World War II and American animation World War II changed the possibilities for animation . Prior to the war , animation was seen as a form of childish entertainment . The attack on Pearl Harbor was a turning point in its utility . On December 8 , 1941 , the U . S . Army began working with Walt Disney at his studio , stationing Army personnel there for the duration of the war . The Army and Disney set about making various types of films for several different audiences . Most films meant for the public included some type of propaganda , while films for the troops included training and education about a given topic . Films intended for the public were often meant to build morale . They allowed Americans to release their anger and frustration through ridicule and crude humor . Many films simply reflected the war culture and were pure entertainment . Others carried strong messages meant to arouse public involvement or set a public mood . Animation supporting the war effort . War bond s perhaps received the most advertising and press . Animated cartoons allowed the government to spread their message in a much more entertaining manner . " Bugs Bunny Bond Rally " is a classic cartoon depicting Bugs Bunny singing and dancing about war bonds . The film was given to Henry Morgenthau of the U . S . Treasury Department on Monday , December 15 , 1941 . It was during such World War II films that Bugs achieved his popularity and made him a national mascot . Other films that encouraged buying war bonds included " Foney Fables " , " Donald ’ s Decision " , " The Thrifty Pig " , " 7 Wise Dwarfs " and " All Together " . In these short films , either subtly or directly , the characters are portrayed doing their part by spending less and using their savings to buy war savings certificates and investing in victory . Donating scrap metal was another means by which Americans could help support the war effort . " Scrap Happy Daffy " was a short film that encouraged such patriotic acts . Daffy defends his scrap yard against a metal - eating Nazi goat sent by an irate Adolf Hitler . The cartoon asks citizens to donate to the war effort by listing items which can be given to scrap yards around the country . The cartoon also educates citizens about Hitler ’ s spies and spoilers who try to hinder such war efforts . Other films pleading for scrap metal include " Ding Dong Daddy " and " Foney Fables " . Pluto and Minnie Mouse contributed to the war effort by encouraging civilians to recycle their cooking grease so it could be used for making explosives in " Out of the Frying Pan Into the Firing Line " . The government also used animation studios like Walt Disney to encourage people to pay their taxes promptly . In the " New Spirit " , Donald Duck listens attentively to the radio as it tells him about the importance of paying his income taxes . It details how to fill out a new tax form for households making less than $ 3 , 000 . 00 . In " Spirit of ’ 43 " Donald is caught in a conundrum to either spend his money in frivolous pursuits , which aids the Axis , or save his money so he can pay his taxes and support the war effort . In both of these films , paying taxes is described as a right and a privilege and should be done gladly and proudly for the war effort . " Taxes run the factories which make the war supplies " according to the narrator in the cartoon . " Spirit of ’ 43 " blames Hitler and Hirohito for the high taxes . The Disney team was also commissioned by the government ’ s agricultural division to make a short film about food in America . The film highlighted the importance of the American farmer and to alleviate fears about food supplies by giving detailed numbers on America ' s considerable agricultural production . The films created to support this effort included " Food Will Win the War " and " The Grain that Built a Hemisphere " . Characters in " Foney Fables " ridiculed characters , even an old lady , who stockpiled food . " A Tale of Two Kitties " , encouraged civilians to grow their own food in victory garden s so there would be food for troops . Training and instructional animation . Animation was co - opted in the 1940s for training purposes . Disney produced " Four Methods of Flush Riveting " for Lockheed Martin ' s engineers . The Army Air Force , Navy , and Bureau of Aeronautics also commissioned and supervised films . Animations were written to train pilots and ground crewmen about " The Occluded Fronts " , " Thunderstorms " , and " The Warm Front " . Because of the sensitive content displayed in " Aircraft Wood Repair " , the word “ RESTRICTED ” was the first word displayed in the film which discussed the type of glue used for wooden aircraft . Other films made to help train pilots included " Theory of the C - 1 AUTOPILOT : Part One Basic Principles " which introduced pilots to the autopilot function which was new to aircraft at the time . " Wings Engines Fuselage Tail " was a short film that taught servicemen how to best identify aircraft quickly . The Navy did a similar film called " The 3 - Point System " which trained servicemen how to identify U . S . cruisers . " Rules of the Nautical Road " was a naval training film geared towards officers that recreated a historical catastrophe , which was meant to encourage officers to study nautical rules and principles . The most elaborate training film , Disney ' s " Stop That Tank ! " , was commissioned by the Canadian Directorate of Military Training . This 21 - minute full - color cartoon was intended for Canadian infantrymen assigned the Boys anti - tank rifle . The first few minutes of the cartoon depict Hitler and his tanks being defeated by Allies using the new rifle . The film continues in a largely more serious vein , showing how the weapon is to be used and cleaned . The regular G . I . was also a target of animation and many films directed toward him explicitly instructed him on how to behave . Those in the Army and Marine Corps were familiar with the names Private Snafu and Lance Corporal Schmuckatelli . These fictional characters gave soldiers safety briefs . One film titled " Snafuperman " depicts a G . I . , Private Snafu , who disdains studying and reading . He is given special powers but uses them to the almost detriment of the United States because he did not study and know the difference between his own side and the enemy . At the conclusion of the film , he recognizes the need for an education . The appropriately titled film " Booby Traps " uses Private Snafu to show the dangers and the caution needed to be taken in the case of such malicious devices . " Spies " once again portrays Private Snafu acting counter to what he has been told . The intoxicated G . I . gives secrets to a beautiful woman who is really a Nazi spy . Through the information he gives her , the Germans are able to bomb the ship Private Snafu is traveling on , sending him to hell . Political animation . Animation was quickly appropriated for political campaigning . The United States Auto Workers commissioned Warner Brothers to produce " Hell - Bent for Election " , which supported Franklin Delano Roosevelt ' s presidential bid . The film was “ so pertinent and even Socialist in nature , that theaters never showed this piece ” though it was shown to its own members at meetings and rallies . Some films were more potent with propagandistic symbolism than others . " Fifth Column Mouse " is a cartoon that through childlike humor and political undertones depicted a possible outcome of World War II . The film begins with a bunch of mice playing and singing a song about how they never worry . One mouse notices a cat looking in through a window , but is calmed when another mouse tells him that the cat cannot get inside . The cat however , bursts in through the front door alerting a mouse that wears a WWII style air raid warden helmet and screams , “ Lights out , ” promptly turning off the main light . The phrase , ' lights out , ' was a popular saying during the war , especially in major cities to encourage people to turn off their lights to hinder targeting by potential enemy bombers . The same mouse who said the cat could not get inside , ends up getting caught by the cat . The cat tells him that he will not kill him , but will give him cheese if the mouse follows the cat ' s instructions . During the dialogue between the two , the cat ' s smile resembles the Tojo bucktooth grin and it speaks with a Japanese accent . Near the end , the cat screams “ Now get going ! ” and the mouse jumps to attention and gives the infamous Nazi salute . The scene cuts to the biddable mouse , now an agent of influence , telling the other mice that the cat is here to “ save us and not to enslave us , ” “ don ’ t be naughty mice , but appease him ” so “ hurry and sign a truce . ” This message of appeasement and signing a truce would have been all too familiar to the adults in the theaters who were probably with their children . The next clip is of the cat lounging on pillows with multiple mice tending to its every need . However , when the cat reveals that he wants to eat a mouse they all scatter . Inside their hole , a new mouse is encouraging the others to be strong and fight the cat . The mice are then shown marching in step with hardy , confident grins on their faces with “ We Did it Before and We Can Do it Again ” by Robert Merrill playing in the background . Amidst the construction of a secret weapon , a poster of a mouse with a rifle is shown with the bold words “ For Victory : Buy Bonds and Stamps . ” The mice have built a mechanical dog that chases the cat out of the house . Before he leaves though a mouse skins the cat with an electric razor , but leaves three short dots and a long streak of fur on his back . In Morse code , the letter " V " is produced through dot - dot - dot - dash . As depicted in many pictures but made popular by Winston Churchill , the “ V ” for victory sign was a popular symbol of encouragement for the Allies . The cartoon ends with the mice singing , “ We did it before , we did it AGAIN ! ” " Der Fuehrer ' s Face " is one of the most popular propaganda cartoons produced by Walt Disney . In Harold D . Lasswell ’ s " Propaganda Technique in World War I " , he states “ It is always difficult for many simple minds inside a nation to attach personal traits to so dispersed an entity as a whole nation . They need to hate some individual on whom to pin their hate . It is , therefore , important to single out a handful of enemy leaders and load them down with the whole Decalogue of sins . ” In World War I , the Kaiser drew much hate rhetoric and comic relief from the Allies . In World War II Adolf Hitler drew similar negative attention . This film helped relieve aggression through ridicule toward an icon that was the source of so much destruction . The cartoon was originally titled " Donald Duck in Nuzi Land " , but the title was changed when the title song produced by Olliver Wallace became a sensational hit , titled " Der Fuehrer ’ s Face " . The short film starts out with Wallace ’ s song playing in the background while a comical band of Nazi " super - duper supermen " perform . Disney pokes fun of Hitler ’ s Germany by depicting Donald eating breakfast by only spraying the scent of bacon and eggs onto his breath and dipping a single coffee bean into his cup of water . Hitler had promised the Germans great wealth and vast stores of food . Disney and the Army knew this and wanted to depict the Germans living in a land that was hollow of all the wonderful promises that Hitler made . Producers of the cartoon also wished to show that the working conditions of the factories were not as glorious as Hitler was making them sound in his speeches . Donald is worked continuously with very little compensation and time off . Though it seems Donald goes crazy he soon wakes up from his nightmare and is forever thankful for being a citizen of the United States of America . " Education for Death " was a very serious film that Disney produced . This cartoon was based on a best selling book " Education for Death " written by Gregor Ziemer . The film shows how a young boy in Nazi Germany is indoctrinated and brain washed at an early age and learns