How did Walt Disney Studios contribute to patriotism and the war effort of WWII in the USA? Total Word Count: 1988 Part A: Plan of Investigation- 123 An important factor of war for many countries is the spirit and support of its people. This investigation will answer the question How did Walt Disney Studios contribute to patriotism and the war effort of World War II in the USA? This investigation will focus only on the methods used and the ideas promoted in the USA. It will exclude political accuracy of the messages spread, success rates, and impact on other Allied forces and the Axis.
A variety of online resources and materials published by Disney will be utilized. Two resources that will be critically analyzed for origin, purpose, value, and limitation are The Spirit of ’43, and Der Fuehrer’s Face, cartoons produced by Disney Studios during the time of the war. Part B: Summary of Evidence- 527 1. Walt Disney Studios educated Americans on how to assist the war effort. * Disney supplied art to organizations promoting various home front activities. * In the cartoon The Spirit of ’43, Donald showed Americans why it was important to save money. Some stories were about spies amongst the people, and how important it was to be aware of activity in our surroundings. * Posters convinced employees to stay at the jobs they were trained to do and help ease the critical manpower shortage caused by men being drafted into the military. * Whimsical training booklets were created for the US Army Air Force, Safety Education Division, and Flight Control Command. * Animated shorts were a more effective means of instruction than live-action films or illustrated lectures. 2. Disney propaganda provided motivation to fight the war and boosted American morale. Morale-boosting Disney-designed insignia appeared on planes, trucks, flight jackets, and other military equipment. * The enemy was always depicted in black; devious and evil at heart, but rather stupid. Good would always eventually triumph over evil. * The movies and comic books made the enemy look ridiculous; they also let audiences laugh at their own daily lives for a few minutes.
* A cartoon called Fall Out Fall In shows the hardship the military faced during the war. 3. American values were represented and enforced in cartoons and artwork, promoting patriotism. In Der Fuehrer’s Face Donald Duck wakes up from a nightmare of being a Nazi and exclaims, “Oh boy am I glad to be a citizen of the United States of America! ” * A picture from the Coronet magazine shows Thrifty Pig symbolizes the might of industry, Minnie Mouse is a Red Cross volunteer, Dopey the dwarf purchases war bonds, Flower the skunk is a member of the chemical warfare service, and Thumper the rabbit is in the army signal corps. * Cartoon military patches embodied pop culture, innocence, American values, and everything the troops loved about home. These were symbols of the American way of life, of freedom and democracy, of everything that was at stake. Part C: Evaluation of sources- 484 The origin of this source is Education for Death: The Making of a Nazi, a cartoon that was produced by Walt Disney Studios in during WWII. The purpose of this video is to show how the conditioning of a Nazi starts at birth and how they were taught that democracy was evil, that the world belongs to the strong, and that the weak deserve to die and to encourage Americans to fight them. The value of this source is that it shows the American view of Nazis as drones who have no thought of their own.
They were seen as ruthless people who trampled on the rights of others. Some limitations to this source are that the cartoon only focuses on the corrupt morals taught to the military in the American point of view; some aspects of the film were exaggerated for a comedic effect and so not everything can be taken literally. The origin of the second source is The Spirit of ’43 , another cartoon produced by Disney in 1943. The purpose of this cartoon is to remind Americans to save money to pay their income taxes in time and to inform them on how these tax dollars were used to fight the war.
The value in this source is that its message is very clear: the narrator directly asks the audience to whether they preferred to “spend for the Axis or save for taxes”. Also, it shows the importance of taxes during this period to pay for factories that manufacture equipment for the battlefield. Some limitations to this source are that it only discusses the portion of the tax dollars used for the war and is only directed at the well-to-do people who can spend money on things they do not need rather than those who do not have enough money.
Part D: Analysis- 780 Disney educated Americans about how they can contribute to the war effort by supplying art to promote home front activities. The cartoon The Spirit of ’43 explores the use of tax dollars to defeat the Axis, who were labeled as “evil destroyers of freedom and peace”. It reminded citizens of the importance of their contributions. Some of the stories told by Disney were about spies among the people, warning them to be cautious and aware of the activities around them.
A poster for the War Manpower Commission convinced employees to stay in the occupation they were trained in, instead of becoming a job hopper, to help relieve the shortage of manpower created the men drafted into the military. Additionally, training booklets and animated videos were produced by Disney to teach the military about war tactics, techniques, and safety in different branches of armed services. They were more effective than live-action films and lectures because the whimsical and vivid artwork captured the attention of the trainees, which helped them learn the material faster. Disney made efforts to motivate the people.
