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Why We Fight
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This article is about the World War II documentary film series. For other uses, see Why We Fight (disambiguation).


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Prelude to War depicts the Nazi propaganda machine.
Why We Fight is a series of seven documentary films commissioned by the United States government during World War II whose purpose was to show American soldiers the reason for U.S. involvement in the war. Later on they were also shown to the general U.S. public to persuade them to support American involvement in the war.
Most of the films were directed by Frank Capra, who was daunted yet also impressed and challenged by Leni Riefenstahl's propaganda film Triumph of the Will and worked in direct response to it. The series faced a tough challenge: convincing a recently non-interventionist nation of the need to become involved in the war and ally with the Soviets, among other things. In many of the films, Capra and other directors spliced in Axis powers propaganda footage going back twenty years, and re-contextualized it so it promoted the cause of the Allies.
Why We Fight was edited primarily by William Hornbeck, although some parts were re-enacted "under War Department supervision" if there was no relevant footage available. The animated portions of the films were produced by the Disney studios – with the animated maps following a convention of depicting Axis-occupied territory in black.


Contents  [hide]
1 Purpose of films as war information 1.1 Countering enemy propaganda films
1.2 Creating a powerful film idea
2 Description of films
3 Production details
4 Film as medium of choice to present war information
5 Post war
6 Films
7 See also
8 References 8.1 Notes
8.2 Bibliography
9 External links

Purpose of films as war information[edit]



War Comes To America demonstrates America's hopeless position in the event of an Axis victory in Eurasia.
Director Frank Capra enlisted shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He was assigned to work directly under Chief of Staff George C. Marshall, the most senior officer in command of the Army, who would later create the Marshall Plan and be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. Marshall felt that Signal Corps was incapable of producing "sensitive and objective troop information films." One colonel explained the importance of these future films to Capra:

You were the answer to the General's prayer. . . You see, Frank, this idea about films to explain "Why" the boys are in uniform is General Marshall's own baby, and he wants the nursery right next to his Chief of Staff's office.[1]
During his first meeting with General Marshall, Capra was given his mission:

Now, Capra, I want to nail down with you a plan to make a series of documented, factual-information films—the first in our history—that will explain to our boys in the Army why we are fighting, and the principles for which we are fighting... You have an opportunity to contribute enormously to your country and the cause of freedom. Are you aware of that, sir?[2]
Countering enemy propaganda films[edit]
Shortly after his meeting with General Marshall, Capra viewed Leni Riefenstahl's "terrifying motion picture," Triumph of the Will. Capra describes the film as "the ominous prelude of Hitler's holocaust of hate. Satan couldn't have devised a more blood-chilling super-spectacle. . . . Though panoplied with all the pomp and mystical trappings of a Wagnerian opera, its message was as blunt and brutal as a lead pipe: We, the Herrenvolk, are the new invincible gods!"[3]
According to Capra, Triumph of the Will "fired no gun, dropped no bombs. But as a psychological weapon aimed at destroying the will to resist, it was just as lethal." Capra at this point had no assistants or facilities, and he began to see his assignment as overwhelming:

I sat alone and pondered. How could I mount a counterattack against Triumph of the Will; keep alive our will to resist the master race? I was alone; no studio, no equipment, no personnel.[3]
Creating a powerful film idea[edit]
Capra made his primary focus the creation of "one basic, powerful idea" that would spread and evolve into other related ideas. Capra considered one important idea that had always been in his thoughts:

I thought of the Bible. There was one sentence in it that always gave me goose pimples: "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."[3]
As a result, his goal became to "let the enemy prove to our soldiers the enormity of his cause—and the justness of ours." He would compile enemy speeches, films, newsreels, newspaper articles, with a list of the enemy's hostile actions. He presented his ideas to other officers now assigned to help him:

I told them of my hunch: Use the enemy's own films to expose their enslaving ends. Let our boys hear the Nazis and the Japs shout their own claims of master-race crud—and our fighting men will know why they are in uniform.[3]
Weeks later, after major efforts and disappointments, Capra located hard-to-reach archives within government facilities, and by avoiding normal channels was able to gain access:

Peterson and I walked away on air. We had found the great cache of enemy films—and it was ours![3]
Description of films[edit]



 Frank Capra receiving the Distinguished Service Medal from U.S. Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall, 19451.Prelude to War (1942) (51:35) (Academy award as Documentary Feature) – this examines the difference between democratic and fascist states, and covers the Japanese conquest of Manchuria and the Italian conquest of Ethiopia.[4] Capra describes it as "presenting a general picture of two worlds; the slave and the free, and the rise of totalitarian militarism from Japan's conquest of Manchuria to Mussolini's conquest of Ethiopia."[3]
2.The Nazis Strike (1943) (40:20) – covers Nazi geopolitics and the conquest of Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland.[5] Capra's description: "Hitler rises. Imposes Nazi dictatorship on Germany. Goose-steps into Rhineland and Austria. Threatens war unless given Czechoslovakia. Appeasers oblige. Hitler invades Poland. Curtain rises on the tragedy of the century—World War II."[3]
3.Divide and Conquer (1943) (56:00) [6] – about the campaign in Benelux and the Fall of France. Capra's description: "Hitler occupies Denmark and Norway, outflanks Maginot Line, drives British Army into North Sea, forces surrender of France."[3]
4.The Battle of Britain (1943) (51:30) [7] – depicts Britain's victory against the Luftwaffe. Capra's synopsis: "Showing the gallant and victorious defense of Britain by Royal Air Force, at a time when shattered but unbeaten British were only people fighting Nazis."[3]
5.The Battle of Russia (1943) (76:07) Part I [8] and Part II [9] – shows a history of Russian defense and Russia's battle against Germany. Capra's synopsis: "History of Russia; people, size, resources, wars. Death struggle against Nazi armies at gates of Moscow and Leningrad. At Stalingrad, Nazis are put through meat grinder."[3]
6.The Battle of China (1944) (62:16) [10] – shows Japanese aggression such as the Nanking Massacre and Chinese efforts such as the construction of the Burma Road and the Battle of Changsha. Capra's synopsis: "Japan's warlords commit total effort to conquest of China. Once conquered, Japan would use China's manpower for the conquest of all Asia."[3]
7.War Comes to America (1945) (64:20) [11] – shows how the pattern of Axis aggression turned the American people against isolationism. Capra's synopsis: "Dealt with who, what, where, why, and how we came to be the U.S.A.—the oldest major democratic republic still living under its original constitution. But the heart of the film dealt with the depth and variety of emotions with which Americans reacted to the traumatic events in Europe and Asia. How our convictions slowly changed from total non-involvement to total commitment as we realized that loss of freedom anywhere increased the danger to our own freedom. This last film of the series was, and still is, one of the most graphic visual histories of the United States ever made."[3]
Production details[edit]
The films were directed by Academy Award-winning director Frank Capra and narrated by Academy Award winning actor Walter Huston. This narration, though factual for the most part, is replete with rhetoric describing implacably warlike German and Japanese armed forces. Conversely, it lionizes the courage and sacrifice of the British, Soviets, and Chinese.
At the end of each film, the quotation from Army Chief of Staff George Marshall that "...the victory of the democracies can only be complete with the utter defeat of the war machines of Germany and Japan," is shown on screen, followed by a ringing Liberty Bell over which is superimposed a large letter "V" zooming into the screen, accompanied by patriotic or military music on the soundtrack.
Why We Fight also contains many scenes from Triumph of the Will when talking about the Nazis.
Made from 1942 to 1945, the seven films range from 40 to 76 minutes in length, and all are available on DVD or online at no cost, since they have always been public domain films produced by the U.S. government.
Film as medium of choice to present war information[edit]
After World War I the methods used to gain support from troops and civilians needed to change. Giving speeches to both soldier recruits and the American public was no longer effective. Film became the medium of choice to inform American soldiers and recruits about why fighting was necessary.[12] As Kathleen German states, “this was the first massive attempt to influence opinion in the U.S. military” through film.[13] Film was also chosen because it combined the senses of sight and hearing, giving it an advantage over radio or print.[14] Capra, who had no experience in documentary films, was chosen because “of his commitment to American ideals” and because of the popularity of some of his earlier feature films. He was thought “to understand the heart and soul of American audiences.”[12] Once the documentary series was completed, it was said to contain the “Capra touch.”[15]
The series' appeal was furthered by how the film was edited. “Throughout his career Capra depended upon his skill as an editor to achieve the contrast of the individual and the group, critical in the success of his Hollywood movies.”[16] Capra thought it would be most effective to use the enemy’s original film and propaganda in the series in order to expose the enemies with their own images. By taking pieces of the enemy material to edit together and placing his own narration over the results, Capra gave meaning and purpose to the war with added narrative.[17] This “parallel editing”[18] created an “us vs. them” image by re-framing and showing clips out of their original order and context.
By such careful editing, the films compared and contrasted the forces of evil with America and its traditional values. Capra highlighted the differences between America and the enemy and showed how the enemy would attack these values if “we” did not fight.[19] This worked to create a battle not only between Allies and the Axis Powers but between good and evil. Capra treated it as a matter of showing the enormity of the Axis cause and the justness of the Allied.[20] In order to justify the Western Allies' alliance with the Soviet Union, the series omitted many facts, which could have cast doubts on the "good guy" status of the Soviets, such as the Nazi-Soviet alliance, Soviet invasion of Poland; Soviet occupation of the Baltic States, Winter War and others.[21] Virtually in line with Soviet propaganda, the series was not only screened but widely acclaimed in the Soviet Union.[22] To exonerate the Soviets, the series casts even less important Allies, like the Poles, in the bad light, even repeating Nazi propaganda claims such as the Tuchola Forest myth or false claims about the Polish Air Force being destroyed on the ground.[21][22]
The Why We Fight series became a heavily used means of presenting information about Axis powers for the American government during World War II. General Surles, the director of the Department of War’s Bureau of Public Relations, had hoped that the series would be effective enough to allow similar kinds of army films to be shown to the general public.[23] Surles saw this goal realized when Prelude to War, the most successful of the seven films, was shown to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt saw this film as so important that he ordered it to be distributed in civilian arenas for public viewing.[17] However, some objections were raised against the Why We Fight series because it was so persuasive. Lowell Mellett, the coordinator of government films and aide to Roosevelt, saw the films as dangerous. He was most concerned with the effect the series would have after the war was over and the “hysteria” the films would create in their wake.[23] At least 54 million Americans had seen the series by the end of the war, and studies were done to gauge the impact of the films. However, the results were inconclusive, and therefore the effectiveness of the series is still in question.[24]
Post war[edit]
Prelude to War and The Battle of China refer several times to the Tanaka Memorial, portraying it as "Japan's Mein Kampf" to raise American morale for a protracted war against Japan. The authenticity of this document remains a topic of historical debate. Even though its authenticity has been called into question by some today, the Tanaka Memorial was widely accepted as authentic in the 1930s and 40s because Japan's actions corresponded so closely to these plans.
In 2000 the United States Library of Congress deemed the films "culturally significant" and selected them for preservation in the National Film Registry. Created by the U.S. Army Pictorial Services, the films are in the public domain; all of them are available for download at the Internet Archive.
Films[edit]



File:Why We Fight 1, Prelude to War.ogv
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Prelude to War



File:Why We Fight 2, The Nazis Strike.ogv
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The Nazis Strike



File:Why We Fight 3, Divide and Conquer.ogv
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Divide and Conquer



File:Why We Fight 4, The Battle of Britain.ogv
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The Battle of Britain



File:Why We Fight 5a, The Battle of Russia.ogv
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The Battle of Russia, part 1



File:Why We Fight 5b, Battle of Russia.ogv
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The Battle of Russia, part 2



File:Why We Fight 6, The Battle of China.ogv
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The Battle of China



File:Why We Fight 7, War Comes to America.ogv
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War Comes to America

See also[edit]
Propaganda in the United States
War film
List of films in the public domain in the United States
Frank Capra subsection "Why We Fight series" for additional details
References[edit]
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Capra 1971, p. 322.
2.Jump up ^ Capra 1971, p. 326.
3.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l Capra, Frank. The Name Above the Title: An Autobiography. New York: The Macmillan Company, (1971) pp. 325–343 ISBN 0-306-80771-8
4.Jump up ^ "Why We Fight: Prelude to War : Frank Capra". Archive.org. 1942. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
5.Jump up ^ "Why We Fight: The Nazi Strike : Frank Capra". Archive.org. 1943. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
6.Jump up ^ "Why We Fight: Divide and Conquer : Frank Capra". Archive.org. 1943. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
7.Jump up ^ "Why We Fight: The Battle of Britain : Frank Capra". Archive.org. 1943. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
8.Jump up ^ "Why We Fight: The Battle of Russia Part I : Frank Capra". Archive.org. 1943. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
9.Jump up ^ "Why We Fight: The Battle of Russia Part II : Frank Capra". Archive.org. 1943. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
10.Jump up ^ "Why We Fight: The Battle of China : Frank Capra". Archive.org. 1944. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
11.Jump up ^ "Why We Fight: War Comes to America : Frank Capra". Archive.org. 1945. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
12.^ Jump up to: a b Combs and Combs, 1994, p. 69.
13.Jump up ^ German, 1990, p. 237.
14.Jump up ^ German, 1990, p. 238.
15.Jump up ^ Koppes and Black, 1987, p. 76.
16.Jump up ^ German, 1990, p. 240.
17.^ Jump up to: a b Combs and Combs, 1994, p. 70.
18.Jump up ^ German, 1990, p. 241.
19.Jump up ^ German, 1990.
20.Jump up ^ Richard Overy, Why the Allies Won, p295 ISBN 0-393-03925-0
21.^ Jump up to: a b Mieczysław B. Biskupski (January 2010). Hollywood's war with Poland, 1939–1945. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 148–150. ISBN 978-0-8131-2559-6. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
22.^ Jump up to: a b Mieczysław B. Biskupski (January 2010). Hollywood's war with Poland, 1939–1945. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 151–152. ISBN 978-0-8131-2559-6. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
23.^ Jump up to: a b Koppes and Black, 1987, p. 122.
24.Jump up ^ Rollins, 1996, p. 81.
Bibliography[edit]
Combs, James, and Sara Combs. Film Propaganda and American Politics: An Analysis and Filmography. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1994.
German, Kathleen. “Frank Capra’s Why We Fight Series and the American Audience.” Western Journal of Speech Communication 54. (1990): 237–248.
Koppes, Clayton, and Gregory Black. Hollywood Goes to War: How Politics, Profits, and Propaganda Shaped World War II Movies. New York: The Free Press, 1987.
Rollins, Peter. “Frank Copra’s Why We Fight Film Series and Our American Dream.” Journal of American Culture. 19. (4): 81, 6.
Shindler, Colin. Hollywood Goes to War: Films and American Society 1939–1952. Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1979.
External links[edit]
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Why We Fight.
Why we fight: Prelude to War at the Internet Movie Database
Why we fight: Prelude to War is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
Why we fight: The Nazis Strike at the Internet Movie Database
Why we fight: The Nazis Strike is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
Why we fight: Divide and Conquer at the Internet Movie Database
Why we fight: Divide and Conquer is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
Why we fight: The Battle of Britain at the Internet Movie Database
Why we fight: The Battle of Britain is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
Why we fight: The Battle of Russia at the Internet Movie Database
Why we fight: The Battle of Russia (Part 1) is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
Why we fight: The Battle of Russia (Part 2) is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
Why we fight: The Battle of China at the Internet Movie Database
Why we fight: The Battle of China is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
Why we fight: War Comes to America at the Internet Movie Database
Why we fight: War Comes to America is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
USAAF First Motion Picture Unit at Magic Lantern


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Prelude to War
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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For the similarly titled novel by Leslie Charteris, see Prelude for War.
Why We Fight: Prelude to War

File:Why We Fight 1, Prelude to War.ogv
Play media

Film

Directed by
Frank Capra
Produced by
Frank Capra
Written by
Anthony Veiller
Eric Knight
Narrated by
Walter Huston
Music by
Uncredited:
Hugo Friedhofer
Leigh Harline
Arthur Lange
Cyril J. Mockridge
Alfred Newman
David Raksin
Cinematography
Robert Flaherty
Edited by
William Hornbeck
Distributed by
War Activities Committee of the Motion Pictures Industry
Release date(s)
May 27, 1942

