Journal Entry – Week 7

Both films exaggerate how the enemy looks and acts to make them seem worse. This simplifies reality and highlights negative traits. It works as propaganda to influence people’s opinions. this is shown when one film says Hitler smells bad and the other called Americans Drunks

In Bury the Axis (1943), directed by Lou Bunin in the UK, the leaders of the Axis powers, Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo, are portrayed through exaggerated caricatures that emphasize negative stereotypes. The film uses stop-motion animation, which creates rough, unsettling movements that make the characters appear grotesque and absurd. Hitler is depicted as having a foul smell and a “very brief childhood,” while Mussolini is insulted as “poison puss.” Tojo is shown to  enjoy attacking people for fun. These depictions portray the Axis leaders as clownlike.

Similarly, Momotarō no Umiwashi (1943) portrays the enemy through cartoonish stereotypes, focusing on the American/British soldier whom are depicted as  cowardly drunks resembling Bluto from Popeye. This visual style taps into familiar American cartoon tropes, making it easier for Japanese audiences to associate the soldier with traits like stupidity and aggression. The film also references the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor by showing Momotaro, a popular hero, leading an attack on an American/British naval base. While the animation style is not fully detailed, the borrowing of American visual conventions in Japan may have been a strategy to mock American cultural influence. Both films use simplified, exaggerated character designs and negative behaviors to shape public perceptions of the enemy in a way that serves propaganda purposes.