The SmarK DVD Rant For Disney Treasures: On The Front Lines

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With the dark days of war being less about human loss and more about photo opportunities these days, it’s easy to lose track of what an impact the original World Wars had on life in general, and Hollywood in particular. A fierce patriot who made the decision to devote his entire studio to the war effort from the first day that the US entered into it, Walt Disney produced a massive amount of material for the US Army, most of which was sadly lost to time after 1948 because of political reasons, classifications, or simply questionable taste.

Well, they’re back, and we can finally judge them as art rather than the propaganda pieces they were intended as, which is the way it should be.

The Film

While not as acerbic as the anti-Axis cartoons produced by Warner Brothers during the same period, the more family-friendly Disney studio still produced it’s share of what now would be considered racist cartoons stemming from the war, and as a result very few of them were ever seen in their full, unedited form after that point.

What we have now is a 2-disc set comprising most of the lost classics of that era, all dealing with America’s fight in World War II, including a feature-length subject not seen in the US since 1944.

Disc One

“Entertainment and Propaganda Shorts.”

These were the war-themed cartoons that just happened to be set during the war, rather than being for any specific purpose, training-wise.

– Donald Gets Drafted. The cartoons with Donald in the army were all great stuff, and this first one is no exception, as he comes into the draft office yearning to fly (even though he’s already a duck) and learns that army life isn’t as glamorous as the posters advertise.

– The Army Mascot. A Pluto cartoon that sees him trying to horn in on the good treatment given to army animals, specifically a self-important goat. One oddly disturbing bit has the soldiers feeding the animals chewing tobacco for their own amusement, which would have the SPCA in an uproar today.

– The Vanishing Private. More with Donald, as he has trouble with the idea of “camouflage paint”, so he appropriates some experimental invisible paint from the army, and ends up driving the Sarge insane as a result. Literally. Hilarious stuff.

– Sky Troopers. Donald still wants to fly, so the Sarge puts him through a series of tests and then sticks him with the paratroopers, which of course comes back to bite him later. More quality Duckness.

– Private Pluto. Pluto, presumably in the special canine forces by this point, is charged with watching for saboteurs, but he gets side-drained with a pair of chipmunks who are using the anti-aircraft gun to crack their walnuts open. Silly, harmless fun.

– Fall Out, Fall In. Donald’s woes continue, as he endures an endless march and then has to set up a tent and get to sleep. Comedy GOLD, as the more Donald gets irritated by little things, the funnier he gets.

– Victory Vehicles. Repeated from the Goofy set, it’s a mildly funny look at alternative vehicles because of the rubber and gas shortages of the war, with the payoff being the sadistically catchy “Hop On Your Pogo Stick” to suggest that the (now archaic) pogo stick is the answer to the transportation crisis. Someone should try that again considering how high prices are these days.

– The Old Army Game. More classic Donald, as he sneaks off the base and then has to contend with an angry Sarge, which leads to a classic bit where Donald thinks his legs have been amputated because he doesn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground. Literally. Great stuff.

– Home Defense. Donald is apparently home now, manning an anti-aircraft gun with Huey, Duey & Louie as his assistants, but when he falls asleep at the switch, they decide to play mindgames with him, because it’s funnier that way.

– How To Be A Sailor. More Goofy history, this time recounting man’s evolution on the waters. Not much military involvement in this one, but much like all the “How To” shorts, it’s hilarious.

– Commando Duck. Donald has now graduated to the paratroopers, but he gets sent into the Pacific, alone, with a mission even Arnie would have trouble with. Here’s where the racist propaganda really kicks in, as the Japanese soldiers are portrayed as bowing morons who would prefer to shoot only in the back, when in fact history has taught us quite the opposite. Still, Donald wiping out an entire regiment with a raft is pretty funny stuff, regardless.

“Educational Shorts”

Onto stuff produced by Disney for the Canadian and US governments, each with none-too-subtle messages for the soldiers and civilians watching.

– The Thrifty Pig. Made for Canada by recycling the original animation from “the Three Little Pigs”, the original allegory with the Wolf as the recession is made a lot less subtle by turning him into a full-fledged Nazi, and the bricks on the third little pig’s house are war bonds. For those who didn’t get the symbolism the FIRST time, the short ends with a lengthy sequence urging you to BUY BUY BUY BUY BUY bonds. Disney sure knew about the hard sell, didn’t he?