Running time
53 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
Prelude to War was the first film of Frank Capra’s Why We Fight propaganda film series, commissioned by the Office of War Information (OWI) and George C. Marshall. It was made to convince American troops of the necessity of combating the Axis Powers during World War II. The film was based on the idea that those in the service would be more willing and able fighters if they knew the background and reason for their participation in the war. It was later released to the general American public as a rallying cry for support of the war.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Historical background
3 Significance in the War
4 See Also
5 References
6 External links

Plot[edit]



 The Axis aim of total world conquest, as shown in Prelude to War.
In an edit added to the film before public release, a comment by Henry L. Stimson, the Secretary of War at the time, was quoted to create trust with the audience, “the purpose of these films is to give factual information as to the causes, the events leading up to our entry into the war and the principles for which we are fighting.”
The purpose of the OWI was to use mass communication to sell the war and to define Americans' perception of the reality of war; therefore, they released Prelude to War to further these goals.[1] The film commences with an explanation of how Americans were brought into the war through heroic motives to protect countries unable to protect themselves. America had this duty to righteousness and Christian values throughout history, according to the values and beliefs set forth by the founding fathers.[2][3]
The documentary makes use of compare and contrast methods throughout the film in order to transmit its heroic message. The primary images used within the film to portray the opponents of America are introduced by Henry Wallace as the “free world” — a brightly illuminated planet of the Allies, and a “slave world” as a planet deep in shadow of the Axis Powers.
It examines the differences between this free, democratic state and the slave, fascist state represented by Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler and Yamamoto working together as gangsters to conquer the world. In order to do this, Capra made use of footage from Triumph of the Will, but with different narration designed to support the Allied cause.
It is brought to the audience’s attention that after the Nazis smashed the opposing political parties and labor unions they turned their attention to their last remaining obstacle — the church. In one scene a stained glass window is shattered by several bricks to reveal a “Heil Hitler!” poster behind. To emphasize this depiction of Hitler as an antichrist figure, a class of German schoolchildren is shown singing to the song Frederick Rex:

Adolf Hitler is our Saviour, our hero
 He is the noblest being in the whole wide world.
 For Hitler we live,
 For Hitler we die.
 Our Hitler is our Lord
 Who rules a brave new world.
Historical background[edit]



 Protestors rallied under slogans like “No Foreign Entanglements”
In the two decades following World War I and the failure of the League of Nations, a spirit of isolationism became prevalent throughout the United States that persisted up to the attack on Pearl Harbor.[4] This presented a major obstacle in garnering support for the war, as the people of the United States did not feel a sense of unity with other nations of the world, most notably, Europe. In an effort to dispel this isolationist way of thinking, Prelude to War was produced in order to raise the enthusiasm and interest of U.S. troops for the international struggle.[5][6]
The film addressed the need for change in current American citizens’ standpoint on the war through interviews with civilians. In response to whether or not America should get involved in the war, Americans were depicted saying “I think we should stay out of it entirely,” and “They mean nothing to us.” Protesters against the war rallied under slogans like “No Foreign Entanglements.” The film argues that, contrary to the public opinion of the time, the problems of the United States “were and always will be dependent upon the problems of the entire world and our peace is gained when there is peace for all.”
The film pointed to the Japanese invasion of Manchuria as when World War II begun-"remember that date: Sept 18, 1931 a date you should remember as well as Dec 7, 1941. For on that date in 1931 the war we are now fighting begun." saying that we knew that the aggressors should be stopped but it was impossible to convince the average person "that they should go to war over a mud hut in Manchuria." After going over Japan's invasions of China the film asks about Japan's allies saying that while Hitler was not ready Mussolini was and that Mussolini had to be as his government had not been able to produce what it had promised "so he pulled the old trick of a foreign war to divert from troubles at home". The film then describes just how outclassed Ethiopia was against Italy and how "we hadn't realized that peace for us involves peace for all" and saying that they would take up Hitler in their next film.
Significance in the War[edit]
The U.S. Army used Prelude to War as a training film for indoctrinating soldiers before its release in theaters. Prior to deployment, it was compulsory for all U.S. soldiers to view the film. The goal when showing it to the general public was to unify the country and to encourage that everyone should do their part in the war effort. The films produced by Capra inspired the society of the time to mobilize as a nation and rally around their country, their troops, and their president.[1]
The film series was a useful tool in motivating the public and boosted support for the war. It was so well perceived that on March 4, 1943, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded an Academy Award to Capra for Prelude to War as the Best Documentary film of 1942, illustrating how the government and military successfully and cohesively relayed their message of national unity to the American people through popular culture.[1]
See Also[edit]
Propaganda in the United States
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b c Kurash, J. "A Prelude to War" (1 March 2009). Retrieved from http://www.army.mil
2.Jump up ^ Wilkins, J.N. America’s Christian Foundation
3.Jump up ^ German, Kathleen. “Frank Capra’s Why We Fight Series and the American Audience.” Western Journal of Speech Communication 54. (1990): 237–248.
4.Jump up ^ Auchincloss, Kenneth (8 March 1999). "Americans Go To War". Newsweek (New York).
5.Jump up ^ Rollins, Peter C (ed.). (2003) “Indoctrination and Propaganda, 1942–1945” The Columbia companion to American history on film: How the movies have portrayed the American past. Columbia University Press. pp. 118.
6.Jump up ^ Thomas, Nicholas (ed.). (1990) [1st. Pub. 1965] “Why We Fight”. International dictionary of films and filmmakers (2nd ed). St. James Press. pp.976–979.
External links[edit]
Prelude to War is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
Prelude to War at the Internet Movie Database
Watch Prelude to War on Google Video


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The Nazis Strike
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


Why We Fight: The Nazis Strike

File:Why We Fight 2, The Nazis Strike.ogv
Play media

Film, Hitler at the Kroll Opera House

Directed by
Frank Capra; Anatole Litvak
Produced by
Office of War Information
Written by
Julius Epstein; Philip Epstein
Narrated by
Walter Huston
Cinematography
Robert Flaherty
Edited by
William Hornbeck
Distributed by
War Activities Committee of the Motion Pictures Industry
Release date(s)
1943

Running time
41 min
Country
United States
Language
English
The Nazis Strike was the second film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight propaganda film series. It introduces Germany as a nation whose aggressive ambitions began in 1863 with Otto von Bismarck and with the Nazis as their latest incarnation.


Contents  [hide]
1 Heartland Theory
2 Fifth column activity
3 Invasion of Poland
4 Critical reception
5 References
6 See also
7 External links

Heartland Theory[edit]
Hitler's plan for world domination is described in terms of Halford John Mackinder's Heartland Theory, starting at about three minutes into the film:
In the Middle Ages a plague of slavery descended on the world. From the wilds of Mongolia rode a mighty army of fierce horsemen, led by Genghis Khan. Burning, looting, pillaging ... the barbarian horde swept across Asia and Eastern Europe. Genghis Khan conquered most of the world of the thirteenth century. Adolf Hitler was determined to outdo him, and conquer all the world of the twentieth century.Set up at Munich was an institute devoted to the little-known science of geopolitics, vaguely defined as "the military control of space". Germany's leading geopolitician, a former general, Karl Haushofer, was head man. Here was gathered together more information about your home town than you yourself know.To the German geopolitician, the world is not made up of men and women and children, who live and love and dream of better things. It is made up of only two elements – labor and raw materials. The geopoliticians' job was to transform Hitler's ambition to control these elements into cold, hard reality.On their map our planet is neatly divided into land and water. Water forms three quarters of the earth's surface, land only one quarter. And in that one quarter of the earth's surface lies the world's wealth, all its natural resources - and the world's manpower.Control the land and you control the world - that was Hitler's theory. This all-important "land" the geopoliticians now break up into two areas - one the Western Hemisphere which together with Australia and all the islands of the world including Japan, comprises one third of the total land area. The other area, which consists of Europe, Asia and Africa, makes up the other two thirds. This supercontinent, which they call the "World Island", is not only twice as large as the rest of the land area, but also includes seven-eighths of the world's population.The heart of this "World Island" comprises Eastern Europe and most of Asia. This they call the "Heartland", which just about coincides with the old empire of Genghis Khan.Hitler's step-by-step plan for world conquest can be summarized this way:Conquer Eastern Europe and you dominate the Heartland.Conquer the Heartland and you dominate the World Island.Conquer the World Island.......... and you dominate the World.That was the dream in Hitler's mind as he stood at Nuremberg.
Fifth column activity[edit]
The next focus of the film is the "softening-up" of the Western democracies using fascist organizations such as the Belgian Rexists, the French Cross of Fire, the Sudeten German National Socialist Party of Konrad Henlein, the British Union of Fascists and the German-American Bund. Meanwhile, within Germany the Nazis are beginning an enormous process of rearmament.
Germany then begins its territorial expansion with the first target being Austria, Hitler's "full-scale invasion test". He then uses his Sudeten "stooges" under Konrad Henlein to "soften up" Czechoslovakia and annex the Sudetenland with the help of a Britain and France desperate to avoid war. Hitler's use of the concept of self-determination as a justification for these annexations is ridiculed by reference to prominent German Americans thoroughly loyal to the Allied cause, including Admiral Chester Nimitz, Henry J. Kaiser, Wendell Willkie and Senator Robert Wagner.
Invasion of Poland[edit]
The film concludes with the Invasion of Poland, which is depicted with many inaccuracies.[1]
The extreme disparity between the two sides is emphasized - the Nazis have 5000 modern tanks against Poland's 600 obsolete models, while the Luftwaffe had 6000 modern monoplanes opposed by the less than 1000 aircraft of the Polish Air Force, many of which are outdated biplanes. Animations are also used to graphically show how Polish army units were encircled and destroyed. The film suggests that most of the Polish air force was destroyed on the ground, and that the Polish Army relied heavily on mounted cavalry (see Tuchola Forest myth)[1] – suggesting that its makers learned the details of the Polish campaign largely from Nazi propaganda, where both claims were often made. The stubborn resistance of Polish forces in the Hel peninsula is recognized, as are the widespread Nazi atrocities following the Polish defeat. Overall, the movie gives the false impression that Polish army was ineffective, pathetic even, and did no damage to the Germans.[1] The film also alleged that there was widespread collaboration (although doesn't specify from whom) with the invading Germans.[1]
The Nazis are forced to stop at the Bug River when they meet the advancing Red Army. The film misrepresents the Nazi-Soviet alliance, claiming that the pact was signed only after West has turned down Soviet requests to ally themselves against the Germans, and that overall "it didn't make any sense."[1] As the film was made when the Soviets were allied to the Western democracies against the Nazis, the film justifies this occupation by the Soviet need to obtain a buffer zone against a further Nazi advance to the east, and implies that the Soviets entered Poland to stop Hitler, this time repeating Soviet propaganda.[1] The movie makes no mentions of the Soviet invasion and their battles with the Polish border forces, or that the Soviets broke their non-aggression pact with Poland.[1] Soviet atrocities against the local population are omitted as well.[1]



 "...every trace of Hitler's footsteps...will be expunged, purged, and if need be, BLASTED from the surface of the earth."
The film then notes that Hitler now turns west to finish off Britain and France, which have declared war on Nazi Germany, rather than risk a two-front war, leading to the third part of the installment, which deals with the German invasion of Western Europe. It concludes with the quote by Winston Churchill from his speech to Allied delegates in 1941:
"What tragedies, what horrors, what crimes has Hitler and all that Hitler stands for brought upon Europe and the world! it is upon this foundation that Hitler [...] pretends to build out of hatred [....] a new order for Europe. But nothing is more certain than that every trace of Hitler's footsteps, every stain of his infected, and corroding fingers will be expunged, purged, and if need be, BLASTED from the surface of the earth. Lift up your hearts, all will come right. Out of depths of sorrow and sacrifice will be born again the glory of mankind."
Critical reception[edit]
Polish-American historian Mieczysław B. Biskupski gives a harsh review of the movie, calling it "a conglomeration of patriotic exhortation, crackpot geopolitical theorizing, and historical mischief making."[1] He notes that the film was more than inaccurate, that it was an intentional attempt to falsify certain facts about the war, in particular, through its misportrayal of the Soviets.[1] The film casts Poles into the role of failure, and Soviets into the role of guiltless saviors, thus serving a clear ideological role of justifying the Anglo-American alliance with the Soviet Union.[1]
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k Mieczysław B. Biskupski (January 2010). Hollywood's war with Poland, 1939-1945. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 148–150. ISBN 978-0-8131-2559-6. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
See also[edit]
Propaganda in the United States
Western betrayal
External links[edit]
The Nazis Strike is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
The Nazis Strike at the Internet Movie Database
The Nazis Strike complete film on YouTube


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Divide and Conquer (film)
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Why We Fight: Divide and Conquer

File:Why We Fight 3, Divide and Conquer.ogv
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Film

Directed by
Frank Capra
Anatole Litvak
Produced by
Office of War Information
Written by
Julius J. Epstein
Philip G. Epstein
Narrated by
Walter Huston
Cinematography
Robert Flaherty
Edited by
William Hornbeck
Distributed by
War Activities Committee of the Motion Pictures Industry
Release date(s)
1943
Running time
57 min
Country
United States
Language
English
Divide and Conquer (1943) is the third film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight propaganda film series, dealing with the Nazi conquest of Western Europe in 1940.
The film begins immediately after the fall of Poland. Of the two major Western Allies of 1940, the United Kingdom is first to be mentioned. The role of the Royal Navy in blockading Germany is highlighted, in that it means that Germany must overcome British resistance in order to clear the way for its world conquest.
Hitler's treachery towards the small neutral countries of Europe is exposed - to Denmark: "We have concluded a non-aggression pact with Denmark" - to Norway: "Germany never had any quarrel with the Northern States and has none today" - to the Netherlands: "The new Reich has always endeavored to maintain the traditional friendship with Holland" - and to Belgium: "The Reich has put forth no claim which may in any way be regarded as a threat to Belgium". These quotes are repeated after the conquest of each of these countries is shown.
The first targets of the Nazis in 1940 were Denmark and Norway. Nazi interest in Norway is described in terms of Germany's desire to use Norway's fjords as U-boat bases, and to use airfields in Norway for a bomber attack on the British naval base at Scapa Flow. After Hitler's surprise invasion of Denmark is briefly mentioned, the film accuses the Nazis of using Trojan Horse ships - designed to look like merchant ships but concealing troops, tanks and artillery guns - as a way of seizing control of all of Norway's ports. The role of Norwegian traitors such as Vidkun Quisling in aiding the Nazi conquest of Norway is also emphasized. At the end of the section on Norway, Hitler is likened to gangster John Dillinger and Nazi-occupied Norway is portrayed as the northern claw of a giant pincer movement aimed against Britain. The conquest of France would provide the southern claw.
The film's story of France begins in 1914 at the Battle of the Marne. The offensive-minded spirit of French general Ferdinand Foch is emphasized: "My right is driven in, my center is giving way, the situation is excellent, I attack!" (the original in French is displayed on-screen). The film then goes on to describe the defensive orientation of 1930s France, exemplified by the Maginot Line. This is explained as being primarily due to the 6 million casualties which France suffered in World War I, but also due to factors including Nazi fifth column activities, political corruption and greedy vested interests.


File:Frenchmanweeps1940.ogg
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 A famous scene of Divide and Conquer (at 54:50) depicting the departure of the defeated French army from the Toulon harbour, southern France, while France is taken over by the Nazis and the Pétain regime collaborating with them.
Possible routes for a German invasion of France are discussed: the 1870 attack through Alsace-Lorraine and the 1914 attack through Belgium. The French, believing the Maginot Line impregnable, expect the German attack to come through Belgium, as in 1914. The French order of battle in 1940 is described: 78 divisions along the border with Belgium, 15 in the Maginot Line, 10 divisions facing Benito Mussolini's forces in Italy and 3½ divisions as a safeguard against Spain. The British Expeditionary Force contributed an additional 10 divisions.
The important role of paratroopers in the conquest of the Netherlands is covered, as is the fact that the Germans easily defeated Belgian resistance at Fort Eben-Emael knowing the best method of attack after extensive practice on an exact copy of the fortress built in occupied Czechoslovakia. Special attention is also paid to Nazi atrocities, such as the Rotterdam Blitz after the surrender of the city and Nazi attacks on villages and small towns (designed to choke roads with refugees and thus impede the Allied troop movements).
It is then mentioned that the Nazis' attack on Belgium and the Netherlands was a feint to distract from the main attack through the Ardennes, where the Allies least expected it. A U.S. military officer shows an animation which demonstrates the German blitzkrieg technique - tanks form the front spearhead, while infantry spill off from the sides to form solid walls, thus protecting the center of the column through which trucks pass to supply all forces involved.

