Cartoon characters can go to war to boost morale or for propaganda purposes. Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Popeye, but the biggest star was Donald Duck. Disney was happy to make cartoons supporting the war effort. It was determined to go with Donald over Mickey Mouse because of Donald’s personality trait of getting fighting mad. Mickey was too nice. Donald made a series of six cartoons, starting with “Donald Gets Drafted”. Although Donald was enthusiastic about his draft notice, Carl Banks, who wrote the story, was a pacifist. He did not have Donald volunteering. Banks did the propaganda posters that Donald sees on the way to induction. He chooses the Air Corps because if you wanted to “Be irresistible, Join the Air Corps”. Banks’ script used the propaganda posters to contrast what was promised and what was reality. One poster is titled “Healthful Exercise” and another “Breakfast in Bed”. Banks wrote the theme song “The Army’s Not the Army Anymore”. We learn at induction that Donald’s middle name is … Fauntleroy! The cartoon covers the physical. Banks makes the point that the military was taking pretty much anybody, no matter the health problems. Then it’s off to basic training where he encounters Sgt. Pete. The cartoon is surprisingly anti-military. Donald goes to war in “Commando Duck”. He fights in the Pacific against racially stereotypical Japanese with their buck teeth and eyeglasses. But the highlight of the series was “Der Fuhrer’s Face”. Donald dreams that he is living in Nazi Germany. Hitler, Mussolini, and Hirohito are brutally caricatured. It is a masterpiece that won an Academy Award.
Categories: Anecdote
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