A couple of films from Disney's 1940s WW2 propaganda cartoon portfolio

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

Here is some time capsule material for you...

 

It may not be commonly known, but in the 1940's Disney was on the verge of bankruptcy. They didn't have their theme park going yet (it opened in 1955) and relied on the animation production for revenue. Consequently Disney was happy to make propaganda cartoons for the US & Canadian Gov to keep from going bankrupt.

 

Walt Disney's World War II propaganda production - Wikipedia

 

Here are two interesting films from Disney during that era. The first one is a short film encouraging housewives to save and recycle bacon fat at the Official Fat Collection Station. The Gov. needed fat to make explosives and gunpower. 

 

Out Of The Frying Pan Into The Firing Line 1942 : D.D.Teoli Jr. A.C. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

 

The second film is probably their masterpiece of that genre, Education for Death. It is about how a Nazi youth is raised. And it has some comedy in it as well. A big, fat Brunhilda character buries Hitler's face in between her monster boobs. And Hitler has a heck of a time loading her fat ass on his horse. 

 

Education For Death 1943 : D.D.Teoli Jr. A.C. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

 

Throughout the cartoon series, which are numerous, the same theme of buying war bonds is hammered home to the audience. And the war bonds ads were not only with this series. You could find ads for war bonds in other cartoons and movies of the era as well as magazine advertising. The Gov could not just create $$ out of thin air back then as opposed to nowadays where $ Trillions can be created with a few extra keystrokes. 

Edited August 27, 2021 by Daniel D. Teoli Jr.