See also[edit]
List of films in the public domain in the United States
Propaganda in the United States
External links[edit]
Divide And Conquer is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
Divide and Conquer at the Internet Movie Database
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Divide and Conquer (1943).


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Prelude to War ·
 The Nazis Strike ·
 Divide and Conquer ·
 The Battle of Britain ·
 The Battle of Russia ·
 The Battle of China ·
 War Comes to America
 

 


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The Battle of Britain
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Why We Fight: The Battle of Britain

File:Why We Fight 4, The Battle of Britain.ogv
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Film

Directed by
Frank Capra
Anthony Veiller
Produced by
Office of War Information
Written by
Julius Epstein; Philip Epstein
Narrated by
Walter Huston
Cinematography
Robert Flaherty
Edited by
William Hornbeck
Distributed by
War Activities Committee of the Motion Pictures Industry
Release date(s)
1943
Running time
54 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
For the 1969 film, see Battle of Britain (film). For the World War II battle, see Battle of Britain.
The Battle of Britain was the fourth of Frank Capra's Why We Fight series of seven propaganda films, which made the case for fighting and winning the Second World War. It was released in 1943 and concentrated on the German bombardment of the United Kingdom in anticipation of Operation Sea Lion, the planned Nazi invasion of Great Britain.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Allegations of anti-Polish bias
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

Plot[edit]
The narrator describes the fall of France, leaving Britain almost defenceless. British forces are vastly outnumbered, but the British people are calm. The narrator explains that this is because in a democracy the people as a whole are involved in the decision to fight. Hitler's masterplan to subjugate Britain is described. Hitler begins by attacking convoys and ports, but fails to destroy them. The RAF are outnumbered "6 - 8 - 10 to one", but knock out far more planes than the Germans do. Bailed out British pilots are also able to return to the air, but German pilots are lost. Unlike the Dutch and Polish airforce Britain does not "make the mistake of bunching its planes on the runways".
Losses force Hitler to "take time out". He tells Goering to change tactics, so the Luftwaffe attack factories. Britain deploys "improved listening posts" to identify coming attacks. In August and September German losses are far more severe. However the "German mind" cannot understand why "free people fight on against overwhelming odds". The Nazis now aim to "crush the British spirit" by attacking London, destroying homes, hospitals and churches. But the people adapt and survive. Enraged, Goering takes personal command, sending a massive attack on September 15, to which the British respond with "everything they had". In the battle the Germans suffer severe losses.
Despite many losses, and destruction of historic buildings, the Germans cannot break Britain. They switch to night attacks, hoping to terrorise the people and make them "cry for mercy". But the people show great resilience. The British also counter-attack, bombing German factories. Hitler takes revenge by destroying Coventry. After a brief respite at Christmas Hitler sends fire bombs to London, creating "the greatest fire in recorded history". More bombings and firestorms are created, but Britain's defences hold up, giving a year of precious time to other countries threatened by the Nazis. The film ends with Winston Churchill's statement that "never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few".
Allegations of anti-Polish bias[edit]
The episode has been criticized for anti-Polish bias.[1] The bias is a result of propaganda justifying the Western Allies' alliance with the Soviets, as the Soviets had to be portrayed as the "good guys." The Allies who were unsympathetic towards the Soviet Union, such as the Poles, were misportrayed or simply ignored.[1][2] Thus, in this episode the map of Europe displayed shows half of Poland free (to avoid mentioning Soviet annexation of Polish territories following Soviet invasion of Poland), repeats the false Nazi propaganda claims that the Polish Air Force was destroyed on the ground (contrasting it with the correct fact that the RAF was not destroyed), and ignores the significant Polish participation in the Battle of Britain. Participation from Polish pilots from No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron and other units was widely publicized in Britain at the time this propaganda piece was filmed).[1]
See also[edit]
Propaganda in the United States
List of Allied propaganda films of World War II
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b c Mieczysław B. Biskupski (January 2010). Hollywood's war with Poland, 1939-1945. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 151–152. ISBN 978-0-8131-2559-6. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
2.Jump up ^ Mieczysław B. Biskupski (January 2010). Hollywood's war with Poland, 1939-1945. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 148–150. ISBN 978-0-8131-2559-6. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
External links[edit]
The Battle of Britain is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
The Battle of Britain at the Internet Movie Database


[hide]
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Prelude to War ·
 The Nazis Strike ·
 Divide and Conquer ·
 The Battle of Britain ·
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 War Comes to America
 

 


Categories: English-language films
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The Battle of Russia
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Jump to: navigation, search


Why We Fight: The Battle of Russia
Poster of The Battle of Russia.jpg
Directed by
Frank Capra; Anatole Litvak
Produced by
Office of War Information
Written by
Julius Epstein; Philip Epstein
Narrated by
Walter Huston
Cinematography
Robert Flaherty
Edited by
William Hornbeck
Distributed by
War Activities Committee of the Motion Pictures Industry
Release date(s)
November 11, 1943
Running time
83 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
The Battle of Russia (1943) is the fifth film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight documentary series, and the longest film of the series, consisting of two parts. The film was made in collaboration with Russian-born Anatole Litvak as primary director under Capra's supervision.[1][2] Litvak gave the film its "shape and orientation," and the film had seven writers with voice narration by Walter Huston. The score was done by Russian-born Hollywood composer, Dimitri Tiomkin, and drew heavily on Tchaikovsky along with traditional Russian folk songs and ballads.[2]
Film historian Christopher Meir notes that the film's popularity "extended beyond the military audience for it was initially intended, and was the second in the series to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.[2]


Contents  [hide]
1 Story
2 Awards
3 See Also
4 References
5 External links

Story[edit]
The film begins with an overview of previous failed attempts to conquer Russia: by the Teutonic Knights in 1242 (footage from Sergei Eisenstein's film Alexander Nevsky is used here), by Charles XII of Sweden in 1704 (footage from Vladimir Petrov's film Peter the First), by Napoleon I in 1812, and by Germany in World War II.
The vast natural resources of the Soviet Union are then described, showing why the land is such a hot prize for conquerors. To give a positive impression of the Soviet Union to the American audience, the country's ethnic diversity is covered in detail, and later on, elements of Russian culture familiar to Americans, including the musical compositions of Tchaikovsky and Leo Tolstoy's book War and Peace are also mentioned. Communism is never mentioned at any point in the film; instead, the Russian Orthodox Church is described as a force opposing Nazism. The start of the film includes a quote from U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who commended the Russian people's defense of their nation as one of the most courageous feats in military history.
The film then covers the Nazi conquests in the Balkans, described as a preliminary to close off possible Allied counter-invasion routes, before the war against Russia was launched on June 22, 1941. The narration describes the German "keil und kessel" tactics for offensive warfare, and the Soviet "defense in depth" used to counter this. The scorched earth Soviet tactics, the room-to-room urban warfare in Soviet cities, and the guerilla warfare behind enemy lines are also used to underline the Soviet resolve for victory against the Germans. The Siege of Leningrad and the Battle of Stalingrad conclude the film.
In order to justify the Western Allies alliance with the Soviet Union, the episode, like the entire Why We Fight series, misportrayed or simply omitted many facts, which could have cast doubts on the "good guy" status of the Soviets, such as the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact, Soviet invasion of Poland; Soviet occupation of the Baltic States, Winter War, and others.[3] Nor did the film mention the word "Communism."[2]
Virtually in line with the Soviet propaganda, the series was not only screened but widely acclaimed in the Soviet Union.[4] To exonerate the Soviets, the series casts even less important Allies, like the Poles, in a bad light.[3][4] The episode has been described as "a blatant pro-Soviet propaganda posing as factual analysis"[4] and was withdrawn from circulation during the Cold War.[2] Capra commented about why certain material was left out:

We had a political problem with Russia on that film. The problem was that a hell of a lot of people on our side were not about to be sold a bill of goods by the Communists. We were their allies, but that was all. Communism was not something we desired. So we stayed a way from politics and made it a people's battle. As a result, The Battle of Russia was one of the best episodes of the series and a true one.[1]:125
Awards[edit]
Academy Awards, 1944: Nominated, Best Documentary, Features[5]
National Board of Review, 1943: Won, NBR Award, Best Documentary[5]
National Film Preservation Board, 2000: Won, National Film Registry, as part of the Why We Fight series (1943-1945)[5]
New York Film Critics Circle Awards, 1943: Won, Special Award[5]
See Also[edit]
Propaganda in the United States
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Poague, Leland A. ed. Frank Capra: Interviews, Univ. Press of Mississippi (2004) p. xxxvii
2.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Aitken, Ian. Encyclopedia of the Documentary Film, Routledge (2006) pp. 94-96
3.^ Jump up to: a b Mieczysław B. Biskupski (January 2010). Hollywood's war with Poland, 1939-1945. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 148–150. ISBN 978-0-8131-2559-6. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
4.^ Jump up to: a b c Mieczysław B. Biskupski (January 2010). Hollywood's war with Poland, 1939-1945. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 151–152. ISBN 978-0-8131-2559-6. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
5.^ Jump up to: a b c d IMDB
External links[edit]
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Battle of Russia.
The Battle of Russia (Part I) is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
The Battle of Russia (Part II) is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
The Battle of Russia at the Internet Movie Database
The Battle of Russia (Part I) on YouTube
The Battle of Russia (Part II) on YouTube





[hide]
v ·
 t ·
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Frank Capra's Why We Fight series


Prelude to War ·
 The Nazis Strike ·
 Divide and Conquer ·
 The Battle of Britain ·
 The Battle of Russia ·
 The Battle of China ·
 War Comes to America
 

 


Categories: English-language films
American World War II propaganda films
1943 films
Eastern Front (World War II)
Films directed by Frank Capra
Films directed by Anatole Litvak
American pro-Soviet propaganda films
Public domain films
Black-and-white films
Why We Fight





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The Battle of China
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


Why We Fight: The Battle of China

File:Why We Fight 6, The Battle of China.ogv
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Film

Directed by
Frank Capra; Anatole Litvak
Produced by
Office of War Information
Written by
Julius Epstein; Philip Epstein
Narrated by
Anthony Veiller
Cinematography
Robert Flaherty
Edited by
William Hornbeck
Distributed by
War Activities Committee of the Motion Pictures Industry
Release date(s)
1944
Running time
65 min
Country
United States
Language
English
The Battle of China (1944) was the sixth film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight propaganda film series.[1] It follows an introduction to Chinese culture and history with the modern history of China and the founding of the Republic of China by Sun Yat-sen, leading on to the Japanese invasion. The invasion of China is explained in terms of the four-step plan for Japanese conquest, mentioned in the Tanaka Memorial.
"Here was their mad dream. Phase One - the occupation of Manchuria for raw materials. Phase Two - the absorption of China for manpower. Phase Three - a triumphant sweep to the south to seize the riches of the Indies. Phase Four - the eastward move to crush the United States."
Special attention is paid to Japanese atrocities such as the bombing of Shanghai, including an attack on civilians shown in "Bloody Saturday", the famous image of a burned Chinese baby crying in a bombed-out railroad station. As well it includes graphic film footage of the Nanking Massacre atrocities. The film mentions a Nanking massacre death toll of 40,000 – far lower than modern estimates; the true death toll was unknown at the time.
The mass westward migration associated with the moving of the Chinese capital to Chongqing, and the construction of the Burma Road are also covered, and the film concludes with overview of the Chinese victory at the Battle of Changsha.
The Chinese communists are never explicitly mentioned, but are implicitly acknowledged with a discussion of Chinese guerrilla warfare behind the Japanese lines. However, the Communist marching song (later national anthem of the People's Republic of China) March of the Volunteers is used as a general leitmotif during the film. Likewise, American support in the form of the Flying Tigers, construction of the Ledo Road, and the Hump airlift are mentioned near the end of the film but in a manner not to overshadow the Chinese war effort.
The introductory maps shown in the film show China as including Outer Mongolia and Tannu Tuva, as they were, at this time, claimed by the Republic of China. These areas are not claimed by present-day People's Republic of China.
See Also[edit]
Propaganda in the United States
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Brinkley, Douglas; Haskew, Michael (2004). The World War II desk reference. HarperCollins. p. 368. ISBN 0-06-052651-3. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
External links[edit]
The Battle of China at the Internet Archive
The Battle of China at the Internet Movie Database
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War Comes to America
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War Comes to America

File:Why We Fight 7, War Comes to America.ogv
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Film

Directed by
Frank Capra
Anatole Litvak
Produced by
Frank Capra
Written by
Julius J. Epstein
Philip G. Epstein
Emma Lazarus
Anthony Veiller
Starring
Dean Acheson
 General Bergeret
Adolf A. Berle
Narrated by
Walter Huston
Lloyd Nolan
Music by
Dimitri Tiomkin
Edited by
William Hornbeck
Distributed by
U.S. Army Pictorial Services
Release date(s)
June 14, 1945

Running time
70 min.
Country
United States
Language
English
War Comes to America is the seventh and final film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight World War II propaganda film series.
The early part of the film is an idealized version of American history which includes mention of the first settlements, the American Revolutionary War (omitting the American Civil War), and the ethnic diversity of America. It lists 22 immigrant nationalities, 19 of them European, and uses the then-current terms "Negro", "Jap", and "Chinaman". This section of the film concludes with a lengthy paean to American inventiveness, economic abundance, and social ideals.
The run-up to World War II is then described, beginning in 1931 with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. The film examines how American public opinion gradually changed from one of isolationism to one of support for the Allied cause, and demonstrates this using a series of Gallup polls.
In 1936, public opinion is firmly isolationist, with 95% of Americans answering NO to the question "If another world war develops in Europe, should America take part again?". Congress responded with an arms embargo and a "Cash and carry rule" when trading with belligerents in raw materials.
In September 1937, the question "In the current fight between Japan and China, are your sympathies with either side?" is answered CHINA 43%, JAPAN 2%, UNDECIDED 55%, while in June 1939 the same question gives a 74% vote for China. Anti-Japanese sentiment thus forced the US government to block trade in oil and scrap iron with Japan.
In October 1939, 82% of Americans blame Germany for starting the war in Europe, while in January 1941, after the Fall of France, and also the founding of the Tripartite Pact, which was clearly aimed against the United States, the question "Should we keep out of war, or aid Britain, even at the risk of war?", AID BRITAIN got 68% of the vote. This increase in pro-Allied sentiment triggers Lend Lease aid to Britain (and to the Soviet Union after it is attacked by Germany).
Towards the end the film argues in detail (to a backdrop of animated maps and diagrams) that American involvement in the war was essential in terms of self-defense. The dire consequences for the United States of an Axis victory in Eurasia are spelled out:
German conquest of Europe and Africa would bring all their raw materials, plus their entire industrial development, under one control. Of the 2 billion people in the world, the Nazis would rule roughly one quarter, the 500 million people of Europe and Africa, forced into slavery to labor for Germany. German conquest of Russia would add the vast raw materials and the production facilities of another of the world's industrial areas, and of the world's people, another 200 million would be added to the Nazi labor pile.Japanese conquest of the Orient would pour into their factory the almost unlimited resources of that area, and of the peoples of the earth, a thousand million would come under their rule, slaves for their industrial machine.We in North and South America would be left with the raw materials of three-tenths of the earth's surface, against the Axis with the resources of seven-tenths. We would have one industrial region against their three industrial regions. We would have one-eighth of the world's population against their seven-eighths. If we together, along with the other nations of North and South America, could mobilize 30 million fully equipped men, the Axis could mobilize 200 million.Thus, an Axis victory in Europe and Asia would leave us alone and virtually surrounded facing enemies ten times stronger than ourselves.
The film ends with the Attack on Pearl Harbor - the film shows how the Japanese negotiators in Washington, led by Saburo Kurusu, were still negotiating with the Americans while the attack was taking place in Hawaii. This was "the straw that broke the camel's back" that caused the United States to enter the war.
See Also[edit]
Propaganda in the United States
External links[edit]
War Comes to America at the Internet Movie Database
War Comes to America is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]


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The Reluctant Dragon (film)
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 This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2009)

The Reluctant Dragon
Reluctant Dragon.jpg
Original theatrical poster for The Reluctant Dragon

Directed by
Alfred Werker (live action)
Hamilton Luske (animation)
Jack Cutting, Ub Iwerks, Jack Kinney (sequence directors)
Produced by
Walt Disney
Written by
Live-action:
Ted Sears
Al Perkins
Larry Clemmons
Bill Cottrell
Harry Clork
Robert Benchley (uncredited)
The Reluctant Dragon segment:
Kenneth Grahame (original book)
Erdman Penner
T. Hee
Baby Weems segment:
Joe Grant
Dick Huemer
 John Miller
Starring
Robert Benchley
Frances Gifford
 Buddy Pepper
Nana Bryant
Edited by
Paul Weatherwax
Production
   company
Walt Disney Productions
Distributed by
RKO Radio Pictures
Release date(s)
June 27, 1941[1]
Running time
74 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
The Reluctant Dragon is a 1941 American live action and animated film produced by Walt Disney, directed by Alfred Werker, and released by RKO Radio Pictures on June 20, 1941. Essentially a tour of the then-new Walt Disney Studios facility in Burbank, California, the film stars radio comedian Robert Benchley and many Disney staffers such as Ward Kimball, Fred Moore, Norman Ferguson, Clarence Nash, and Walt Disney, all as themselves.
The first twenty minutes of the film are in black-and-white, the remainder is in Technicolor. Most of the film is live-action, with four short animated segments inserted into the running time: a black-and-white segment featuring Casey Junior from Dumbo; and three Technicolor cartoons: Baby Weems, Goofy's How to Ride a Horse, and the extended-length short The Reluctant Dragon, based upon Kenneth Grahame's book of the same name. The total length of all animated parts is 40 minutes.


