworthy of being taken seriously. Yes, the USA was indeed cautious of the powers their enemies held, but it was in the best interest of the nation to present them as fools. In reality, the threat of life under the Nazi regime, along with the other Axis countries, was no laughing matter, and these pictures urge everyone to be thankful for the conditions that home provides. At least for the American audience, that statement was mostly truthful.
Disney War Shorts Were Calls for Action
In line with the security that the American citizens enjoy in their home country, it was also in the best interest of the war for them to contribute in their own little ways. The short, Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Firing Line, was one of the nation's most notable calls for everyone to "give back" to their forces. Distributed and exhibited under the War Activities Committee, this picture features Minnie Mouse preparing breakfast for herself, while an exuberant Pluto watches and waits. As Minnie is about to pour a batch of bacon grease onto Pluto's dog dish, the narrator intervenes and tells them to conserve the food waste. Grease and fats make glycerin, which in turn, makes explosives, materials that are essential in the war. He urges Minnie, and everyone watching, to put all of their leftover grease in jars, freeze them, and hand them over to their nearest butcher. They are now official fat collecting stations for the army, and they will be compensated for their grease by the pound.
Another one of these calls for action is Seven Wise Dwarfs, where the lovable dwarves in Snow Whiteare pictured mining diamonds while singing about how much they enjoy the endeavor. After putting their treasure into individual bags, they see a sign asking people to buy war savings certificates. They proceed to purchase them with all of their mined diamonds and it ends with a call for the public to buy them. The notable phrase "Five for Four" is reflected onscreen, which means that the long-term return of five dollars was expected from an investment of four.
Disney War Shorts Tried to Comfort the Public
Given the grim situation, some Americans, as with the majority of the world, were very fearful of what the future might hold. Some of these propaganda films aimed to give them a sense of comfort. Everything is alright, and we will get through this. The most blatant out of these sets of WWII shorts was the aptly named Food Will Win the War. Using egregious examples of how bountiful the land of the USA is, the short went on to state that their supply of food will outlast their enemies, while they starve under harsh conditions. Such examples include 52 billion pounds of wheat, enough to cover the entire German Panzer army, and to make enough loaves of bread to create several pyramids of Giza stretching the length of the Suez Canal, among others.
It's interesting to note that other than plainly destroying the image of their enemies, these Disney shorts also took the form of encouragement and cinematic instructions on how to live life. It became a social practice that became part and parcel of most American lives during that tumultuous period in history. The medium of animation had, and up to this very day, contains a sense of both wonder and inclusivity. When something is drawn, and presented in a formalistic fashion, it garners the attention of people, regardless of their age. Cartoons are ideally presented for children, and still generally pique the curiosity of adults, which is to the aid of the general notion of propaganda. The complex and serious ideas of the war and its call for people's participation become simplistic through the intricate drawings of the cartoons, and the message flows easier to the plethora of viewers. Some may argue that the entirety of this is questionable, but no one can deny that it is greatly intriguing as well.
In the Eyes of the Modern Audience
With the passage of time taken into consideration, the modern audience's reception to this set of pictures would certainly be dramatically different. The caricatured representations of their enemies, particularly in their racial/ethnic characteristics, certainly merit questioning in an increasingly inclusive world. The most offensive out of all of these is the stereotypical way in which the Japanese were drawn.
These shorts are products of a bygone era, completely unfit for today's world. Most, if not all of them, were fueled by tensions brought on by an extremely destructive period of history. They were morally contentious then, and are infinitely more eyebrow-raising today. There is a reason why these shorts are not on Disney+, and it looks like they won't be in the very distant future. Disney, much like the rest of the world, was fighting for their lives, and they filled their guns with the only ammunition they had. It's a wild ride filled with thoughts of violence, fascism, and the erratic mindset of war. In hindsight, these pictures serve as a stark reminder of how a beloved medium could be used by whichever power to stir the pot in times of global conflict.