Insignias bearing images of familiar characters taking up arms appeared on military equipment such as flight jackets, trucks, and planes. The enemy in Disney’s cartoons was always drawn in black and depicted as devious and evil, but also stupid. He would be eventually defeated by the protagonist who would use teamwork and make the right sacrifices. The message behind these cartoons was usually “good will triumph over evil”. The cartoons and comics not only made fun of the enemy, they also allowed the audience to laugh at their everyday lives for a moment and to forget about the problems and shortages they had to endure.
Disney wanted their audience to feel truly at home again for a minute and to have courage. Also, cartoon called Fall Out Fall In focuses on the military and the hardships they faced during the time if the war. Donald Duck was shown marching for long periods of time extreme weather and deprived of sleep. This cartoon caused the people to sympathize with the military and motivated them to show support to end the war and send everyone back home. There were American values symbolized in most of Disney’s propaganda to promote patriotism.
In the cartoon Der Fuehrer’s Face, Donald Duck wakes up from a nightmare of living the extreme lifestyle of Nazi, being threatened at knife point to work until he goes insane. He then realizes that he was American and exclaims, “Oh boy am I glad to be a citizen of the United States of America! ” This, along with Education For Death: The Making of A Nazi, taught Americans to love the country by comparing it to another country where its people weren’t free. Plus, the value of unity and teamwork was depicted in the September 1942 issue of Coronet magazine.
All of the characters in the picture were participating in some kind of home front or frontline activity, like Minnie Mouse in a Red Cross uniform, marching among more characters that represent other services. These cartoons, posters, and military insignias represent the American way of life, unity, democracy and everything the troops loved and missed about home. They showed everything that was at stake and reminded Americans of what they needed to protect. Part E: Conclusion- 74 During the course of WWII, Walt Disney Studios aided the war effort by designing training guides and propaganda.
These contributions boosted the American morale; they ridiculed the enemy and encouraged home front activities to support their country. The training guides helped the armed forces learn new techniques more quickly. Also, the cartoons gave the Americans courage, caused them to have sympathy for their military, and promoted patriotism. Overall, Disney contributed to the American spirit. Part F: List of Sources: Briner, Lisa. “Walt Disney Goes to War. ” Army Knowledge Online. http://www. army. mil/article/19340/walt-disney-goes-to-war/. Disney, Walt. Der Fuehrer’s Face . DVD. Directed by Jack Kinney. 1943. USA: RKO Radio Pictures Inc. 2004. Disney, Walt. Education for Death: The Making of the N. DVD. 1943. USA: RKO Radio Pictures Inc. , 2004. Disney, Walt. The Spirit of ’43. DVD. Directed by Jack King. 1943. USA: RKO Radio Pictures Inc. , 2004. Hirasuna, Delphine. “WWII Military Logos by Disney. ” Corporate Design Foundation. http://www. atissuejournal. com/2010/08/10/wwii-military-logos-by-disney/. Lesjak, David. “Disney to the Front. ” pa. NET . http://www. americainwwii. com/galleries/2011/disney-to-the-front. html. Neff, Robert. “Disney and World War II: How Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck supported the U. S. and its Allies. ” OhmyNews. http://english. hmynews. com/articleview/article_view. asp? at_code=370949. Skews Me. “Disney War Propaganda. ” http://www. skewsme. com/disney_propaganda. html#axzz1r7g9fO4N. Stillich, Sven. “Donald Versus Hitler: Walt Disney and the Art of WWII Propaganda. ” Spiegel Online. http://www. spiegel. de/international/germany/0,1518,641547,00. html. Appendix ——————————————– [ 1 ]. David, Lesjak. “Disney to the Front. ” pa. NET. http://www. americainwwii. com/galleries/2011/disney-to-the-front. html. [ 2 ]. Sven, Stillich. “Donald Versus Hitler: Walt Disney and the Art of WWII Propaganda. ” Spiegel Online. http://www. piegel. de/international/germany/0,1518,641547,00. html [ 3 ]. Robert, Neff. “Disney and World War II: How Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck supported the U. S. and its Allies. ” OhmyNews. http://english. ohmynews. com/articleview/article_view. asp? at_code=370949 [ 4 ]. David Lesjak. “Disney to the Front. ” pa. NET. http://www. americainwwii. com/galleries/2011/disney-to-the-front. html. [ 5 ]. David Lesjak. “Disney to the Front. ” pa. NET. http://www. americainwwii. com/galleries/2011/disney-to-the-front. html [ 6 ]. SkewsMe. “Disney War Propaganda. ” http://www. skewsme. com/disney_propaganda. html#axzz1r7g9fO4N [ 7 ].
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