Daily Archives: May 24, 2022

Both films had their own agenda for propaganda, “Bust the Axis”, made in the UK and directed by an American puppeteer. The short film was representing the Axis powers and how evil they are and how Hitler was taking several nations. The film mocks the Axis powers by showing how incapable the leaders are like Hitler and Mussolini, and Hirohito is wicked and dumb. This was done in stop motion when creating the short film. While “Momotarō no Umiwashi”, was made in Japan and directed by Mitsuyo Seo. The short film was done in 2D animation. The film illustrated the invasion of Pearl Harbor and made it as if their attack was justified. It shows the glory of the Japanese planes attacking Pearl Harbor and showing the Americans as weak, incompetent characters running away and being cowards.

Disney and other big studios closed their 2D animation divisions by the late 1990s/early 2000s. Like many other companies, Disney decided to go for the most profitable and trendy option. I wouldn’t say that it was a good choice because this did lead them to make one of their most successful movies, Toy Story, but believing that 2D animated projects wouldn’t bring them profit or benefit wasn’t exactly right. Disney Channel’s Gravity Falls is one of the most believed animated shows that proves Disney wrong about 2D films. Other shows like Family Guy and The Owl House are 2D films, yet they gained major popularity and appreciation from their audience.

A movie that comes to my mind is definitely Wreck-It Ralph 2. When I saw the trailer for the movie, I remember being blown away by the number of references the movie had to social media platforms like Instagram, Youtube, and Twitter. When I saw how the movie was centered around Ralph and Venelope trying to buy something from eBay, it made me laugh and actually look into the movie just to see how many more references they would have. 

I think that the film was seen as subversive by the communist government because Jiří Trnka’s short film “The Hand” (1965) was an accurate representation of the fear and situations that the people of Czechoslovakia felt during these times. They felt trapped and controlled and if they didn’t listen to what the government was telling them to do, they would end up like the puppet. The government felt as if this film was too much of a threat to raise awareness of what was happening.

In almost all propaganda, the enemy is depicted as being clumsy and dumb. In ‘Bury the Axis’, racist stereotypes were used to pick at the clay figurines of the Axis Powers leaders and also made them look like foolish losers. In ‘Momotaro no Umiwashi’, Americans were the center of the propaganda and were made to be seen as unorganized fools.

When watching the clip from Snow White, I see that each Dwarf has different movements and reactions to match their character. An example could be between Grumpy and Dopey. Grumpy always walk in an angry way, never really smiles, and has a rough voice when he speaks. Dopey on the other hand is a goofy character. He had his sleeves covering his hands which makes him look goofier. It is also explained that he doesn’t talk because he never tried, this really adds to the goofy character he has.