Contents  [hide]
1 Studio operations toured by Benchley in the film
2 The Reluctant Dragon segment
3 Initial release and reaction
4 Home media release
5 Other appearances
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

Studio operations toured by Benchley in the film[edit]
The loose plot of the film features Robert Benchley trying to find (or, rather, avoid finding) Walt Disney so that he can, at the insistence of his wife, pitch to him the idea of making an animated version of the book by Kenneth Grahame. Dodging an overly officious studio guide named Humphrey (played by Buddy Pepper), Benchley stumbles upon a number of the Disney studio operations and learns about the traditional animation process, some of the facets of which are explained by a staff employee named Doris (Frances Gifford).
The life drawing classroom, where animators learn to caricature people and animals by observing the real thing.
A film score and voice recording session featuring Clarence Nash, the voice of Donald Duck, and Florence Gill, the voice of Clara Cluck.
A foley session for a cartoon featuring Casey Junior from Dumbo. Doris demonstrates the sonovox in this scene, which was used to create the train's voice.
The camera room, featuring a demonstration of the multiplane camera. Upon Benchley's entering the camera room, the film turns from black-and-white to Technicolor (a la The Wizard of Oz), prompting the droll Benchley to (breaking the fourth wall) examine his now red-and-blue tie and his yellow copy of the Reluctant Dragon storybook and comment, "Ahh...Technicolor!" When Doris arrives to show him around the camera room, she asks Benchley if he remembers her. His answer: "Yes, but you look so much different in Technicolor!" Donald Duck appears on the camera stand to help explain the mechanics of animation and animation photography.
The ink-and-paint department, including a Technicolor-showcasing montage of the paint department. Doris presents a completed cel of the titular character from Bambi.
The maquette-making department, which makes maquettes (small statues) to help the animators envision a character from all sides. Some of the maquettes on display included Aunt Sarah, Si, and Am from Lady and the Tramp and Captain Hook and Tinkerbell from Peter Pan; both films were in development at this time, but would be delayed by World War II and not completed until the 1950s. Also on display is a black centaurette from Fantasia, which Benchley steals. The employee on duty makes Benchley a maquette of himself, which many years later was purchased and owned by Warner Bros. director Chuck Jones.
The storyboard department, where a group of storymen (one of whom is portrayed by Alan Ladd) test their idea for a new short on Benchley: Baby Weems. The story is shown to the audience in the form of an animatic, or a story reel, using limited animation. Alfred Werker, loaned out by 20th Century Fox to direct this film, later became the first outside film director to use the storyboard, which the Disney staff had developed from predecessive illustrated scripts during the early-1930s.
The room of animators Ward Kimball, Fred Moore, and Norm Ferguson. Benchley watches Kimball animating Goofy, and Ferguson animating Pluto. He and the audiences are also treated to a preview of a new Goofy cartoon, How to Ride a Horse, the first of the many how-to parodies in the Goofy series. RKO reissued How to Ride a Horse as a stand-alone short on February 24, 1950.
Humphrey, who has been one step behind Benchley the entire film, finally apprehends him and delivers him in person to Walt Disney, who is in the studio projection room about to screen a newly completed film. Disney invites Benchley to join them; to Benchley's slight embarrassment yet relief, the film they screen is a two-reel (twenty-minute) short based upon the very book Benchley wanted Walt to adapt, The Reluctant Dragon.
The Reluctant Dragon segment[edit]
The cartoon starts with an introduction by the narrator of the story. One of the main characters, The Boy, who is reading a book about knights and bloodthirsty dragons, is introduced. His father comes rushing by, claiming to have seen a monster. The Boy reassures his father that it was only a dragon, to which the father panics and runs to the village in fear.
The Boy then goes to the Dragon's lair, where he is confronted not by a ferocious beast, but a shy, poetry spouting creature. The Boy, though surprised at seeing what a nice creature the Dragon is, befriends him. When he arrives back at the village, the Boy discovers that Sir Giles the Dragon slayer has arrived. He runs to tell the Dragon that he should fight him, only to be left disappointed when the Dragon announces that he never fights. The Boy visits Sir Giles (not St. George as in the original story), and it is revealed that Sir Giles is an old man. The Boy tells Sir Giles that the Dragon will never fight and they decide to visit him.
Sir Giles and the Boy visit the Dragon while he is having a picnic. It turns out that Sir Giles also loves to make up poetry, so The Dragon and Sir Giles serenade each other. The Boy then asks if he could recite a poem of his own. From this, he uses his chance to get a word in edgewise to shout at them to arrange the fight. The Dragon leaves but is persuaded back out of his cave when he is flattered by Sir Giles. Sir Giles and the Dragon eventually decide to fight, but as Sir Giles and the Boy leave, the Dragon realizes in shock that he has accidentally agreed to a fight and tries to tell Sir Giles and the boy that he changed his mind, but they ignore him and the dragon mutters to himself "Oh, why can't i just keep my big mouth shut?!". The next day, the villagers gather to watch the fight. Sir Giles arrives waiting for the Dragon.
Inside his cave, the Dragon is too scared to fight and cannot breathe fire. The Boy calling the Dragon a "Punk Poet" leads to the Dragon getting angry and eventually spitting flames. The Dragon jumps for joy as he is now ferocious. The fight ensues, with Sir Giles chasing the Dragon around with his sword and into the cave, where they drink tea and make noises to make it seem they are fighting. Out in the open, they charge at each other, creating an enormous cloud. Inside they dance, and Sir Giles reveals that it is time for the Dragon to be slain, but only for pretend, to which the Dragon gets excited. Sir Giles places his lance under the Dragon's arm, then the Dragon jumps out of the cloud and performs a dramatic death scene. The story ends with the Dragon being accepted into society, to which the Dragon recites a poem:
"I promise not to rant or roar, and scourge the countryside anymore!"
Sir Giles is drawn by the animators to somewhat resemble Don Quixote.
Initial release and reaction[edit]
The film was released in the middle of the Disney animators' strike of 1941. Strikers picketed the film's premiere with signs that attacked Disney for unfair business practices, low pay, lack of recognition, and favoritism. At one theater, sympathizers paraded down the street wearing a "dragon costume bearing the legend 'The Reluctant Disney'".[2] Critics and audiences were put off by the fact that the film was not a new Disney animated feature in the vein of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs or Pinocchio, but essentially a collection of four short cartoons and various live-action vignettes. The Reluctant Dragon cost $600,000 to make, but only returned $400,000 from the box office.
Home media release[edit]
Disney released the animated "Reluctant Dragon" segment on VHS in 1987 as part of the Walt Disney Mini-Classics series, along with the short Morris the Midget Moose. The full feature was released on VHS in an edition sold only at Disney Stores.
On December 3, 2002, it was released on DVD in its original theatrical form (with the live-action studio tours) as Walt Disney Treasures: Behind the Scenes at the Disney Studio.
In 2007, it was again released in its original theatrical version on DVD, this time as a Disney Movie Club exclusive DVD, available only to club members for mail or online ordering. Shortly afterward, this DVD was also made available in the Disney Movie Rewards program along with some of the other Movie Club exclusives.
It is the main attraction, along with three other cartoon shorts, on the Disney Animation Collection Volume 6 DVD, which was released in America on May 19, 2009. The other films bundled with it were Ferdinand the Bull, Goliath II and Johnny Appleseed.
In the UK, The Reluctant Dragon segment was paired with Mickey and the Beanstalk and released during 2004 on DVD as Disney Fables Volume 6.
On August 12, 2014, the full theatrical version of The Reluctant Dragon was released in HD as a bonus feature on the Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad/Fun and Fancy Free Blu-ray set in the US.
Other appearances[edit]
The Reluctant Dragon and Sir Giles make various cameos in the 1988 Disney/Amblin Movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The Reluctant Dragon also makes brief cameos in Disney's House of Mouse, most notably in the start of the intro.
See also[edit]
List of package films
List of animated feature films
Dumbo
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "The Reluctant Dragon: Detail View". American Film Institute. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
2.Jump up ^ Schickel, Richard (1997). The Disney Version: The Life, Times, Art, and Commerce of Walt Disney. Chicago: Elephant Paperbacks. p. 260. ISBN 1-56663-158-0.
External links[edit]
Official website
The Reluctant Dragon at the Internet Movie Database
The Reluctant Dragon at AllMovie
The Reluctant Dragon at the Big Cartoon DataBase


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So Dear to My Heart
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


So Dear to My Heart
Dearheartdvdcover.jpg
Directed by
Harold D. Schuster
Hamilton Luske
Produced by
Walt Disney
Perce Pearce
Written by
Ken Anderson
John Tucker Battle
Marc Davis
Bill Peet
Maurice Rapf
Ted Sears
Novel
Sterling North
Starring
Bobby Driscoll
Luana Patten
Beulah Bondi
Burl Ives
Music by
Eliot Daniel
Irving Berlin
Cinematography
Winton C. Hoch
Edited by
Lloyd L. Richardson
Thomas Scott
Production
   company
Walt Disney Productions
Distributed by
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Release date(s)
January 19, 1949 (Premiere-Indianapolis)[1]
January 30, 1949 (U.S.)[1]

Running time
82 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
So Dear to My Heart is a 1949 feature film produced by Walt Disney, whose world premiere was in Indianapolis on January 19, 1949, released by RKO Radio Pictures. Like 1946's Song of the South, the film combines animation and live action. It is based on the Sterling North book Midnight and Jeremiah.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast 2.1 Voices
3 Awards
4 Production
5 Release
6 References
7 External links

Plot[edit]
Set in Indiana in 1903, the film tells the tale of Jeremiah Kincaid (Bobby Driscoll) and his determination to raise a black-wool lamb that had been rejected by its mother. Jeremiah names the lamb Danny for the famed race horse, Dan Patch (who is also portrayed in the film). Jeremiah's dream of showing Danny at the Pike County Fair must overcome the obstinate objections of his loving--yet tough--grandmother Granny (Beulah Bondi). Jeremiah's confidant, Uncle Hiram (Burl Ives), is the boy's steady ally. Inspired by the animated figures and stories, the boy perseveres.[2]
Cast[edit]
Bobby Driscoll as Jeremiah 'Jerry' Kincaid
Luana Patten as Tildy
Burl Ives as Uncle Hiram Douglas
Beulah Bondi as Granny Kincaid
Harry Carey
Raymond Bond
Walter Soderling
Matt Willis
Spelman B. Collins
John Beal as Adult Jeremiah/Narrator
Bob Stanton
The Rhythmaires
Voices[edit]
Ken Carson as The Owl
Awards[edit]
The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song for Burl Ives's version of the 17th-century English folk song "Lavender Blue," but lost to "Baby, It's Cold Outside" from Neptune's Daughter.
Production[edit]
The train depot in the film was later relocated to Grizzly Flats Railroad. After the railroad closed, John Lasseter relocated it to his property.
Release[edit]
The film was re-released in 1964 and earned an estimated $1.5 million in rentals in North America.[3]
So Dear to My Heart was not released on home video until 1986. It was then re-released 1992 and released on video in 1994 as part of the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection. The film was originally planned for a US DVD release as part of the Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection, but was canceled, with no particular reason given. Six years after seeing a region 2 DVD release, it was released in the US on DVD in July 2008 as a Disney Movie Club Exclusive.
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b "So Dear to My Heart: Detail View". American Film Institute. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
2.Jump up ^ Lockhart, Jane. "Looking at Movies: So Dear to My Heart". The Rotarian. February 1949, p.36.
3.Jump up ^ "Big Rental Pictures of 1964", Variety, 6 January 1965 p 39. Please note this figure is rentals accruing to distributors not total gross.
External links[edit]
Official website
So Dear to My Heart at the Internet Movie Database
So Dear to My Heart at the Big Cartoon DataBase
So Dear to My Heart: The Secrets Behind the Film


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Song of the South
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

For the song by Alabama, see Song of the South (song).

Song of the South
Song of south poster.jpg
1946 theatrical release poster

Directed by
Harve Foster
Wilfred Jackson
Produced by
Walt Disney
Screenplay by
Live Action:
 Dalton S. Reymond
 Morton Grant
Maurice Rapf
Animation:
Bill Peet
Ralph Wright
George Stallings
Joel Chandler Harris
Starring
James Baskett
Bobby Driscoll
Luana Patten
 Glenn Leedy
Ruth Warrick
Lucile Watson
Hattie McDaniel
Johnny Lee
Nick Stewart
Music by
Daniele Amfitheatrof
Paul J. Smith
Cinematography
Gregg Toland
Edited by
William M. Morgan
Production
   company
Walt Disney Productions
Distributed by
RKO Radio Pictures
Release date(s)
November 12, 1946 ( Premiere-Atlanta, GA)[1]
November 20, 1946 (U.S. )[1]

Running time
94 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
Budget
US$2.125 million[2]
Box office
US$65,000,000[3]
Song of the South is a 1946 American live-action/animated musical film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures, based on the Uncle Remus stories collected by Joel Chandler Harris. It was Disney's first feature film using live actors, who provide a sentimental frame story for several animated segments. The film depicts the character Uncle Remus, a former slave, cheerfully relating to several children, including the film's protagonist, the folk tales of the adventures of anthropomorphic Br'er Rabbit and his friends. The film's song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" won the 1947 Academy Award for Best Song, is frequently used as part of Disney's montage themes, and has become widely used in popular culture. The film inspired the Disney theme park attraction Splash Mountain.
The film's depiction of black former slaves and of race relations in Reconstruction-Era Georgia has been controversial since its original release, and is now commonly regarded as racist.[4] Consequently it has never been released in its entirety on home video in the United States.[5]


Contents  [hide]
1 Setting
2 Plot
3 Cast 3.1 Voices
4 Animation
5 Songs
6 History and production 6.1 Writing
6.2 Casting
6.3 Direction
7 Release 7.1 Critical response
7.2 Controversies
7.3 Academy Award recognition
7.4 Re-releases
7.5 Home media
8 References in other Disney media
9 See also
10 References
11 Further reading
12 External links

Setting[edit]
The film is set on a plantation in the US state of Georgia, some distance from Atlanta. Although sometimes interpreted as taking place before the US Civil War, while slavery was still in force in the region, the setting is the later Reconstruction Era, after slavery was abolished.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] Harris' original Uncle Remus stories were all set after the American Civil War and the abolition of slavery (Harris himself, born in 1845, was a racial reconciliation activist writer and journalist of the Reconstruction era). The film makes several indirect references to the Reconstruction era: clothing is in the newer late-Victorian style; Uncle Remus is free to leave the plantation at will; black field hands are sharecroppers, etc.[16]
Plot[edit]
Seven-year-old Johnny is excited about what he believes to be a vacation at his grandmother's Georgia plantation with his parents, John Sr. and Sally. When they arrive at the plantation, he discovers that his parents will be living apart for a while, and he is to live in the country with his mother and grandmother while his father returns to Atlanta to continue his controversial editorship in the city's newspaper. Johnny, distraught because his father has never left him or his mother before, leaves that night under cover of darkness and sets off for Atlanta with only a bindle. As Johnny sneaks away from the plantation, he is attracted by the voice of Uncle Remus telling tales "in his old-timey way" of a character named Br'er Rabbit. Curious, Johnny hides behind a nearby tree to spy on the group of people sitting around the fire. By this time, word has gotten out that Johnny is gone and some plantation residents, who are sent out to find him, ask if Uncle Remus has seen the boy. Uncle Remus replies that he's with him. Shortly afterwards, he catches up with Johnny, who sits crying on a nearby log. He befriends the young boy and offers him some food for the journey, taking him back to his cabin.
As Uncle Remus cooks, he mentions Br'er Rabbit again and the boy, curious, asks him to tell him more. After Uncle Remus tells a tale about Br'er Rabbit's attempt to run away from home, Johnny takes the advice and changes his mind about leaving the plantation, letting Uncle Remus take him back to his mother. Johnny makes friends with Toby, a little black boy who lives on the plantation, and Ginny Favers, a poor white neighbor. However, Ginny's two older brothers, Joe and Jake—who resemble Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear from Uncle Remus's stories, one being slick and fast-talking, the other big and a little slow—are not friendly at all; they constantly bully Ginny and Johnny. When Ginny gives Johnny a puppy, her brothers want to drown it. A rivalry breaks out among the three boys. Heartbroken because his mother won't let him keep the puppy, Johnny takes the dog to Uncle Remus and tells him of his troubles. Uncle Remus takes the dog in and delights Johnny and his friends with the fable of Br'er Rabbit and the Tar Baby, stressing that people shouldn't go messing around with something they have no business with in the first place.



