Prompt-1 : After WWII the world could be divided (broadly) into two worldviews: that of the Western (capitalist) and Eastern (communist) blocks. How were these differences expressed in animation? What were some of the thematic, aesthetic, and financial differences between Western and Eastern national productions?
We can see how the differences between communism and capitalism were expressed in animation films if we review some of the animation films created between 1940’s to late 1960’s. “Animal Farm” (1954) by John Halas & Joy Batchelor was based on George Orwell’s anti-communist parable. George Orwell’s novel ‘Animal Farm’ was a fable that worked as a bang-on critique of the Russian revolution and Stalinism. In it a group of mistreated farmyard animals rise up against their owner and overthrow him. Different animals represent different people. The wise old pig Old Major represents Karl Marx and the beginning of communist teachings; Farmer Jones is Czar Nicholas II and represents the old regime; Napoleon and Snowball the pigs are respectively the ruthless Joseph Stalin and idealistic Leon Trotsky; the pack of dogs are the secret police and violent state enforcement; Boxer represents the hard working peasants; Benjamin, the wise but powerless individual; the sheep the unthinking masses. “It’s Everybody’s Business” was produced by John Sutherland. This film does a great job of demonstrating the basic concepts of capitalism. It explains how business and competition works.
Some other animated films were made to glorify anti-capitalism. Including Interplanetary Revolution which depicts a Communist triumph over free-market forces on Mars; China in Flames warns against capitalist interference in the Chinese Revolution; The Shareholder proclaims the superiority of the Soviet economic system; and Proud Little Ship takes on capitalist aggression.
