Wartime Animation

During The Second World War both sides of the Atlantic streamed all sorts of morale-boosting and influential propaganda. As animation was a fully evolved art form at the the time, it seemed only fair to use it along side every other form of art for propaganda purposes. Even the most famous animation company Walt Disney contributed to wartime propoganda by making such movies as Education For Death: The Making of a Nazi (1943)

Der Fuehrer’s Face (1942)

Fall Out Fall In (1943)

and many more. For Disney it seems really out of tune, but non the less it was their contribution to Western porpoganda. To rectify the situation, in 1941 the Nazi government called the establishment of a strong German animation industry capable of producing both color cartoons and animated features. Thus, all able animators were commanded to step up production and focus on theatrically viable cartoons. Among the filmmakers called into action was Hans Fischerkoesen, who was among the most distinguished animators remaining in Germany between 1933 and 1945, and whose work during the war years included a trio of remarkable films: Verwitterte Melodie (Weatherbeaten Melody, 1942), Der Schneemann (The Snowman, 1943) and Das dumme Gänslein (The Silly Goose, 1944).