WORLD WAR TWO
In 1939 - the year the Second World War began - Disney premiered its first feature-length animated film, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". Over the course of the war, some of Disney's most iconic animations hit the screen: "Pinocchio" (1940), "Fantasia" (1940), "Dumbo" (1941), and "Bambi" (1942). Despite these films' lasting popularity (and the fact that they became emblematic of the Disney brand), box office revenue declined during the war. Numerous members of the Disney animation team were drafted into the armed forces, and those left behind were commissioned to animate propaganda shorts and the like.
The saccharin nature of the aforementioned films, however, must have had an impact upon the way in which America was revered in the global sphere. In the slideshow below international posters can be seen, so it is undeniable that these Disney movies were widely distributed. There is even a German Bambi poster - which seems especially bizarre, considering the anti-Hitler and anti-German propaganda Disney was churning out at the time. An example of which is the 1943 Disney short film "Der Fuehrer's Face" (originally titled "Donald Duck in Nutzi Land" - which, if you ask me, is a much better title!) The propaganda short featured Donald Duck as an SS officer, through whom the viewer sees a simplified portrayal of Nazi strictures and the questionless acceptance and worship of Hitler. The brazen Disney propaganda films of WWII presented to the world America's resilience and determination as a country and as an army. American soldiers at that time were seen as confident and capable - arriving to aid struggling allied forces and liberating death camps.
The saccharin nature of the aforementioned films, however, must have had an impact upon the way in which America was revered in the global sphere. In the slideshow below international posters can be seen, so it is undeniable that these Disney movies were widely distributed. There is even a German Bambi poster - which seems especially bizarre, considering the anti-Hitler and anti-German propaganda Disney was churning out at the time. An example of which is the 1943 Disney short film "Der Fuehrer's Face" (originally titled "Donald Duck in Nutzi Land" - which, if you ask me, is a much better title!) The propaganda short featured Donald Duck as an SS officer, through whom the viewer sees a simplified portrayal of Nazi strictures and the questionless acceptance and worship of Hitler. The brazen Disney propaganda films of WWII presented to the world America's resilience and determination as a country and as an army. American soldiers at that time were seen as confident and capable - arriving to aid struggling allied forces and liberating death camps.