John T. Ryan THERE HAVE BEEN times in our life when it seemed that we thought that, perhaps a little too much is made of the Armed Forces and their place in the scheme of things. Needless to say that we have long since abandoned that sophomoric position for one of both sense and sanity. And, although it occurred before we were thought of, we know that no one living through World War II would share such a notion, if only for a moment.THE Disney PRODUCTION crew managed in bringing us a near perfect example of the marriage of entertainment with propaganda. Yes, we said propaganda and meant to do so; for that is one word that seems to consistently be used in a connotative manner, equaling some moral evil. In reality, the stem word, propagate, means to cultivate, increase in number or to instill understanding in others' beliefs.AS FOR THE cartoon, it moves along at an incredible rate; demonstrating how life would be under a Fascist regime. One Mr. Donald Duck is chosen to be the laboratory guinea pig and is placed in Nazi Germany. Being a blue collar guy, he has not a moment to himself.FROM MORNING TO night, he is constantly having orders barked out at him from totalitarian bureaucrats. The heavy handed 'instructions' come from person or persons who are largely unknown; save for their hands and swastika bearing shirtsleeves. No matter how hard or long he works, it's not enough.TIME OFF AND any recreation must be measured out in such a manner so as it shouldn't interfere with the War Production for the Third Reich. There is a gag that features a sort of virtual reality of a worker's 'vacation' to the Alps. A backdrop screen and sound effects add to the narration to transform the worker in an instantly staged break; then, back to work on an assembly line that he's never left.ONE PARTICULAR GAG that we really have enjoyed is Donald's work on a munitions assembly line conveyor belt. In it, DD is required to tighten up all shells' attachments to warhead (bullet or slug) in an ever increasing rate. The situation is remarkably similar to Charlie Chaplin's lot in life in his MODERN TIMES (1936) and may very well have been inspired by or lifted as a sort of homage from "the Little Tramp's" performance in that classic film.THE CARTOON SPORTS a fine, deeply satirical song that serves as the very core of the story. Originally being performed by a sort of "All Star" Oom-Pah-Pah Band, made up of caricatures of Hitler, Mussolini and Hirohito; representing the Axis Powers of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan. The song "Der Fuehrer's Face" was later recorded by Spike Jones and his City Slickers and was a big hit single for them.AT PICTURE'S END, all is once again well for Donald Duck. How? Well, we're not going to tell you. Watch the cartoon!

Horst in Translation ([email protected]) It's a common opinion that all kinds of propaganda movies should be banned altogether and not made accessible to the public. This 8-minute Donald Duck short film is the perfect example of why that would be a huge mistake. These kind of films are often a great way to understand historical context from times long gone and are also a fascinating watch in order to witness how they tried to and often succeeded to manipulate the people. "Der Fuehrer's Face" is possibly the most famous political cartoon from World War II. The only other one that may reach the same status is MGM's Blitz Wolf from the same year. "Der Fuehrer's Face" BTW. also won the Oscar over that one in a year where it was the only Disney entry in the animated short category, a rather unusual occurrence as Disney occasionally took 4 of the 5 spots with their films.In any case, the film is packed with a few subtle and very many not-so-subtle Nazi symbolisms and metaphors, like the windmill or Donald's house. But also the Italians and Japanese get their fair share of shade. The story can be summarized pretty quickly. Donald wakes up as a proud Nazi, but his lack of great living conditions, especially food, and hard work make him quickly turn insane as he has knives put to his neck and is constantly treated with noisy propaganda. The end is as patriotic as it gets and it's easy to see why people liked it that much in times like these. An important historical document.

marcus_stokes2000 *The SPOILERS' Face* The short begins with a Nazi band - with Hirohito, Mussolini (who wittily states 'We would leave if we could'), an enormous Nazi, a very tall and lanky Nazi and a very effeminate Nazi singing the title song, which basically makes fun of Hitler.Cut to Donald Duck, who lives in a minuscule house in this 'Nutziland' where EVERYTHING either is Swastika-shaped or refers to Hitler (including clouds and picket fences). Also his house is decorated in the 'Hitler style' (the Hitler-cuckoo is a hoot!).After having gotten dressed in paper clothes and hat, Donald manages to eat a slice of bread so hard it requires a saw to cut, drink coffee made from one single bean and spray 'Aroma of Bacon and Eggs' down his throat, before the Nazi band makes him read the Mein Kampf - to 'improve his mind' - before coming to get him to work.Donald is a 'willing worker of Nutziland' who has to work 48 hours a day for the Fuehrer making shells, and having to salute Hitler's image at the same time.He gets a 'vacation mit pay' working out obsessively in front of an image of the Alps. The poor guy gets bombarded with Nazi propaganda, and ends up being 'chosen' by special degree of the Fuehrer to work overtime.Eventually, he goes insane and hallucinates various things, among whom switching places with the shells, the Nazi orchestra made of shells, and even himself as Hitler, being saluted by a shell, as the song 'The Fuehrer's Face' keeps on being played faster and faster, until...Donald wakes up from the Nazi nightmare and realizes he is safe in America.Awesome, awesome short where Disney openly makes fun of Hitler's insanity. An Academy Award-winner classic not to miss! The Fuehrer's Face: 9/10.

Quaker404 The comment contains spoilers. Be warned.As we all know, back during the days of World War 2 media was used to promote the state and discredit the enemy. This cartoon clearly was made for this purpose.It starts with a Nazi (Or Nutzi as they are called in this short) marching band singing how they 'Heil in Der Fuehrer's Face'. Then we find Donald Duck, a citizen of the Nutzi state. After being rudely woken up by the band he a forces out a 'Heil Hitler'. After a breakfast consisting of a slice of stale bread, we (the audience) find that Donald does not enjoy life as a Nutzi.Donald begins his job, screwing on the heads of shells. He is told be his superiors that they expect '48 hours a day' of work from their citizens. With only a few seconds of vacation and a compulsion to salute photos of Hitler under pain of death, it is not long before Donald starts to descend to madness. The Nutzi state is taking its toll. It is then we find it has been a dream all this time and that Donald is in fact a proud citizen of the USA.Clearly the message given in this animated short is that the Nazis are cruel to even their own.Overall is is an interesting piece of film and worth watching if you can find it.