Educational Media Reviews Online

This film is a great way to illustrate that propaganda comes in many forms. Cartoon films were used in the United States during World War II to denigrate our enemies, Germany and Japan, and to build war furvor among the U.S. populace at large.

Animators deliberately drew the enemy as ugly as possible and preferably as an animal. Japanese were more likely monkeys while the Germans were rodents. Many of these WW II cartoons have been "buried" in archives because they are not politically correct today.

Walt Disney was at the forefront of the cartoon industry war effort. During 1943, 94% of Disney's animated cartoons were war related. Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck both went to war against the Germans and Japanese.

Even Dr. Seuss got into the act. Theodor Geisel, the real Dr. Seuss, wrote scripts for World War II cartoons. Robert "Bob" Clampet, creator of Bugs Bunny at Warner Brothers Cartoons, surpassed Disney in war cartoons. Bugs Bunny went off to war far more often than Donald or Mickey. And Daffy Duck rallied the troops and families on the home front.

The film includes a major section on how sexuality was portrayed during the war. The producers contend that women were used as sex objects in cartoons to boost the moral of the troops at the front. Yet ironically cartoons underwent major sex censorship during World War II. Sex and violence which were staples of cartoons prior to the war were "banned" during the war. Underwear could not be shown on a cartoon character as it was deemed too sexual.

The interview settings in the film were far too busy. The audio and color were uneven between interviews but the editing was good. I would recommend this film for high school, college, and university level social science classes. The information is presented well and is a valuable insight into how we as a society use propaganda during wartime.