– Seven Wise Dwarfs. More from the Canadian war effort, as animation from Snow White is turned into a subtle message from the Dwarfs to BUY BUY BUY BUY BUY bonds. FIVE-FOR-FOUR WILL WIN THE WAR! Well, you gotta admit it’s pretty catchy as slogans go.

– Food Will Win The War. I love these titles. A piece about farmers and how their efforts in providing food for the troops are helping the effort. Some great animation here and an interesting comparison of exactly how MUCH food was being made during that time period (like enough corn to make a cob big enough to cross the English Channel, etc), although in the long run it’s not really a relevant short or anything.

– Out of the Frying Pan, Into The Firing Line. I hope whoever wrote those titles got a big raise. I’d have gone with “Saving grease is your saving grace!” myself, but this one works just as well. Saving grease is the theme here, of course, as Minnie and Pluto learn about how glycerin from bacon fat is turned into munitions and other useful things for the war effort. Very well done, explaining in simple terms why it’s needed.

– Donald’s Decision. More recycled animation for Canada, as Donald battles his conscience about buying bonds. You can guess his eventual choice.

– All Together. An all-star parade in the name of — wait for — BUYING BONDS. FIVE FOR FOUR WILL WIN THE WAR! Damn, that’s catchier than that Hoobastank song.

– A New Spirit. Donald learns about paying his taxes on time to help the war effort before it turns into obnoxious jingoistic hard-sell propaganda.

– The Spirit of ’43. Another round of Donald learning about paying taxes promptly in the days before automatic paycheck deductions, because apparently Hitler runs jazz joints.

– The Winged Scourge. Here’s where the REALLY weird stuff begins, as Disney not only did stuff for the US, but distributed cartoons to South America in order to head off the Communist menace down there. This one is a medical education piece for malaria zones, about mosquitoes and how they spread the disease. The dwarfs learn how to commit mosquito genocide by pouring oil on the water, among other environmental horror stories that were endorsed before we knew about the evils of polluting our water supply. Kinda weird and disturbing to hear a narrator in the usually-docile Disney cartoons yelling at Dopey to “Kill him! Kill him good and dead!” as he chases down a mosquito.

– Defense Against Invasion. A live-action short about the importance of smallpox vaccination, with animated interludes illustrating how the body deals with invaders. A strange analogy equates white blood cells with the army, which is oversimplifying things a bit, but it’s a Disney cartoon so that’s par for the course. It’s also weird to even hear about people worrying about smallpox these days.

– The Grain That Built a Hemisphere. More South American weirdness, as this is an unlikely war cartoon about the importance of corn and how the entire history of South America is based around it. No, really. Mmm corn.

– Health for the Americas: Cleanliness. Really bizarre stuff now, as the next few are marketed directly to the backwards farmers in the South American areas, explaining stuff like how you should dig a latrine instead of shitting in the cornfield, because that’s apparently BAD. Wish someone would TELL me this stuff. Oh, and don’t cook on the floor, even if that’s the local custom. Weird, weird stuff for those of us born with indoor plumbing, or at least some semblance of knowledge about where the correct place to shit is.

– Health for the Americas: Diseases. More third-world wackiness, as a poor farmer learns the hard way not to drink the water. Very dumbed-down stuff, even by Disney standards.

– Health for the Americas: Planning for Good Eating. Last in the series sees the narrator explaining to our poor Latino friends that beans and bread all the time are not a good idea, and you should eat veggies and your livestock, too. Vegetarians and Atkins nuts would probably have a coronary (oh, the IRONY) at some of the nutritional suggestions and reasoning presented here, especially stuff like the cute pigs being turned into dinner.

“From the Vault”

The last section is the REALLY touchy ones, featuring the stuff that was either buried or hacked to bits by censors after the war, presented in full version for the first time in 60 years here. You’ve probably at least HEARD of these, but likely have never seen them.

– Der Fuhrer’s Face. The most infamous of the lot is built around Spike Jones’ catchy hit song of the same name, and features Donald having a dream about being part of the Nazi regime and spending his days goosestepping and “Seig Heiling”. You can see how this might upset people following the war. The satire of a totalitarian government is HILARIOUS, however, and artistically this is a brilliant piece of work, especially stuff like Donald’s “vacation” and being honored with overtime. And hey, if you can’t mock the Nazis, who can you mock?

– Education for Death. Heavy, heavy stuff, as it explains the process of indoctrination and how children are taught to hate while the Nazi government practices extreme Darwinism. There’s moments of humor, but this is some really scary stuff, especially the teacher training the students that the strong must devour the weak by using a lesson with a fox and a rabbit (guess which ethnic group the rabbit represents?). A very real lesson for what can still happen today without the perspective of history, a perspective which is sadly lacking. Kids are being taught very real xenophobia because of 9/11 and Bush’s attacks on Iraq, for instance, and that’s how shit like this gets started. Very grim stuff.

