Harold Berens

This cartoon propaganda short by Halas & Batchelor sweetens the pill of post-war coal prices by promising jam tomorrow.

"This anti-Communism film uses animation to tell the story of two brothers, one of whom receives training for hemispheric subversion in Cuba and returns to his own country to spread violence and terror. He realizes his mistake when, in the course of trying to destroy an experimental farm, his actions bring about the death of his brother Gustavo. Produced by Copri International Films, Inc. (Miami, FL) and directed by Jose D. de Villegas" (US National Archives).

A marching band of Germans, Italians, and Japanese march through the streets of swastika-motif Nutziland, serenading "Der Fuehrer's Face." Donald Duck, not living in the region by choice, struggles to make do with disgusting Nazi food rations and then with his day of toil at a Nazi artillery factory. After a nervous breakdown, Donald awakens to find that his experience was in fact a nightmare.

This remarkable documentary dedicates itself to an extraordinary chapter of the second World War – the psychological warfare of the USA. America’s trusted cartoon darlings from the studios of Warner Bros., Paramount, and the “big animals” of the Disney family were supposed to give courage to the people at the homefront, to educate them, but also to simultaneously entertain them. Out of this mixture grew a genre of its own kind – political cartoons.  Insightful Interviews with the animators and producers from back then elucidate in an amusing and astonishing way under which bizarre circumstances these films partially came into existence.

Short cartoon made for US military soldiers during World War Two.

Based on the book by Major Alexander de Seversky's about his theories of the practical uses of long range strategic bombing. Using a combination of animation humorously telling about the development of air warfare, the film shows de Seversky illustrating his ideas of how air power could win World War II for the Allies.

Animated WWI-era comic highlights from the innovative cartoonist George Studdy, creator of Bonzo the dog.

The first Greek animated film was shot by the cartoonist Stamatis Polenakis (1908-1997) with the title "The Duce tells...". The seven-minute "Mickey-Mouse-style" film, as its creator mentions in the credits, satirizes the Italian invasion of Greece on October 28, 1940, and especially Mussolini, who recounts his exploits, but reality constantly contradicts him.  Stamatis Polenakis, one of the leading Greek cartoonists of the 20th century and a pioneer of animation in our country, began drawing the sketches for the film in 1942 in his hometown, Sifnos, where he had taken refuge during the Occupation. He worked under the boot of the Italian conqueror, risking arrest.  The film was lost during the Civil War and it was not until 1980 that a negative was found and restored.

A propaganda film during World War II about a boy who grows up to become a Nazi soldier.