 Clockwise from left: Ginny (Luana Patten), Uncle Remus (James Baskett), Johnny (Bobby Driscoll) and Toby (Glenn Leedy)
Johnny heeds the advice of how Br'er Rabbit used reverse psychology on Br'er Fox and begs the Favers Brothers not to tell their mother about the dog, which is precisely what they do, only to get a good spanking for it. Enraged, the boys vow revenge. They go to the plantation and tell Johnny's mother, who is upset that Uncle Remus kept the dog despite her order (which was unknown to Uncle Remus). She orders the old man not to tell any more stories to her son. The day of Johnny's birthday arrives, and Johnny picks up Ginny to take her to his party. Ginny's mother has used her wedding dress to make her daughter a beautiful dress for the party. On the way there, however, Joe and Jake pick another fight. Ginny gets pushed, and ends up in a mud puddle. With her dress ruined, the upset Ginny refuses to go to the party. Johnny, enraged with the way Joe and Jake treat Ginny, attacks them. Uncle Remus breaks up the fight and while Johnny goes to comfort Ginny, Uncle Remus scolds Joe and Jake, telling them not to pester Johnny and Ginny anymore. Johnny doesn't want to go either, especially since his father won't be there. Uncle Remus discovers the two dejected children and cheers them by telling the story of Br'er Rabbit and his "Laughing Place."
When Uncle Remus returns to the plantation with the children, Sally meets them on the way and is angry at Johnny for not having attended his own birthday party. Ginny mentions that Uncle Remus told them a story and Sally draws a line, warning him not to spend any more time with Johnny. Uncle Remus, saddened by the misunderstanding of his good intentions, packs his bags and leaves for Atlanta. Seeing Uncle Remus leaving from a distance, Johnny rushes to intercept him, taking a shortcut through the pasture, where he is attacked and seriously injured by the resident bull. While Johnny hovers between life and death, his father returns and reconciles with Sally. But Johnny calls for Uncle Remus, who has returned amidst all the commotion. Uncle Remus begins telling a tale of Br'er Rabbit and the Laughing Place, and the boy miraculously survives.
Johnny, Ginny, and Toby are next seen skipping along and singing while Johnny's returned puppy runs alongside them. Uncle Remus is also in the vicinity, and he is shocked when Br'er Rabbit and several of the other characters from his stories appear in front of them and interact with the children. Uncle Remus rushes to join the group, and they all skip away singing.
Cast[edit]
James Baskett as Uncle Remus
Bobby Driscoll as Johnny
Luana Patten as Ginny Favers
Glenn Leedy as Toby
Ruth Warrick as Sally
Lucile Watson as Grandmother
Hattie McDaniel as Aunt Tempy
Erik Rolf as John
Olivier Urbain as Mr. Favers
Mary Field as Mrs. Favers
Anita Brown as Maid
George Nokes as Jake Favers
Gene Holland as Joe Favers
Voices[edit]
Johnny Lee as Br'er Rabbit
James Baskett as Br'er Fox
Nick Stewart as Br'er Bear
Roy Glenn as Br'er Frog
Animation[edit]



Br'er Rabbit takes Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear to his "laughing place"
There are three animated segments in the movie (in all, they last a total of 25 minutes). These animated sequences were later shown as stand-alone cartoon features on television. Each of these segments features at least one song that is heard in the various versions of Splash Mountain.
"Br'er Rabbit Runs Away": about 8 minutes, including the song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah"
"Br'er Rabbit and the Tar Baby": about 12 minutes, interrupted with a short live-action scene about two thirds of the way into the cartoon, including the song "How Do You Do?"
"Br'er Rabbit's Laughing Place": about 5 minutes and the only segment that doesn't use Uncle Remus as an intro to its main story, including the song "Everybody's Got a Laughing Place"
The last couple of minutes of the movie contain animation, as most of the cartoon characters show up in a live-action world to meet the live-action characters as they all sing "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah", and in the last seconds of the movie, the real world is slowly merged into an animated variation as the main protagonists walk off into the sunset.
Songs[edit]
Nine songs are heard in the film, with four reprises. Nearly all of the vocal performances are by the largely African-American cast, and the renowned all-black Hall Johnson Choir sing four pieces: two versions of a blues number ("Let the Rain Pour Down"), one chain-reaction-style folk song,[17]("That's What Unle Remus Said") and one spiritual ("All I Want").
The songs are, in film order, as follows:
"Song of the South" Written by Sam Coslow and Arthur Johnston; performed by the Disney Studio Choir
"Uncle Remus Said" Written by Eliot Daniel, Hy Heath, and Johnny Lange; performed by the Hall Johnson Choir
"Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" Written by Allie Wrubel and Ray Gilbert; performed by James Baskett
"Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" (reprise) Performed by Bobby Driscoll
"Who Wants to Live Like That?" Written by Ken Darby and Foster Carling; performed by James Baskett
"Let the Rain Pour Down" (uptempo) Written by Ken Darby and Foster Carling; performed by the Hall Johnson Choir
"How Do You Do?" Written by Robert MacGimsey; performed by Johnny Lee and James Baskett
"How Do You Do?" (reprise) Performed by Bobby Driscoll and Glenn Leedy
"Sooner or Later" Written by Charles Wolcott and Ray Gilbert; performed by Hattie McDaniel
"Everybody's Got a Laughing Place" Written by Allie Wrubel and Ray Gilbert; performed by James Baskett and Nick Stewart
"Let the Rain Pour Down" (downtempo) Written by Ken Darby and Foster Carling; performed by the Hall Johnson Choir
"All I Want" Traditional, new arrangement and lyrics by Ken Darby; performed by the Hall Johnson Choir
"Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" (reprise) Performed by Bobby Driscoll, Luana Patten, Glenn Leedy, Johnny Lee, and James Baskett
"Song of the South" (reprise) Performed by the Disney Studio Choir
"Let the Rain Pour Down" is set to the melody of "Midnight Special," a traditional blues song popularized by Lead Belly. The song title, "Look at the Sun," appeared in some early press books, though it is not actually in the film.[citation needed] The song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" was influenced by the chorus of the pre-Civil War folk song "Zip Coon", that is considered racist as it plays on an African American stereotype.[18][19]
History and production[edit]
Walt Disney had long wanted to make a film based on the Uncle Remus storybook, but it wasn't until the mid-1940s that he had found a way to give the stories an adequate film equivalent, in scope and fidelity. "I always felt that Uncle Remus should be played by a living person," Disney is quoted as saying, "as should also the young boy to whom Harris' old Negro philosopher relates his vivid stories of the Briar Patch. Several tests in previous pictures, especially in The Three Caballeros, were encouraging in the way living action and animation could be dovetailed. Finally, months ago, we 'took our foot in hand,' in the words of Uncle Remus, and jumped into our most venturesome but also more pleasurable undertaking."[20]
Disney first began to negotiate with Harris' family for the rights in 1939, and by late summer of that year he already had one of his storyboard artists summarize the more promising tales and draw up four boards' worth of story sketches.[3] In November 1940, Disney visited the Harris' home in Atlanta. He told Variety that he wanted to "get an authentic feeling of Uncle Remus country so we can do as faithful a job as possible to these stories."[3] Roy Oliver Disney had misgivings about the project, doubting that it was "big enough in caliber and natural draft" to warrant a budget over $1 million and more than twenty-five minutes of animation, but in June 1944, Walt hired Southern-born writer Dalton Reymond to write the screenplay, and he met frequently with King Vidor, whom he was trying to interest in directing the live-action sequences.[3]
Production started under the title Uncle Remus.[3][7] Filming began in December 1944 in Phoenix, where the studio had constructed a plantation and cotton fields for outdoor scenes, and Walt Disney left for the location to oversee what he called "atmospheric shots".[3] Back in Hollywood, the live action scenes were filmed at the Samuel Goldwyn Studio.
Writing[edit]
Dalton Reymond wrote a treatment for the film.[7] Because Reymond was not a professional screenwriter, Maurice Rapf, who had been writing live-action features at the time, was asked by Walt Disney Productions to work with Reymond and co-writer Callum Webb to turn the treatment into a shootable screenplay.[7] According to Neal Gabler, one of the reasons Disney had hired Rapf to work with Reymond was to temper what Disney feared would be Reymond's "white Southern slant".

Rapf was a minority, a Jew, and an outspoken left-winger, and he himself feared that the film would inevitably be Uncle Tomish. "That's exactly why I want you to work on it," Walt told him, "because I know that you don't think I should make the movie. You're against Uncle Tomism, and you're a radical."[3]
Rapf initially hesitated, but when he found out that most of the film would be live-action and that he could make extensive changes, he accepted the offer.[7] Rapf worked on Uncle Remus for about seven weeks. When he got into a personal dispute with Reymond, Rapf was taken off the project.[7] According to Rapf, Walt Disney "ended every conference by saying 'Well, I think we've really licked it now.' Then he'd call you the next morning and say, 'I've got a new idea.' And he'd have one. Sometimes the ideas were good, sometimes they were terrible, but you could never really satisfy him."[3] Morton Grant was assigned to the project.[7] Disney sent out the script for comment both within the studio and outside the studio.[3]
Casting[edit]
Song of the South was the first live-action dramatic film made by Disney.[21] James Baskett was cast as Uncle Remus after answering an ad to provide the voice of a talking butterfly. "I thought that, maybe, they'd try me out to furnish the voice for one of Uncle Remus' animals," Baskett is quoted as saying. Upon review of his voice, Disney wanted to meet Baskett personally, and had him tested for the role of Uncle Remus. Not only did Baskett get the part of the butterfly's voice, but also the voice of Br'er Fox and the live-action role of Uncle Remus as well.[22] Additionally, Baskett filled in as the voice of Br'er Rabbit for Johnny Lee in the "Laughing Place" scene after Lee was called away to do promotion for the picture.[21] Walt Disney liked Baskett, and told his sister, Ruth Disney, that Baskett was "the best actor, I believe, to be discovered in years." Even after the film's release, Walt stayed in contact with Baskett.[3] Disney also campaigned for Baskett to be given an Academy Award for his performance, saying that he had worked "almost wholly without direction" and had devised the characterization of Remus himself. Thanks to Disney's efforts, Baskett won an honorary Oscar in 1948.[3][7] After Baskett's death, his widow wrote Disney and told him that he had been a "friend indeed and [we] certainly have been in need."[3]
Also cast in the production were child actors Bobby Driscoll, Luana Patten, and Glenn Leedy (his only screen appearance). Driscoll was the first actor to be under a personal contract with the Disney studio.[23] Patten had been a professional model since age 3, and caught the attention of Disney when she appeared on the cover of Woman's Home Companion magazine.[24] Leedy was discovered on the playground of the Booker T. Washington school in Phoenix, AZ by a talent scout from the Disney studio.[25] Ruth Warrick and Erik Rolf, cast as Johnny's mother and father, had actually been married during filming, but divorced in 1946.[26][27] Hattie McDaniel also appeared in the role of Aunt Tempy.
Direction[edit]
The animated segments of the film were directed by Wilfred Jackson, while the live-action segments were directed by Harve Foster.[3] On the final day of shooting, Jackson discovered that the scene in which Uncle Remus sings the film's signature song, "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah", had not been properly blocked. According to Jackson, "We all sat there in a circle with the dollars running out, and nobody came up with anything. Then Walt suggested that they shoot Baskett in close-up, cover the lights with cardboard save for a sliver of blue sky behind his head, and then remove the cardboard from the lights when he began singing so that he would seem to be entering a bright new world of animation. Like Walt's idea for Bambi on ice, it made for one of the most memorable scenes in the film."[3]
Release[edit]
The film premiered on November 12, 1946 at the Fox Theater in Atlanta.[3] Walt Disney made introductory remarks, introduced the cast, then quietly left for his room at the Georgian Terrace Hotel across the street; he had previously stated that unexpected audience reactions upset him and he was better off not seeing the film with an audience. James Baskett was unable to attend the film's premiere because he would not have been allowed to participate in any of the festivities, as Atlanta was then a racially segregated city.[28] The film grossed $3.3 million at the box office.[3]
As had been done earlier with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Walt Disney produced a Sunday strip titled Uncle Remus & His Tales of Br'er Rabbit to give the film pre-release publicity. The strip was launched by King Features on October 14, 1945, more than a year before the film was released. Unlike the Snow White comic strip, which only adapted the film, Uncle Remus ran for decades, telling one story after another about the characters, some based on the legends and others new, until it ended on December 31, 1972.[29] Apart from the newspaper strips, Disney Br'er Rabbit comics were also produced for comic books; the first such stories appeared in late 1946. Produced both by Western Publishing and European publishers such as Egmont, they continue to appear to this day.[30]
In 1946, a Giant Golden Book entitled Walt Disney's Uncle Remus Stories was published by Simon & Schuster. It featured 23 illustrated stories of Br'er Rabbit's escapades, all told in a Southern dialect based on the original Joel Chandler Harris stories.
Critical response[edit]
Although the film was a financial success, netting the studio a slim profit of $226,000,[31] some critics were less enthusiastic about the film, not so much the animated portions as the live-action portions. Bosley Crowther for one wrote in The New York Times, "More and more, Walt Disney's craftsmen have been loading their feature films with so-called 'live action' in place of their animated whimsies of the past, and by just those proportions has the magic of these Disney films decreased," citing the ratio of live action to animation at two to one, concluding that is "approximately the ratio of its mediocrity to its charm."[3] However, the film also received positive notice. Time magazine called the film "topnotch Disney."[7] In 2003, the Online Film Critics Society ranked the film as the 67th greatest animated film of all time.[32]
Controversies[edit]
The film has received much critical attention for its handling of race. Cultural historian Jason Sperb describes the film as "one of Hollywood's most resiliently offensive racist texts",[33] noting as Gabler, Stephen Watts and Thomas Cripps all had previously, the film's appearance in the wake of the Double V Campaign during World War II ("victory over fascism abroad, victory over racism at home".)
Early in the film's production, there was concern that the material would encounter controversy. Disney publicist Vern Caldwell wrote to producer Perce Pearce that "the negro situation is a dangerous one. Between the negro haters and the negro lovers there are many chances to run afoul of situations that could run the gamut all the way from the nasty to the controversial."[3]
When the film was first released, Walter Francis White, the executive secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) telegraphed major newspapers around the country with the following statement, erroneously claiming that the film depicted an antebellum setting:

