Walt Disney was an American entrepreneur born in 1901 in Chicago. His privileged childhood was spent studying cartooning and theatrics. After graduating from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he started a small animation company in 1922, but it unfortunately failed and he was forced to file for bankruptcy. He immediately moved to California in a desperate attempt to save his career, meanwhile one of his previous films, Alice, became popular. Disney launched himself into the film animation business again. Throughout his career, Disney created various series of animations, Mickey Mouse being the most popular.
When America entered the Great Depression in the 1930s, Disney's company produced a bestselling short film called The Three Little Pigs, which was exceptionally popular due to its uplifting message during a depressing time. The film made copious amounts of money, despite the Depression.Just as America was exiting the Depression, his company hit numerous setbacks at the turn of the next decade- the 1940s. Walt Disney proved to be very averse to unionization of his employees and fired one of his top senior animators, Art Babbit, for joining a labor union. A five-week strike ensued where his workers striked for more fair profit distribution, because their bosses were making five times more than the average Disney employee.
Eventually, the strike was broken as compromises were achieved, but the Disney company was not the same. The challenges Disney faced caused the company major setbacks and it couldn’t come back until nearly a decade later when it started producing World War Two propaganda films for the federal government. Disney characters were featured on advertisements to purchase war bonds and cartoons were made. Donald Duck, in particular, was so successful in advertisements that he became “a salesman of the American way”. The cartoon “Der Furher’s Face” was one of the most popular.
Overall, Walt Disney had a major impact on America during the Great Depression and arguably helped the American war effort through his successful advertisements.
Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Walt-Disney
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-disney-came-define-what-constitutes-american-experience-180961632/
https://animationguild.org/about-the-guild/disney-strike-1941/
https://time.com/4326360/walt-disney-world-war-ii-excerpt/
I found your post really interesting because I did not know that Disney had such an important role in producing American propaganda during World War II. It's also interesting that Donald Duck came to represent these American values. I found another animation starring Donald Duck called "The New Spirit" that urged people to pay their income taxes to support the war effort; it was commissioned by the Treasury Department.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMU-KGKK6q8
It is interesting that Walt Disney used his films and their characters to get his political points across to the American public. Upon further research, I found that in his films, Disney included political undertones. Some examples include upholding traditional gender roles, stressing individualism, and advocating for cultural imperialism (especially for the Middle Class).
ReplyDeletehttps://pages.shanti.virginia.edu/disneysvisionforamerica/walt-disney-innovater-public-figure/
It is incredible that Walt Disney Studios produced such a range of different movies, and it is interesting that the general public is not aware of the role of Disney in war propaganda. Disney Studios was struggling after the Great Depression due to failed movies such as Pinocchio and Fantasia, with half of the audience not buying tickets during WW2. Due to low wages, Disney's workers went on strike for five weeks. However the war also served as a lifeline, with the US government commissioning Disney to create 32 animated shorts with the purpose of persuasion and manipulating the public image of the American war effort. Walt Disney appealed to people of America as a futurist, and while spreading propaganda, he also helped shape America's public vision for the future through his animated films.
ReplyDeleteSource: https://qz.com/quartzy/1332008/the-propaganda-films-that-saved-walt-disneys-cartoon-empire/
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIt was so interesting to read about a different side of Walt Disney! When I, and I'm sure many other people, think about Walt Disney, I think about a creative genius who created cartoon animations for kids just from his imagination. I had no idea that he was seen as "evil" in that his studio paid low wages to workers and even helped war propaganda. Upon further research of Disney's involvement in World War 2, I found that after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Army occupied the studios for eight months. Soldiers resided in the studios, the parking lots were converted into ammunition depots, and fixing equipment was kept in large sound stages. It was from there that the US government approached Disney with requests for propaganda films. Overall, super interesting read!
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney%27s_World_War_II_propaganda_production