Customer Reviews

Cartoons Go to War [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

What a complete letdown. Various individuals, either connected with the making of cartoons or historians/students of the form talk about the cartoon industry's enlistment in the war effort of WWII. Rather than letting the viewer see them for him or herself, we get about three minutes of uninteresting babbling and 30 seconds of film clip. The unanswered question is: "Where can we see the actual cartoons?" I feel that my money was wasted, I'd certainly never watch this "collection" more than once.

I purchased this video because it claimed to contain "Der Fuehrer's Face." In fact, one gets a bunch of talking heads chattering about the cartoons of the Second War without seeing any cartoons in their entirety. It's hard not to conclude that the blurb accompanying the video is intentionally designed to mislead consumers by claiming to offer classic animated features in their entirety. Save your money.

This is a fascinating documentary. It looks at how a series of cartoons were created to deal with World War 2 and the fight against facism. When the government delves into such activities, it can often be described as propaganda geared towards chilren (the Nazis also created pro-war programs directed at children, and certainly Saddam Hussein has done similar things) Of course, here, the issue U.S. of involvement in World War II was pretty cut and dry, and there weren't any real "moral questions" about entering the war.

So - this documentary looks at how Chuck Jones, Walt Disney and others were recruited by the government to create animated shorts to present World War 2 to America's youth.

i agree with the others. too much talk and too little cartoons. it is still interesting but i bought the video expecting mostly cartoons. oh well, you win some you lose some!

This video was not quite what I expected at first. When I read the cartoons contained in the video, I was intrigued. The cartoons are but clips, however, and this must be noted. I did feel that the video presented some interesting facts and interviews on the history of the wartime cartoons. As a teacher of propaganda, it served as an excellent supplement to the normal textbook work. In all I would recommend it.

In the documentary "Cartoons Go to War", the viewer sees a little-known area of World War II: the animation production companies that distributed training films... to soldiers at the front and their families at home. Clips of cartoons from Bugs Bunny to Private Snafu ("Situation Normal All Fouled Up") are entertaining and enlightening. It is also interesting to note that the animators -- male or female -- were subject to the same rules of secrecy and patriotism as any other government worker of the time. It is also a good remembrance of those women who 'got a foot in the door' of animation due to the absence of many male artists...

This is a good resource for teaching about cartoons of the day - lots of background information on the making of the cartoons during the war. We certainly looked at things differently back then. Not good for viewing the cartoons - but great for giving the reason why they were made, good insight into the wartime cartoon industry