The Forgotten Wartime Disney Films

In 1943 Disney Studios won an Oscar for their now forgotten short film. When it sowed across the US it was a run away success. Now decades later the chances of this Academy award winner ever seeing the light of day again are slight, in fact if it wasn't for YouTube I doubt anyone would even have heard of it. Disney’s “Der Fuehrer’s Face” (originally called “Donald Duck's Adventures in Nutzi Land”) is one of Disney’s ‘lost’ propaganda classics.

The early years of the second world war were lean ones for Disney. One of Disney’s prime markets, Europe had already been at war for years and with only the domestic market to support them Walt’s studios were not doing well. All that changed on December 7, 1941 with attack on Pearl Harbour. Japan’s attack on Hawaii brought Disney’s animators, along with the rest of the nation into this new world war.

With Japan’s attack on Hawaii Disney’s animators went to war!

America’s involvement in war hurt the Disney Company; it lost key staff to the armed forces, they suffered a reduction in commercial output, and cinema attendance in the States fell away, and they saw cuts in overseas theatrical releases of their films – even in countries not at war. Then a part of the Studios complex was taken over as a base for the Marines Corps, things were not going well. Despite these issues the company dived in to do their part to support the American war effort.

The government looked to Walt Disney more than any other studio chief as a builder of public morale through its propaganda films and also providing instruction and training films to it’s sailors and soldiers. Between 1942 and 1945, Disney made films for every branch of the US military and government.

Whether it was in producing propaganda such as "Der Fuhreres Face" to keep up the public morale; or educational films to teach soldiers how to operate a certain weapon or avoid disease; or deeply researched theory films like "Victory Through Airpower"; or animated shorts that promoted war bonds... the studio worked overtime to do their part. Disney war work was deemed so vital was the that drafted employees were sent back to the studio in uniform to resume their work..

The Propaganda films.

At the request of the US Government, Walt Disney created a number of anti-German and anti-Japanese films for both the armed forces and the US public. The idea was simple, to portray these countries and their leaders as manipulative without morals, thus making them easier to hate and to fight. This was an early example of a propaganda device where you create a figurehead in an enemy to rally together against and focus hate is still used today – can you name any person in Al Qaeda other than bin Ladin for example?

Disney’s World War II propaganda films are never shown on television any more, even the Oscar Winners. Disney refuses to let the public see these films with strong anti-German and anti-Japanese messages. It is true that they are important historical documents’ and while they may not be appropriate as family entertainment they do belong in an archive covering the history of the war. They are remarkable and powerful films and capture the patriotic zeal of the United States during a time of crises.

Thanks to YouTube some of the forgotten classics from the early fourties are available online and I have included a few below for you to have a look at.

In “Der Fuehrer’s Face,” Donald Duck breaks down after experiencing a nightmare where he has to make do with eating disgusting Nazi food rations and experiences a day at a Nazi artillery factory. The film was translated into several languages, and copies were dropped behind German lines. It is worth noting that three years before Charlie Chaplin made a film in a similar vain – The Great Dictator – a film that earned him a place on Hitler’s death list.

Also in 1943 The studio also produced Chicken Little, an anti-Nazi film showing the evils of mass hysteria. The film is loosely based on a fairytale - a chicken believes the sky is falling when an acorn falls on his head and sets out on a journey to tell the king, joined along the way by various other animals that all have rhyming names, only to be captured the evil Foxy Loxy who wants to eat them. The 8 minute short that was designed as a piece of Wartime propaganda where Foxy Loxy became an analogue of Hitler. Much subtler than some films in it’s genre but aparently effective.

“Education for Death- The Making of a Nazi” Perhaps one of the darkest of the Disney propaganda films it takes on the perspective of Hans, a young German boy. As the movie progresses and Hans is exposed to Hitler youth and the Nazi culture, his value of human life decreases. There is lots of dark, brooding, Machiavellian imagery, I doubt this film in particular will never make it to Amazons’ DVD best seller list.

Training Films:

As well as belittling the enemy threat Disney also helped to train the American armed forces. The animated training film, pioneered by Max Fleischer during World War I, played a vital role in the education of the armed services. Animated short films were often a more effective means of instruction than live-action films or illustrated lectures, because the trainees watched them more attentively.

In Donald Gets Drafted,…he went through the same experiences with which millions of men could sympathise. There on the screen was Donald Duck submitting to an assembly line physical, getting measured for an ill-fitting uniform, quivering before a monster of a drill instructor, and marching until his feet were ready to fall off. But my favourite gem from this movie is that for a fleeting moment you find out Dinald’s full name…

Updated Feb 18, 2010 Ben W - thanks for your catch. Walt Disney Treasures - On the Front Lines is available from Amazon - and i have ordered a copy! But it hink it is worth noting that it was withdrawn again by Disney.