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People recognizes in "Song of the South" remarkable artistic merit in the music and in the combination of living actors and the cartoon technique. It regrets, however, that in an effort neither to offend audiences in the north or south, the production helps to perpetuate a dangerously glorified picture of slavery. Making use of the beautiful Uncle Remus folklore, "Song of the South" unfortunately gives the impression of an idyllic master-slave relationship which is a distortion of the facts.[7]
White however had not yet seen the film; his statement was based on memos he received from two NAACP staff members - Norma Jensen and Hope Springarn - who attended a press screening on November 20, 1946. Jensen had written that the film was "so artistically beautiful that it is difficult to be provoked over the clichés" but that it contained "all the clichés in the book", mentioning that she felt scenes like blacks singing traditional black songs were offensive as a stereotype. Springarn listed several things she found objectionable from the film, including the Negro dialect.[7]
"Both Jensen and Springarn were also confused" by the film’s Reconstruction setting, states Jim Hill Media, writing that "It was something that also confused other reviewers who from the tone of the film and the type of similar recent Hollywood movies [Gone with the Wind; Jezebel] assumed it must also be set during the time of slavery." Based on the Jensen and Springarn memos, White released the "official position" of the NAACP in a telegram that was widely quoted in newspapers.[34] The New York Times' Bosley Crowther, mentioned above, made a similar assumption, writing that the movie was a "travesty on the antebellum South."[35]
In the same vein, Time magazine, although it praised the film, also cautioned that it was "bound to land its maker in hot water", because the character of Uncle Remus was "bound to enrage all educated Negroes and a number of damyankees".[36] Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., a congressman from Harlem, branded the film an "insult to American minorities [and] everything that America as a whole stands for."[37] The National Negro Congress set up picket lines in theaters in the big cities where the film played, with its protesters holding signs that read "Song of the South is an insult to the Negro people" and, lampooning "Jingle Bells", chanted: "Disney tells, Disney tells/lies about the South."[37] Jewish newspaper B'nai B'rith Messenger of Los Angeles considered the film to be "tall[ying] with the reputation that Disney is making for himself as an arch-reactionary".
At the same time, however, some black press had mixed reactions on what they thought of Song of the South. While Richard B. Dier in The Afro-American was "thoroughly disgusted" by the film for being "as vicious a piece of propaganda for white supremacy as Hollywood ever produced," Herman Hill in The Pittsburgh Courier felt that Song of the South would "prove of inestimable goodwill in the furthering of interracial relations", and considered criticisms of the film to be "unadulterated hogwash symptomatic of the unfortunate racial neurosis that seems to be gripping so many of our humorless brethren these days."[38]
The Disney Company has stated that, like Harris' book, the film takes place after the American Civil War and that all the African American characters in the movie are no longer slaves.[16] The Hays Office had asked Disney to "be certain that the frontispiece of the book mentioned establishes the date in the 1870s," however, the final film carried no such statement.[7]
Academy Award recognition[edit]
The score by Daniele Amfitheatrof, Paul J. Smith, and Charles Wolcott was nominated in the "Scoring of a Musical Picture" category, and "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah", written by Allie Wrubel and Ray Gilbert won the award for Best Song at the 20th Academy Awards on March 20, 1948.[39]
A special Academy Award was given "To James Baskett for his able and heart-warming characterization of Uncle Remus, friend and story teller to the children of the world in Walt Disney's 'Song of the South.'" Bobby Driscoll and Luana Patten in their portrayals of the children characters Johnny and Ginny were also discussed for Special Juvenile Awards, but in 1947 it was decided not to present such awards at all.[40]
Re-releases[edit]
Song of the South was re-released in theatres several times after its original Walt Disney Pictures/RKO Pictures premiere, each time through Buena Vista Pictures: in 1956; in 1972 for Disney's 50th anniversary; in 1973 as the second-half of a double bill with The Aristocats; in 1980 for the 100th anniversary of Harris' classic stories; and in 1986 for the film's own 40th anniversary and in promotion of the upcoming Splash Mountain attraction at three of Disney's theme parks. .[41]
Home media[edit]
Disney Enterprises has avoided making the complete version of the film directly available on home video in the United States because the frame story was deemed controversial by studio management. Film critic Roger Ebert, who normally disdained any attempt to keep films from any audience, supported the non-release position, claiming that most Disney films become a part of the consciousness of American children, who take films more literally than do adults. However, he favored allowing film students to have access to the film.[42]
Over the years, Disney has made a variety of statements about whether and when the film would be re-released.[43][44][45][46] In March 2010, Disney CEO Robert Iger stated that there were no plans to release the movie on DVD, calling the film "antiquated" and "fairly offensive".[47] On November 15, 2010, Disney creative director Dave Bossert stated in an interview, "I can say there's been a lot of internal discussion about Song of the South. And at some point we're going to do something about it. I don't know when, but we will. We know we want people to see Song of the South because we realize it's a big piece of company history, and we want to do it the right way."[48]
Disney Enterprises has allowed key portions of the film to be issued on many VHS and DVD compilation videos in the U.S., as well as on the long-running Walt Disney anthology television series. Most recently, the "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" number and some of the animated portion of the movie were issued on the Alice in Wonderland 2-DVD Special Edition set, although in that instance this was originally incorporated as part of a 1950 Walt Disney TV special included on the DVD which promoted the then-forthcoming Alice in Wonderland film.
The film has been released on video in its entirety in various European, Latin American, and Asian countries—in the UK it was released on PAL VHS tape in 1982 and again in 1991, and in Japan it appeared on NTSC VHS, Beta, and laserdisc in 1985 then again in 1990 with subtitles during songs. (Under Japanese copyright law it is now in the public domain.)[49]
A NTSC laserdisc was released out of Hong Kong for the Chinese rental market. It appears to have been created from a PAL videotape, and has a 4% faster running time because of its PAL source, and thus also suffers from "frame ghosting". There are reports that this laserdisc is a bootleg, but it is a legitimate Disney (albeit poor quality) product.[citation needed] A bootleg version was released on DVD in China by BoYing. The release is of poor video/audio quality as well and includes a large blue animated logo that travels across the screen every 4 minutes and 45 seconds.[50]
While most foreign releases of the film are literal translations of the English title (Canción del Sur in Spanish, Mélodie du Sud in French, Melodie Van Het Zuiden in Dutch, Sången om södern in Swedish, A Canção do Sul in Portuguese, and Etelän laulu in Finnish), the German title Onkel Remus' Wunderland translates to "Uncle Remus' Wonderland", the Italian title I Racconti Dello Zio Tom translates to "The Stories of Uncle Tom",[51] and the Norwegian title Onkel Remus forteller translates to "Storyteller Uncle Remus."[52]
Despite the film's lack of an official home video release directly to consumers in the United States, audio from the film—both the musical soundtrack and dialogue—were made widely available to the public from the time of the film's debut up through the late 1970s. In particular, many Book-and-Record sets were released, alternately featuring the animated portions of the film or summaries of the film as a whole.[53]
Unauthorized copies of the film have been released. [54]
References in other Disney media[edit]
As early as October, 1945, a newspaper strip named Walt Disney Presents "Uncle Remus" and His Tales of Brer Rabbit appeared in the United States, and this production continued until 1972. There have also been episodes for the series produced for the Disney comic books worldwide, in USA, Denmark and the Netherlands, from the 1940s up to the present day, 2012.[55] Brer Bear and Brer Fox also appeared frequently in Disney's Big Bad Wolf stories, although here, Brer Bear was usually cast as an honest farmer and family man, instead of the bad guy in his original appearances.
Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, and Br'er Bear appeared as guests in Disney's House of Mouse. They also appeared in Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse. Br'er Bear and Tar Baby also appear in the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Br'er Bear can be seen near the end while the Toons are celebrating finding the will. Tar Baby can briefly be seen during the scene driving into Toon Town.
Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, and Br'er Bear also appeared in the 2011 video game Kinect Disneyland Adventures for the Xbox 360. The game is a virtual recreation of Disneyland and it features a mini game based on the Splash Mountain attraction. Brer Rabbit helps guide the player character through that game, while Brer Fox and Brer Bear serve as antagonists. The three Brers also appear as meet-and-greet characters in the game, outside Splash Mountain in Critter Country. In the game, Jess Harnell reprises his role from the attraction as Brer Rabbit and also takes on the role of Brer Fox, while Br'er Bear is voiced by James Avery, who previously voiced Br'er Bear and Br'er Frog in the Walt Disney World version of Splash Mountain. This is the Brers' first major appearance in Disney media since House of Mouse in 2001 and their first appearance as computer-generated characters.
See also[edit]
Coonskin, a 1975 live-action/animated film featuring Brother Rabbit and Brother Bear
List of Japanese voice actors dubbing Disney characters: Song of the South
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b "Song of the South: Detail View". American Film Institute. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
2.Jump up ^ Solomon, Charles (1989), p. 186. Enchanted Drawings: The History of Animation. ISBN 0-394-54684-9. Alfred A. Knopf. Retrieved February 16, 2008.
3.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Gabler, Neal (2006-10-31). Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination. Knopf. pp. 432–9, 456, 463, 486, 511, 599. ISBN 0-679-43822-X.
4.Jump up ^ http://entertainment.time.com/2009/12/09/top-10-disney-controversies/slide/song-of-the-south/
5.Jump up ^ "Disney (Song of the South)". Urban Legends Reference Pages. Retrieved 2007-01-18.
6.Jump up ^ Moses, Robert (1999). AMC Classic Movie Companion. New York: Hyperion. p. 440. ISBN 0-7868-8394-4.
7.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l Cohen, Karl F. (1997). Forbidden Animation: Censored Cartoons and Blacklisted Animators in America. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 64. ISBN 0-7864-2032-4.
8.Jump up ^ Kaufman, Will (2006). The Civil War in American Culture. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 0-7486-1935-6.
9.Jump up ^ Langman, Larry; Ebner, David (2001). Hollywood’s Image of the South: A Century of Southern Films. Westport Connecticut, London: Greenwood Press. p. 169. ISBN 0-313-31886-7.
10.Jump up ^ Snead, James A.; MacCabe, Colin; West, Cornel (1994). White Screens, Black Images: Hollywood from the Dark Side. New York: Routledge. pp. 88, 93. ISBN 0-415-90574-5.
11.Jump up ^ Watts, Jill (2005). Hattie McDaniel: Black Ambition, White Hollywood (First ed.). New York: Amistad/Harper Collins. ISBN 0-06-051491-4.
12.Jump up ^ Field, Douglas (2005). American Cold War Culture. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 0-7486-1923-2.
13.Jump up ^ TV Guide, entry for Song of the South
14.Jump up ^ Salon.com The perfect double bill: “Princess and the Frog” and “Song of the South” By Erik Nelson, March 16, 2010
15.Jump up ^ Williams, Pat; Denney, Jim (2004). How to Be Like Walt: Capturing the Disney Magic Every Day of Your Life. Deerfield Beach, Florida: Health Communications, Inc. p. 156. ISBN 0-7573-0231-9.
16.^ Jump up to: a b Walt Disney Presents "Song of the South" Promotional Program, Page 7. Published 1946 by Walt Disney Productions/RKO Radio Pictures.
17.Jump up ^ Walt Disney's Song of the South, 1946 Publicity Campaign Book, Distributed by RKO Pictures. Copyright Walt Disney Pictures, 1946. "The chain-reaction, endless song, of which American folk music is so plentiful [...] The number is 'Uncle Remus Said,' and it consists of a single, brief melody repeated as often as new lyrics come along."
18.Jump up ^ Emerson, Ken (1997). Doo-dah!: Stephen Foster and the Rise of American Popular Culture. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 60. ISBN 978-0684810102.
19.Jump up ^ "Blackface!". black-face.com. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
20.Jump up ^ "The Movie: Background". Song of the South.net. Retrieved 2007-01-18.
21.^ Jump up to: a b "Trivia for Song of the South". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-01-18.
22.Jump up ^ "James Baskett as Uncle Remus". Song of the South.net. Retrieved 2007-01-18.
23.Jump up ^ Bobby Driscoll biography at Song of the South.net
24.Jump up ^ "Luana Patten as Ginny Favers". Song of the South.net. Retrieved 2007-01-18.
25.Jump up ^ "Glenn Leedy as Toby". Song of the South.net. Retrieved 2007-01-18.
26.Jump up ^ "Ruth Warrick as Sally". Song of the South.net. Retrieved 2007-01-18.
27.Jump up ^ "Eric Rolf as John". Song of the South.net. Retrieved 2007-01-18.
28.Jump up ^ In a 15 October 1946 article in the Atlanta Constitution, columnist Harold Martin noted that to bring Baskett to Atlanta, where he would not have been allowed to participate in any of the festivities, "would cause him many embarrassments, for his feelings are the same as any man's." The modern claim that no Atlanta hotel would give Baskett accommodation is false: there were several black-owned hotels in the Sweet Auburn area of downtown Atlanta at the time, including the Savoy and the McKay. Atlanta's Black-Owned Hotels: A History.
29.Jump up ^ Don Markstein. "Br'er Rabbit". Toonopedia. Retrieved 2007-01-18.
30.Jump up ^ http://coa.inducks.org/character.php/x/BR/date/42
31.Jump up ^ Thomas, Bob (1994). Walt Disney: An American Original. New York.: Hyperion Books. p. 161. ISBN 0-7868-6027-8.
32.Jump up ^ "Top 100 Animated Features of All Time". Online Film Critics Society. Retrieved 2007-01-18.
33.Jump up ^ Jason Sperb, Disney’s Most Notorious Film, University of Texas Press (2012), ISBN 0292739745, ISBN 978-0292739741; reviewed in John Lingan, Bristling Dixie, Slate Jan. 4, 2013 (accessed Aug. 21, 2013)
34.Jump up ^ Jim Hill Media. Wednesdays with Wade: Did the NAACP kill "Song of the South"? November 15, 2005.
35.Jump up ^ The New York Times. The Screen; 'Song of the South,' Disney Film Combining Cartoons and Life, Opens at Palace—Abbott and Costello at Loew's Criterion By Bosley Crowther, November 28, 1946.
36.Jump up ^ Time magazine. The New Pictures, Nov. 18, 1946
37.^ Jump up to: a b Watts, Steven (2001). The Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney and the American Way of Life. University of Missouri Press. pp. 276–277. ISBN 0-8262-1379-0.
38.Jump up ^ Gevinson, Alan (1997). Within Our Gates: Ethnicity in American Feature Films, 1911-1960. California: University of California Press. p. 956. ISBN 978-0520209640.
39.Jump up ^ Song of the South opened in Los Angeles in 1947, which became its qualification year for the awards.
40.Jump up ^ Parsons, Luella (1960-02-28). "That Little Girl in 'Song of the South' a Big Girl Now". Lincoln Sunday Journal and Star. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
41.Jump up ^ This film is now available on DVD and Blue Ray (Disney Movies Guide)
42.Jump up ^ Mike Brantley (January 6, 2002). "'Song of the South'". Alabama Mobile Register. Retrieved 2007-01-18.
43.Jump up ^ Audio of Robert Iger's statement can be heard here
44.Jump up ^ "2007 Transcript from shareholder's meeting". Retrieved 2007-04-20.
45.Jump up ^ "Disney Backpedaling on Releasing Song of the South?". songofthesouth.net. Retrieved 2007-05-28.
46.Jump up ^ "Actually, things are looking pretty good right now for "Song of the South" to finally be released on DVD in late 2008 / early 2009". jimhillmedia.net. Retrieved 2007-07-06.
47.Jump up ^ "Disney CEO Calls Movie Antiquated and Fairly Offensive". songofthesouth.net. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
48.Jump up ^ "Disney Producer Encouraging About 'Song of the South' Release". The Post-Movie Podcast. November 20, 2010. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
49.Jump up ^ "Japanese Court Rules Pre-1953 Movies in Public Domain", contactmusic.com, December 7, 2006.
50.Jump up ^ http://forum.dvdtalk.com/11585933-post13.html
51.Jump up ^ "AKAs for Song of the South". Retrieved 2007-01-18.
52.Jump up ^ "Walt Disney's: helaftens spillefilmer 1941–1981". Retrieved 2009-10-03.
53.Jump up ^ "Song of the South Memorabilia". Song of the South.net. Retrieved 2007-01-18.
54.Jump up ^ Classic Movies Etc Song of the South DVD page.
55.Jump up ^ "Brer Rabbit" at Inducks
Further reading[edit]
Jason Sperb, Disney's Most Notorious Film: Race, Convergence, and the Hidden Histories of Song of the South. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2012.
External links[edit]
Song of the South at the Internet Movie Database
Song of the South at the TCM Movie Database
Song of the South at the Big Cartoon DataBase
Song of the South at AllMovie
Song of the South at Box Office Mojo
Song of the South at Rotten Tomatoes


