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Cartoons Go To War: Animated Propaganda from WWIIPost an Event »
Oddball Films and curator Kat Shuchter present Cartoons go to War: Animated Propaganda from WWII, a night of outlandish, hilarious and didactic cartoons from the 1940s (and a couple from the 1930s) calling for a patriotic spirit, heralding the soldiers, shilling war bonds, and warning against the scourges of malaria and The Axis Powers. During World War II, cartoons changed to reflect the times, both heralding and roasting the war effort, doing their part to grease the American propaganda machine, demonizing the enemy and guilting viewers into patriotism, or simply just adding a bit of humor into an otherwise trying era. Porky Pig reveals all America's goofiest secrets when he presents a faux-propaganda satire in Meet John Doughboy (1941). Humor meets education in the US Army’s propaganda short Private Snafu vs. Malaria Mike (1944) written by Theodore "Dr. Seuss" Geisel which shows Snafu (Situation Normal All F*cked Up) learning the hard way about the consequences of not protecting himself from malaria infection. Mosquitoes go to boot camp in the hilarious send up of War-time newsreels in Of Thee I Sting (1946). Di$ney got into the war effort in a number of films from a variety of perspectives. In The Spirit of '43 (1943), Don@ld Duck is guilt tripped into filing his taxes (to defeat The Axis!); while in The Grain that Built a Hemisphere (1943), Di$ney touts the miracle properties of that native grain: corn; and in allegorical fashion, Chicken Little (1943) warns of falling for sweet-talking foxes reading from Mein Kampf. From Friz Freleng comes a similar allegory: Fifth Column Mouse (1943) only with a freewheeling community of mice that become slaves to a hungry cat until they stand up and fight back with a mechanical bulldog. Bugs Bunny gets in the patriotic spirit when he attempts to thwart a tiny gremlin hell-bent on detonating bombs at a US air base, in Falling Hare (1943). The puppetoons take to the skies in George Pal's Sky Pirates (1938). Funny pages favorites Nancy and Sluggo help raise money for war bonds in Nancy and Sluggo Doin' Their Part (1944). One World Or None (1946) is a postwar film warning against the new threat of total global nuclear annihilation. Plus, an early version of Porky Pig in Boom Boom (1936), Woody Woodpecker flies a PU-2 bomber (get it? PU?) in Ace in the Hole (1942) and more surprises for the early birds! Date: Thursday, September 17th, 2015 at 8:00PM Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street San Francisco Admission: $10.00
Limited Seating RSVP to: RSVP@oddballfilm.com or (415) 558-8117
http://oddballfilms.blogspot.com/2015/09/cartoons-go-to-war-animated-propaganda.html