to follow and not think outside of what the government tells him . This short is both educational but also provides comedic relief by mocking Hitler . The film is both shocking in its content and despairing in its ending . The film begins with the narrator asking how Nazis are born and developed . The story takes the audience to the child ’ s academic beginning in kindergarten . Child stories are often adapted to meet the state ' s needs so , characters and plot lines are often changed . In the story , the wicked witch is known as democracy , while sleeping beauty is Germany and the knight that saves her is played by Hitler . The cartoon depicts this story in a rather short fashion but also depicts the two main characters ( Hitler and Germany ) ridiculously . On a more serious note , the cartoon next shows the child and his schoolmates in a class giving the infamous Heil Hitler salute repeatedly . However , the young boy becomes sick and the narrator informs the audience that unless the child becomes better again he will be taken away , being denounced unfit and will never be heard from again . However , he does recover and returns to school where he gives his daily pledge to fight , obey , and die for his Fuehrer . The boy answers a question incorrectly and is publicly humiliated . The lesson that the young boy learns later is that weakness is not to be tolerated and that the world belongs to the strong and brutal . The next few scenes show a book burning demonstration and other famous works being burned that are declared illegal by the state . Icons such as the Holy Bible are replaced with " Mein Kampf " and an image of the crucifix is replaced with a sword that has the Nazi swastika on it . Fast - forwarding a few years , the boy is older and is marching first as a teenage Hitler youth and then eventually as a soldier . The narrator ends the cartoon with the words , “ His education is complete , his education for death ” as a vast German army fades into a cemetery with crosses over thousands of graves . " Reason and Emotion " ( Walt Disney Academy Awards ) is another film that attempts to help Americans at home understand how Germany became entranced under the influence of Hitler and Goebels and how they themselves can resist such propaganda . The film depicts what damage can be done when individuals allow their reasoning and common sense to be overtaken by their emotions . As the narrator speaks images of newspapers with contradictory and emotionally charged , titles flash back and forth . The film is meant to show how headlines and news creates chaos if individuals allow themselves to believe everything they hear . The narrator explains how Adolf Hitler preys upon those who let fear and emotion rule them . The cartoon cuts to an animated Hitler controlling Germans through fear , hate , sympathy , and pride . The film ends with reason and emotion being told that they must work together with reason ruling over one ' s actions while emotions are to be focused on staying positive in the fight ahead . " Chicken Little " ( 1943 ) is similar to " 5th Column Mouse " in that it depicts how the Nazis tried to instill fear into their enemies . The cartoon begins with a barnyard scene which introduces the main characters : “ Cocky Locky ” is depicted as the leader of , “ Henny Lenny ” is the gossip queen , “ Turkey Lurkey ” is shown as the educated elite , and “ Chicken Little " , the dunce . The animals are all seen as happy because of a large fence protecting them . However , “ Foxy Loxy ” wants to get in and uses a book entitled " Psychology " to not just get one chicken , but “ get them all ” by aiming for least intelligent chicken in order to eventually influence the masses . It also instructs that if telling a lie , it is best to make it a big one . The fox then convinces Chicken Little that the sky is falling . Chicken Little initially convinces the barnyard that the sky is falling , leading to panic . Cocky Locky steps onto the scene to calm the situation explaining that Chicken Little was not hit on the head by a piece of the sky . The crowd is dispersed with Chicken Little left crying and ashamed . The fox then realizes that he must “ undermine the faith of the masses in their leaders ” according to the psychology book . The fox then convinces Henny Lenny and her gossiping crowd that Cocky Locky may be wrong and if so , they will all be killed . The fox then convinces Turkey Lurkey and his educated elite that Cocky Locky is displaying “ totalitarian tendencies and is trying to dictate to us . ” The fox next reads , “ By the use of flattery , insignificant people can be made to look at themselves as born leaders . ” Chicken Little is convinced by the fox that everyone will listen to him now and should save all the other animals and tell them what to do . When the animals begin to fear for their lives and ask to know what to do , Chicken Little , who is a puppet of the fox , tells them to run to the cave . When they all run inside the fox ties a napkin around his neck and announces , “ dinner is served . ” The film quite unashamedly got across the message the dangers of creating panic and not using logic and reason in a time of crisis . The book Foxy read early in the film was originally intended to be " Mein Kampf " , however the producers thought that this might come across as too strong to the audience . " Victory Through Air Power " was one of Walt Disney ’ s most ambitious wartime propaganda films . Walt Disney himself was impressed by a 1942 book entitled Victory Through Air Power written by Alexander P . de Seversky . This Russian - born , naturalized citizen , who had founded his own aircraft company was convinced that the only way to win the war was the use of a long range strategic bomber force . Disney thought it his patriotic duty to spread the word of this new strategic plan involving tactical long - range bombing . Winston Churchill viewed the film and convinced Franklin D . Roosevelt to see it . After Roosevelt watched the film , the United States began committing to long - range bomber airplanes and strategies .