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Categories: 1946 films
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Donald Gets Drafted
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Jump to: navigation, search


Donald Gets Drafted
Donald Duck series
Donald-drafted.jpg
Pete scolding Donald

Directed by
Jack King
Produced by
Walt Disney
Story by
Carl Barks
Jack Hannah
 Harry Reeves
Voices by
Billy Bletcher
 John McLeish
Clarence Nash
Music by
Paul J. Smith
Animation by
Paul Allen, Jim Armstrong, Hal King, Ed Love, Ray Patin, Retta Scott, Judge Whitaker
Layouts by
Bill Herwig
Studio
Walt Disney Productions
Distributed by
RKO Radio Pictures
Release date(s)
May 1, 1942
(USA)
Color process
Technicolor
Running time
8 minutes 55 seconds
Country
United States
Language
English
Preceded by
Donald's Snow Fight
Followed by
Donald's Garden
Donald Gets Drafted is a 1942 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The cartoon has Donald Duck being drafted into the U. S. Army during World War II and follows his introduction to military life. The film was directed by Jack King and introduced the song "The Army's Not the Army Anymore" by Carl Barks and Leigh Harline. The voice cast includes Clarence Nash as Donald, John McLeish as an officer, and Billy Bletcher as Pete who is Donald's drill sergeant.
Donald Gets Drafted was the first of a five-part series, within the larger Donald Duck series, which shared a continuity of Donald serving in the army during World War II. The cartoon also revealed for the first time Donald's middle name – Fauntleroy – seen on his "Order to Report for Induction" form from the film's title screen.[1][2][3]


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Background
3 Release history
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

Plot[edit]
Filled with enthusiasm, Donald reports to his local draft board after receiving a draft notice. Along the way, he passes several recruiting posters designed to glamorize military life. After arriving at the draft board, Donald expresses his desire to join the Army Air Forces, adding excitedly, "I came from a family of aviators!" The desk officer directs Donald to a room where he is to undergo a physical examination.
Inside the exam room, a team of white-coated doctors hurriedly pass Donald around, measuring him and testing his vital signs, vision, and hearing. Several gags during the scene emphasize the Army's willingness to accept as many recruits as possible, such as a color vision test that Donald passes even after mistakenly identifying a green card as being blue. At the end of the exam Donald is issued a uniform - vastly oversized, but shrunk to fit thanks to a bucket of water dumped over his head - and has his rear end stamped with a large "OK."[4]
During basic training, Donald's unit is marched around the field by the drill sergeant (Pete). Donald is distracted by Douglas C-47 Skytrains flying overhead, reminding him that he would rather be flying. His lack of concentration causes him to march out of step with the other soldiers and chop Pete's necktie in half with his rifle bayonet. Pete dismisses the other soldiers to drill Donald personally, but Donald's continued bumbling drives him to distraction. Ordered to stand at attention over an anthill, Donald struggles to maintain his composure as the ants crawl all over him. Finally he snaps and scrabbles madly to get the ants off, accidentally firing his rifle several times and striking Pete as he climbs a tree to get away. Donald is punished by being assigned to peel a roomful of potatoes, shaving off one peel to form his catchphrase "phooey" in response to the chorus' lyrics that describe the good conditions in the Army.
Background[edit]
The satirical humor in Donald Gets Drafted reflects an anti-military sentiment felt in particular by Carl Barks, one of the writers of the film. (He had written the lyrics to the theme song, scripted the film, and also drew the recruitment posters which Donald passes on his way to the draft board.) Barks himself was a pacifist who was against America's involvement in the war. He once said "When I saw how little we accomplished with World War I, I thought, why in the devil kill off another whole generation of young men to accomplish the same result?" In Donald Gets Drafted Barks ridicules military recruitment, in particular its deceptive propaganda. The film is meant to draw a sharp distinction between the glamorous life presented in the posters outside the draft board compared to the reality Donald faces inside. Later, when Donald is at basic training, Barks pokes fun at military discipline, and even gives the sergeant a punishment of sorts by getting shot. This played well with audiences who were resentful of military strictness as America was mobilizing itself for war.[5]
Release history[edit]
##1942 – Original theatrical release
##1984 – Donald Duck's 50th Birthday (TV special)
##1985 – "An Officer and a Duck" (VHS)
##1997 – Ink & Paint Club, episode #1.31 "The Unseen Disney" (TV)
##2004 – "Walt Disney Treasures: Walt Disney on the Front Lines" (DVD)
##2005 – "Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald, Volume Two" (DVD)
See also[edit]
##List of World War II short films
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Donald Gets Drafted at the Internet Movie Database
2.Jump up ^ Donald Gets Drafted from The Encyclopedia of Animated Disney Shorts
3.Jump up ^ Donald Gets Drafted at the Big Cartoon DataBase
4.Jump up ^ This gag was taken directly from the short The Barnyard Battle (1929) where Mickey Mouse gets stamped in a similar fashion.
5.Jump up ^ Andrae, Tom (2006). Carl Barks and the Disney Comic Book. Jackson, Mississippi: Univ. Press of Mississippi. pp. 56–57. ISBN 1-57806-858-4.
External links[edit]
##Donald Gets Drafted at the Big Cartoon DataBase
##Donald Gets Drafted at the Internet Movie Database
 


Categories: 1942 films
English-language films
Disney animated short films, 1940s
Donald Duck short films
World War II films made in wartime
Military humor in film
1942 animated films
Films directed by Jack King




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Education for Death
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


Education for Death
Education for Death.jpg
Directed by
Clyde Geronimi
Production
   company
Walt Disney Productions
Distributed by
RKO Radio Pictures
Release date(s)
January 15, 1943

Running time
10 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English (narrator)
German (characters)
Education for Death: The Making of the Nazi is an animated propaganda short film produced by Walt Disney and released on January 15, 1943, by RKO Radio Pictures, directed by Clyde Geronimi and principally animated by Ward Kimball. The short is based on the non-fiction book of the same name[1] by American author Gregor Ziemer.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Production
3 Relationship to the Ziemer book
4 See also
5 Notes
6 External links

Plot[edit]


File:Education For Death.ogv
Play media


Education for Death. The film is in the public domain in the United States.
The film features the story of Hans, a boy born and raised in Nazi Germany, who is bred to become a merciless soldier.
At the beginning of the film, a German couple prove to a Nazi supreme judge that they are of pure Aryan blood and agree to give their son, whom they name Hans at the approval of the judge,[2] into the service of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. They are given a copy of Mein Kampf by the judge as a reward for their service to Hitler; their passport contains spaces for 12 more children (a hint that the couple is expected to produce a large family for the Fatherland).
This is followed by the only extended comical section of the cartoon, the tone of which is very light compared to the rest of the film. The audience is told that as Hans grows up, he hears a distorted version of Sleeping Beauty depicting Hitler as the knight in shining armor rescuing Sleeping Beauty, an obese Valkyrie representing Germany, from a wicked witch, representing democracy. (The narrator sarcastically comments that "the moral of this story seems to be that Hitler got Germany on her feet, climbed onto the saddle, and took her for a ride.") Thanks to this kind of distorted children's story, Hans becomes fascinated with Hitler as he and the rest of the younger members of the Hitler Youth give a portrait of him dressed as a knight the Hitler salute.
In the following segment, the audience sees Hans sick and bedridden. His mother prays for him, knowing it will only be a matter of time before the authorities come and take him away to serve Hitler. A Nazi officer bangs on the door to take Hans away, but his mother says he is sick and needs care. The officer orders her to heal her son quickly and have him ready to leave, implying if Hans does not get well, he will be euthanized. He orders her not to do anything more to him that will cause him to lose heart and be weak, explaining that a soldier must show no emotion, mercy, or feelings whatsoever.
Hans eventually recovers and resumes his "education" in a school classroom, where Hans and the rest of his classmates all in Hitlerjugend uniforms, after giving portraits of Hitler, Hermann Göring, and Joseph Goebbels the Hitler salute, watch as the teacher draws a cartoon on the blackboard of a rabbit being eaten by a fox, prompting Hans to feel sorry for the rabbit. The teacher, furious over the remark, orders Hans to sit in the corner wearing a dunce cap. As Hans sits in the corner, he hears the rest of the classmates "correctly" interpret the cartoon as "weakness has no place in a soldier" and "the strong shall rule the weak". This sparks Hans to recant his remark and agrees that the weak must be destroyed.
Hans then takes part in a book-burning crusade, burning any books that oppose Hitler (Einstein, Spinoza, and Voltaire), replacing the Bible with Mein Kampf and the crucifix with a Nazi sword, and burning a Catholic Church. Hans then spends the next several years "Marching and heiling, heiling and marching!" until he reaches his teens (wearing a uniform similar to that of the Sturmabteilung) still "marching and heiling" until he becomes an adult or "Good Nazi" (now in Wehrmacht uniform) embroiled in hatred towards anyone else who opposes Hitler, having "no seed of laughter, hope, tolerance, or mercy" planted in him, and he "sees no more than the party wants him to [see], says nothing but what the party wants him to say, and he does nothing but what the party wants him to do."
In the end, Hans and the rest of the German soldiers march off to war only to fade into rows of identical graves, with nothing on them except a swastika and a helmet perched on top. Thus Hans's education is complete – "his education... for death."
Production[edit]
Education for Death: The Making of the Nazi was released when Disney was under government contract to produce 32 animated shorts from 1941 to 1945. In 1940, Walt Disney spent four times his budget on the feature film Fantasia (1940) which suffered from low box office turnout. Nearing bankruptcy and with half of his employees on strike, Walt Disney was forced to look for a solution to bring money into the studio. The studio's close proximity to the military aircraft manufacturer, Lockheed, helped foster a U.S. government contract for 32 short propaganda films at $4,500 each. This saved the company from bankruptcy and allowed them to keep their employees on payroll.[3]
The dialogue of the characters is in German, neither subtitled nor directly translated by Art Smith's lone English language narration. A voice track of Adolf Hitler in full demagogic rant is used in a torchlight rally scene. A sequence follows in which Hans becomes a German soldier along with other Hitler Youth.
Intended as anti-Nazi propaganda during World War II, the film is rarely shown today, but it is featured on the DVD Walt Disney Treasures: On the Front Lines, a compilation of Disney's wartime shorts released on May 18, 2004.
Relationship to the Ziemer book[edit]
Gregor Ziemer, an American author and educator who lived in Germany from 1928 to 1939, wrote the book Education for Death after fleeing Germany on the eve of World War II. The book highlights what was going on in the Nazi schooling of the German youth.
The narrative story focuses around a group of youth that under the guidance of a Nazi storm trooper, Franzen, take a hiking trip into the woods. As night falls, Franzen "lectures the troop on their duty to preserve the purity of the human race, and proposes they symbolize this task with a solemn ritual to 'impress on us all that fire and destruction will be the end of those who do not think as we do.'" Franzen then hands out six books: the Talmud, the Koran, the works of Shakespeare, the Treaty of Versailles, a biography of Joseph Stalin, and the Bible. The books are passed around the circle and each boy spits on the books, hands them back to Franzen who douses them with kerosene and lights them on fire. The troop then sings the "Deutschlandlied" ("Deutschland, Deutschland über alles") and the Horst Wessel anthem around the fire.
The book inspired two different adaptations; Education for Death and Hitler's Children. The former took Ziemer's conclusions very seriously, as it showed the education of Hans from an innocent, kind youth into a chained and muzzled Nazi drone. The scene of the storm trooper and the hiking trip is transplanted to a classroom where the teacher instructs the students about nature's laws about the strong fox having the right to kill the weak rabbit. When Hans does not agree with the teacher, he is punished until he falls in line. The scene involving the book burning is part of the ending compilation of Nazi transformation and destruction. It shows a torch-bearing crowd setting fire to a pile of books of John Milton, Baruch Spinoza, Albert Einstein, Voltaire, and Thomas Mann. It then shows a burning of Felix Mendelssohn's wedding march, an allusion to the Nazi race laws, and the burning of a pile of art.[4]
See also[edit]
Walt Disney's World War II propaganda production
American propaganda during World War II
Der Fuehrer's Face
List of World War II short films
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Gregor Ziemer (1941). Education for Death: The Making of the Nazi. ISBN 0-374-98905-2
2.Jump up ^ In a subtle touch, all the names on the list are Jewish, except the names heading the list: "Franklin" and "Winston", referring to Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill.
3.Jump up ^ Raiti, G. C. (2007). "The Disappearance of Disney Animated Propaganda: A Globalization Perspective". Animation 2 (2): 153–169. doi:10.1177/1746847707074703. ISSN 1746-8477.
4.Jump up ^ Fishburn, Matthew (2007). "Books Are Weapons: Wartime Responses to the Nazi Bookfires of 1933". Book History (Pennsylvania State University Press) 10: 223–251. doi:10.1353/bh.2007.0004. ISSN 1098-7371.
External links[edit]
The short film Education for Death is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
Education for Death at the Big Cartoon DataBase
Education for Death at the Internet Movie Database
Education for Death on YouTube
 


Categories: 1943 films
Adolf Hitler in fiction
American films
American World War II propaganda shorts
Disney animated short films, 1940s
Films based on non-fiction books
1943 animated films
Films about Nazi Germany
Films directed by Clyde Geronimi




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Der Fuehrer's Face
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


Der Fuehrer's Face
Donald Duck series
Der Fuehrer's Face.jpg
Original theatrical film poster

Directed by
Jack Kinney
Produced by
Walt Disney
Story by
Joe Grant
Dick Huemer
Voices by
Clarence Nash
Groucho Marx (singer)
Music by
Oliver Wallace
Animation by
Bob Carlson
Les Clark
Bill Justice
 Milt Neil
Charles Nichols
 John Sibley
Layouts by
Don DaGradi
Andy Engman[1]
Studio
Walt Disney Productions
Distributed by
RKO Radio Pictures
Release date(s)
January 1, 1943
(USA)
Color process
Technicolor
Running time
8 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
Preceded by
Bellboy Donald
Followed by
The Spirit of '43
Der Fuehrer's Face (originally titled Donald Duck in Nutzi Land[2]) is a 1943 American animated propaganda short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released in 1943 by RKO Radio Pictures. The cartoon, which features Donald Duck in a nightmare setting working at a factory in Nazi Germany, was made in an effort to sell war bonds and is an example of American propaganda during World War II.[3] The film was directed by Jack Kinney and written by Joe Grant and Dick Huemer from the original music by Oliver Wallace.[4] The film is well known for Wallace's original song "Der Fuehrer's Face", which was actually released earlier by Spike Jones.
Der Fuehrer's Face won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 15th Academy Awards. It was the only Donald Duck film to receive the honor, although eight other films were also nominated.[5] In 1994, it was voted Number 22 of "the 50 Greatest Cartoons" of all time by members of the animation field. However, because of the propagandistic nature of the short, and the depiction of Donald Duck as a Nazi (albeit a reluctant one), Disney kept the film out of general circulation after its original release. Its first home video release came in 2004 with the release of the third wave of the Walt Disney Treasures DVD sets.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Song 2.1 Other versions
3 In other media
4 Releases
5 See also
6 Further reading
7 Notes
8 External links

Plot[edit]
The cartoon begins with music from Wagner's comic opera Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg before continuing into the title song.
A German oom-pah band—composed of Axis leaders Hideki Tōjō on sousaphone, Hermann Göring on piccolo, Joseph Goebbels on trombone, Benito Mussolini on bass drum, and Heinrich Himmler[citation needed] on snare drum—marches noisily at four o'clock in the morning through a small German town where everything, even the clouds and trees, are shaped as swastikas, singing the virtues of the Nazi doctrine. Passing by Donald Duck's house (the features of which depict Adolf Hitler), they poke him out of bed with a bayonet to get ready for work. Herr Donald then faces and "Heils" the portraits of the Führer (Adolf Hitler), the Emperor (Hirohito), and Il Duce (Benito Mussolini), respectively. Because of wartime rationing, his breakfast consists of a piece of wooden bread, coffee brewed from a single hoarded coffee bean, and an aromatic spray that smells like bacon and eggs. The band shoves a copy of Mein Kampf in front of him for a moment of reading, then marches into his house and escorts him to a factory with Donald now carrying the bass drum and Göring kicking him.