– Reason & Emotion. A more light-hearted and entertaining short that’s generally lacking the last few minutes when shown outside of this set. You’ve probably seen it — a guy is controlled by a caveman and a CPA inside his head, and they fight for control of him. By the end, it turns into a preachy piece about Hitler’s use of propaganda to control his people and how they let emotional responses govern them.

– Chicken Little. A fairly straightforward retelling of the classic fable, albeit with a more dark ending, the wartime aspect comes in because the fox is using Mein Kampf as the source for his trickery (although the book was turned into a generic psychology book so as to get through to a general audience), and the allegory is pretty obvious. All about controlling rumors and hearsay during wartime.

Disc Two

– Victory Through Air Power. As mentioned, this is a full-length feature (clocking in at 70 minutes), produced by Disney as a message to the Allies about the need for a long-range bombing strategy to counter the ground-based attacks of Germany. It begins with the history of aviation, done in light-hearted fashion, but once it gets into the then-modern era of flight (ie, 1942) and the military applications of flight, it gets a lot darker. It also retains the storytelling knack that Disney is so well-known for, as the pre-war history of flight is then compared and contrasted to the World War II era with powerful results. The meat of the movie is Major De Seversky’s lecture about bombing, and how the Allies need to change with the times and move from a land-based strategy, towards thinking more three-dimensionally and moving OVER the front to attack directly at the source. The step-by-step study of Hitler’s advance into Europe is fascinating stuff, explaining why France got routed at the Maginot Line, and the discussion of supply lines and why the US was actually at such a huge disadvantage at that point in the war is extremely interesting too. The discussion of the various ways of hitting Japan (and avoiding a prolonged conflict in the South Pacific) seems to be eerily prescient of the eventual solution — dropping an atomic bomb on them — as all other options are eliminated by De Seversky. Of course, no one KNEW in 1943 what the eventual solution would end up being, although the discussion of the newest advances in bombs seems to hint at something even bigger. And in fact, most of the theories put forth by De Seversky here were ultimately proven true — long-range bombing and air superiority DID win the war with Japan. This is tremendous stuff for war buffs and casual fans of grievous bloodshed alike, although those under 16 will probably be bored out of their skulls by it.

– Training Films. To round things out, there’s a quick selection of training films produced for the army by Disney, and it’s REALLY dry stuff. The exciting selections are “Four Methods of Flush Riveting” (riveting subject matter, to be sure) and “Stop That Tank” (which is actually part of a 20-minute training film on the proper use and cleaning of an anti-tank gun). As well, there’s a 5-minute montage of other training film subjects, so that you can get an idea of what else they were pumping out. All in all, Disney produced an astounding 200 training films for the army during this period.

The Video

As with the Goofy DVD, you will be ASTOUNDED that these things are nearly 60 years old (and older in some cases) when you see the colors and clarity of the video. Stock footage of the cartoons is shown in some of the bonus features, and you can immediately tell the difference between the neglected TV versions of the prints and the remastered film presented here. Colors are bright and vibrant, noise and dirt is almost completely eliminated (well, as much as possible) and contrasts are exactly as intended. This is truly an amazing restoration, and one that they probably could have gotten away with backing out of due to the age of the materials. Thankfully, they didn’t use that excuse, and it looks as good as what was probably shown in the 40s. There’s some compression problems because it’s 3 hours of material per disc and animation tends to be blocky on DVD at the best of times, but it’s nothing you’ll notice unless you’re looking for it. Top-notch stuff, and kudos to Disney.

The Audio

Hey, it’s plain old Dolby Digital 2.0 mono. Exactly what you’d expect, and that’s fine.

The Extras

You get

– A five minute reel of outtakes from “Victory Through Air Power” showing a haggard Walt Disney organizing things on-set. No sound, though.

– A trailer for “Victory Through Air Power” (which was never really released into theaters on a wide basis to begin with)

– TONS of galleries, with posters, production stills, advertising, storyboards, etc, many of them with comments from Leonard Maltin.

– Interviews with John Hench, Joe Grant and Roy Disney, each running 10-15 minutes.

A nice selection of stuff, although some audio commentaries to put things in proper historical perspective would have been nice.

The Ratings

The Film: *****
The Video: ****
The Audio: *
The Extras: ***