My understanding of Propaganda is that it is the deliberate attempt to get another person or group of people by appeals to reason to freely accept beliefs, attitudes, intentions or actions. During the war propaganda was used widely to recruit troops to fight for their countries, and is still widely used today. What I didn't know - well, was unaware of - is that propaganda has also been used in animation. In the seminar we were shown a number of examples of this, but the one that stood out to be the most was Disney's "Der Fuehrer's Face".
Der Fuehrer's Face
The animation was released in 1943, and it was produced in an effort to try and sell war bonds during the Second World War, and I think the reason the film was so successful was for a number of reasons. The first being that it features one of Disney's most loved characters, Donald Duck. Many may have initially watched it not realising it was going to be a war propaganda film because Disney's animations are usually aimed at children, especially the ones with Donald in them. This would expose children and adults to the themes it portrays, and ultimately get them hooked on the catchy song and the extreme values that were put across; another reason why I think the animation was so successful. I know I found the song incredibly catchy when I heard it as a child, and I still do. This was obviously done deliberately to try and make the animation memorable to try and force their points.
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