 Donald salutes the "Fuehrer"
Upon arriving at the factory (at bayonet-point), Donald starts his 48-hour daily shift screwing caps onto artillery shells in an assembly line. Mixed in with the shells are portraits of the Führer, so he must perform the Hitler salute every time a portrait appears, all the while screwing the caps onto shells, much to Donald's disgust. Each new batch of shells is of a different size, ranging from minute shells to massive shells, as large as Donald if not larger. The pace of the assembly line intensifies (as in the Charlie Chaplin comedy Modern Times), and Donald finds it increasingly hard to complete all the tasks. At the same time, he is bombarded with propaganda messages about the superiority of the Aryan race and the glory of working for the Fuehrer.
After a "paid vacation" that consists of making swastika shapes with his body for a few seconds in front of a painted backdrop of the Alps as exercise, Donald is ordered to work overtime. He has a nervous breakdown with hallucinations of artillery shells everywhere, some of which are snakes and birds, some sing and are the same shape of the marching band from the start, music and all. When the hallucinations clear, he finds himself in his bed, and realizes that the whole experience was a nightmare, but he sees the shadow of a figure holding its right hand up in the form of a Nazi salute. He begins to do so himself until he realizes that it is the shadow of a miniature Statue of Liberty. Remembering he is in the United States, he embraces the statue, proud of his United States citizenship.
The short ends with a caricature of Hitler's angry face. After two sets of "Heils", a tomato is thrown at Hitler's face and forms the words The End.
Song[edit]

"Der Fuehrer's Face"

Single by Spike Jones and His City Slickers

Recorded
1942
Writer(s)
Oliver Wallace
Before the film's release, the popular band Spike Jones and His City Slickers, noted for their parodies of popular songs of the time, released a version of Oliver Wallace's theme song, "Der Fuehrer's Face" (also known informally as "The Nazi Song") in September of 1942 on Bluebird Records #11586.[6] The song parodied the Nazi anthem, the "Horst Wessel Song". Unlike the version in the cartoon, some Spike Jones versions contain the rude sound effect of an instrument he called the "birdaphone", a rubber razzer (aka the Bronx Cheer) with each "Heil!" to show contempt for Hitler. (The version in the cartoon features the use of a tuba instead.) The so-called "Bronx Cheer" was a well-known expression of disgust in that time period and was not deemed obscene or offensive. The sheet music cover bears the image of a tomato splattering in Hitler's face. In the Jones version, the chorus's line, "Ja, we is the Supermen—" is answered by a soloist's "Super-duper super men!" delivered in an effeminate character suggesting the prevalence of epicenes in the Party; the Disney versions delivers both lines flat, without any such suggestion. The recording became very popular, peaking at #3 on U.S. charts.[7]
Other versions[edit]
Johnny Bond recorded the song in January 1942 on the OKeh label.
Tommy Trinder recorded the song in the United Kingdom soon after the cartoon's release.
In the movie Stalag 17, the American POW's sing part of the song to taunt their guard, Sgt. Schultz.
In the M*A*S*H episode "Dr. Pierce and Mr. Hyde", Hawkeye Pierce sings part of the song to Radar, while suffering from insomnia. This is the Spike Jones version, with the raspberries included.
In the All in the Family episode "Archie's Other Wife", Archie hums and later sings part of the song.
Herman Wouk built a scene around the song in his novel War and Remembrance.
In the movie Hart's War, a group of American POWs are seen playing the song and dancing to it in elaborate costumes.
Harry Turtledove adapted the song in one of his Colonization novels, in tune with the novels' theme of an alternate history alien invasion during World War II. See the page on the Race for the lyrics.
The Buffy the Vampire Slayer character Spike sings a short version of the song in the comic book Spike vs. Dracula Number 3.
Arthur Fields and his orchestra was performed by Tommy Trinder.






 Comic book cover
In other media[edit]
In August 1943, the cover of Four Favorites comic (Number 11), displayed the four favorites — from left to right, The Unknown Soldier, Captain Courageous, Lightning, and Magno, the Magnetic Man (along with Davey, his boy partner) — all singing "Der Fuehrer's Face" in the background, whilst a strong and powerful "War Bond" simultaneously knocks out Hirohito, Adolf Hitler, and Benito Mussolini with one fierce blow in the foreground.
This short was featured in part in Donald Duck's 50th Birthday.
The film makes an appearance in Pearl Harbor (2001)
Releases[edit]
1943 – Original theatrical run
2004 – "Walt Disney Treasures: On the Front Lines" (DVD)
2005 – "Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald, Volume Two" (DVD)[1]
See also[edit]
Education for Death
List of World War II short films
Putin khuilo!
Further reading[edit]
Young, Jordan R. (2005). Spike Jones Off the Record: The Man Who Murdered Music (3rd edition) Albany: BearManor Media ISBN 1-59393-012-7.
Notes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Der Fuehrer's Face at The Encyclopedia of Animated Disney Shorts
2.Jump up ^ "New U.S. War Songs". LIFE 13 (18): 44. 2 November 1942. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
3.Jump up ^ Blitz, Marcia (1979). Donald Duck. New York: Harmony Books. p. 133. ISBN 0-517-52961-0.
4.Jump up ^ "Der Fuehrer's Face". BCDB. 2012-12-16.
5.Jump up ^ Biographies of 10 Classic Disney Characters from Walt Disney Archives at D23: The Official Disney Fan Club
6.Jump up ^ "The Week's Best Releases". Billboard. September 26, 1942. p. 66. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
7.Jump up ^ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research, Inc. p. 242. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
External links[edit]
Der Fuehrer's Face at the Internet Movie Database
Der Fuehrer's Face at the Big Cartoon DataBase
Der Fuehrer's Face on the Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts
Banned cartoons, including Fuehrer


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Flowers and Trees (1932) ·
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1941–1960
Lend a Paw (1941) ·
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1961–1980
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 The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics (1965) ·
 A Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass Double Feature (1966) ·
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 Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968) ·
 It's Tough to Be a Bird (1969) ·
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 Great (1975) ·
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1981–2000
Crac (1981) ·
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 A Close Shave (1995) ·
 Quest (1996) ·
 Geri's Game (1997) ·
 Bunny (1998) ·
 The Old Man and the Sea (1999) ·
 Father and Daughter (2000)
 

2001–present
For the Birds (2001) ·
 The ChubbChubbs! (2002) ·
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 Ryan (2004) ·
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 Peter and the Wolf (2007) ·
 La Maison en Petits Cubes (2008) ·
 Logorama (2009) ·
 The Lost Thing (2010) ·
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 Mr Hublot (2013)
 

 


Categories: 1943 films
English-language films
1943 songs
Adolf Hitler in fiction
American World War II propaganda shorts
Best Animated Short Academy Award winners
Disney animated short films, 1940s
Donald Duck short films
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Victory Through Air Power (film)
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Victory Through Air Power
Alexander P. de Seversky (Victory through Air Power).jpg
De Seversky in a scene from the film.

Directed by
Perce Pearce
Animated Sequences:
James Algar
Clyde Geronimi
Jack Kinney
de Seversky scenes:
H.C. Potter
Produced by
Walt Disney
Written by
Story direction:
Perce Pearce
Story adaptation:
T. Hee
Erdman Penner
William Cottrell
James Brodero
George Stallings
Jose Rodriguez
Based on
Victory Through Air Power by Maj. Alexander P. Seversky
Starring
Alexander de Seversky
Narrated by
Art Baker
Music by
Edward H. Plumb
Paul J. Smith
Oliver Wallace
Cinematography
Ray Rennahan
Edited by
Jack Dennis
Production
   company
Walt Disney Productions
Distributed by
United Artists
Release date(s)
July 17, 1943

Running time
70 min.
Country
United States
Language
English
Budget
$788,000
Box office
$799,000
Victory Through Air Power is a 1943 Walt Disney Technicolor animated feature film based on the 1942 book Victory Through Air Power by Alexander P. de Seversky. De Seversky appeared in the film, an unusual departure from the Disney animated feature films of the time.[1]
The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.


Contents  [hide]
1 Production
2 Reception
3 Impact
4 Home media
5 References
6 External links

Production[edit]
The popular filmmaker Walt Disney read the book and felt that its message was so important that he personally financed the animated production of Victory Through Air Power. The film was primarily created to express Seversky’s theories to government officials and the public. Movie critic Richard Schickel says that Disney "pushed the film out in a hurry, even setting aside his distrust of limited animation under the impulses of urgency." (The only obvious use of limited animation, however, is in diagrammatic illustrations of Seversky's talking points. These illustrations featured continuous flowing streams of iconic aircraft, forming bridges or shields, and munitions flowing along assembly lines.) It was not until 1945 Disney was able to pay off his $1.2 million war film deficit.
Reception[edit]
On July 11, 1943, the New York Times devoted a half page, "Victory from the Air," to a feature consisting of pictures of scenes from the film with short captions. This was possibly the first time that such skilled use of visual description had been placed at the service of an abstract political argument.
"It is one thing to hear someone say that against modern bombers, 'bristling with armament… small single-seater fighters will find themselves helpless, for their guns are not maneuverable—they are fixed and can only fire forward.' It is quite another to have this accompanied by vivid animations of swastika-tailed fighters jockeying for position and being shot down by beam-like animated blasts of fire from a bomber whose guns are "always in firing position."
Schickel quotes film critic James Agee as hoping that:

Major de Seversky and Walt Disney know what they are talking about, for I suspect that an awful lot of people who see Victory Through Air Power are going to think they do… I had the feeling I was sold something under pretty high pressure, which I don't enjoy, and I am staggered at the ease with which such self-confidence, on matters of such importance, can be blared all over the nation, without cross-questioning.[N 1]
Impact[edit]



 A still from Victory Through Air Power, showing a rocket–bomb destroying a German U-boat pen
On December 8, 1941, Disney studios were essentially converted into a propaganda machine for the United States government. While most World War II films were created for training purposes, films such as Victory Through Air Power were created to catch the attention of government officials and to build public morale among the U.S. and Allied powers.[2] Among the notables who decided after seeing the film that Seversky and Disney knew what they were talking about were Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt.[3]
The Disney studio sent a print for them to view when they were attending the Quebec Conference. According to Leonard Maltin, "it changed FDR's way of thinking—he agreed that Seversky was right." Maltin also adds that "it was only after Roosevelt saw 'Victory Through Air Power' that our country made the commitment to long-range bombing."[4] Roosevelt recognized that film was an effective way to teach and Disney could provide Washington with high quality information. The American people were becoming united and Disney was able to inform them of the situation without presenting excessive chaos, as cartoons often do. The animation was popular among soldiers and was superior to other documentary films and written instructions at the time.[5]
The film played a significant role for the Disney Corporation because it was the true beginning of educational films.[2] The educational films would be, and still are, continually produced and used for the military, schools, and factory instruction. The company learned how to effectively communicate their ideas and efficiently produce the films while introducing the Disney characters to millions of people worldwide. Throughout the rest of the war, Disney characters effectively acted as ambassadors to the world. In addition to Victory Through Air Power, Disney produced Donald Gets Drafted, Education for Death, Der Fuehrer's Face, and various training films for the military, reusing animation from Victory Through Air Power in some of them.[6]
One scene showed a fictional rocket bomb destroying a fortified German submarine pen. According to anecdote, this directly inspired the British to develop a real rocket bomb to attack targets that were heavily protected with thick concrete. Due to its origin, the weapon became known as the Disney bomb, and saw limited use before the war ended.[N 2][7] In retrospect, some Seversky's proposals were derided as impractical such as operating a major long range air bombardment campaign from the Aleutians, a series of islands reaching westward from Alaska which is a remote area with a climate that makes for dangerous flying conditions.[8]
Home media[edit]
After its release and re-release in 1943 and 1944, there was no theatrical release for 60 years, perhaps because it was seen as propaganda, or perhaps because it was deemed offensive to Germans and Japanese.[9] (It was, however, available in 16 mm prints and occasionally screened in film history retrospectives. Additionally, the introductory "history-of-aviation" scene was excerpted in various episodes of the Disney anthology series on TV).[10] In 2004, the Disney Studios released it on DVD as part of a Wartime collection in the Walt Disney Treasures DVD series. [N 3][11] Somewhat ironically, after the war, Disney's characters, especially Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, were enthusiastically received in Japan and Germany, where they remain immensely popular today.[12]
References[edit]
Notes
1.Jump up ^ About 50 minutes into the film, Seversky says "As the United Nations surround Nazi Europe with a ring of..." The United Nations as we know it today did not formally come into existence until after the end of World War II. Here, Seversky was merely using a name that Roosevelt had devised for the Allies in December 1941.
2.Jump up ^ The development of a rocket bomb was discussed in the chapter entitled, "The Disney Bomb Project" in 92nd Bomb Group (H): Fame's Favored Few. by Pat Spillman (1997).[7]
3.Jump up ^ Victory Through Air Power can be downloaded at the Internet Archive.
Citations
1.Jump up ^ Markenstein, Don. "Victory Through Air Power." toonopedia.com, Don Markenstein's Toonopedia. Retrieved: May 12, 2009.
2.^ Jump up to: a b "Disney goes to war." skylighters.org. Retrieved: September 16, 2011.
3.Jump up ^ Gooch 1995, p. 16.
4.Jump up ^ Maltin, Leonard. “Introduction to Victory Through Air Power." Walt Disney Treasures: On the Front Lines, [Collector’s Tin], Dir. Walt Disney, 1941–44, DVD, Disney, 2004, Time code: 03:46–04:12.
5.Jump up ^ Combs 1984, p. 35.
6.Jump up ^ "Walt Disney Goes to War". Life magazine, August 1942, pp. 61–69.
7.^ Jump up to: a b Spillman 1997, p. 75.
8.Jump up ^ Tillman 2010, p. 23.
9.Jump up ^ "Walt Disney on the Front Lines DVD Review." UltimateDisney.Com, May 8, 2004. Retrieved: October 29, 2006.
10.Jump up ^ "Walt Disney Treasures: On the Front Lines." www.dvdverdict.com, DVD Verdict Review. Retrieved: September 16, 2011.
11.Jump up ^ "Details: Victory Through Air Power." Internet Archive. Retrieved: September 16, 2011.
12.Jump up ^ Patton, Phil. "Dr. Strangelove’s Children." American Heritage, November 1998, p. 92.
Bibliography
Artz, Lee. "The Righteousness of Self-Centered Royals: the World According to Disney Animation." Critical Arts 18 (2004): 116–31. Literature Resource Center, October 30, 2006.
Combs, James. Film Propaganda and American Politics: Analysis and Filmography. New York: Garland Publishing, 1994. ISBN 0-8153-1322-5.
Delehanty, Thorton. "The Disney Studio At War." Theatre Arts: the International Magazine of Theatre and Screen, January 1943, pp. 31–39.
Gooch, John, ed. Airpower: Theory and Practice (Strategic Studies Series). London: Frank Cass and Co. Ltd., 1995. ISBN 978-0-7146-4657-2.
Grant, Joe. “A Conversation with Joe Grant” in Victory Through Air Power in Walt Disney Treasures: On the Front Lines, [Collector’s Tin], Dir. Walt Disney, 1941–44, DVD, Disney, 2004.
Hagen, Sheila. "Wartime Animation Exhibit: Panel Discussion on 'Victory Through Air Power'." Mouse Planet, November 6, 2003. Retrieved: 19 August 2010.
Hench, John. “A Conversation with John Hench” in Victory Through Air Power in Walt Disney Treasures: On the Front Lines, [Collector’s Tin], Dir. Walt Disney, 1941–44, DVD, Disney, 2004.
Lesjak, David. "When Disney Went to War." World War II 20, 2005, pp. 22–56. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Augustana Tredway Library, October 30, 2006.
Ross, Sherwood. "How the United States Reversed Its Policy on Bombing Civilians." The Humanist 65, 2005. Retrieved: November 2, 2006.
Schickel, Richard. The Disney Version. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1968.
Spillman, Pat. 92nd Bomb Group (H): Fame's Favored Few. New York: Turner Publishing Company, 1997. ISBN 978-1-56311-241-6.
Tillman, Barrett. Whirlwind: The Air War Against Japan 1942-1945. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010. ISBN 978-1-4165-8440-7.
Victory Through Air Power in Walt Disney Treasures: On the Front Lines, [Collector’s Tin]. Disney Studios: Dir. Walt Disney, 1941–44, DVD, 2004.
External links[edit]
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Victory Through Air Power (film).
Victory Through Air Power at the American Film Institute Catalog
Victory through Air Power at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Victory Through Air Power at the Internet Movie Database
Victory Through Air Power at the Big Cartoon DataBase


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