Disney On The Home Front Research Paper

When people talk about World War II they tend to focus on the combat, but the Home Front is just as if not more important than the frontlines and Walt Disney had a major effect on the Home Front. Through his work, his government contracts, and his motivation for money to save his dying company, Disney boosted morale on the Home Front during WWII. Walt Disney had a major impact on WWII through his propaganda; he accomplished this through his government projects. The U.S. joined WWII a little after the rest of the countries, but instantly got involved, starting massive recruiting campaigns. This meant many people needed to learn about the enemy and their tech. So to help them learn, Disney signed a $90,000 Navy contract, agreeing to make twenty

They helped the Army train the recruits more efficiently. They were making it easier for them to learn how to spot and attack enemy boats. His work attracted the attention of many government officials. After Walt Disney had finished his twenty training videos, he was given another assignment, this time by the U.S. Treasury Department. The Treasury project had Donald Duck encourage people to pay their taxes. (Gabler 384) This new project was a massive success despite the major time crunch. When it was released, it influenced a large influx of people to donate extra to the government on top of their taxes. Walt Disney not only worked for the government, but he also did some work with his company. Disney ended up creating 38 short films during the war. One of the most famous of these is Der Fuehrer’s Face. Der Fuehrer’s Face is a short where Donald Duck has a nightmare and becomes part of the NAZI Party and works on manufacturing missiles until he goes crazy. He then wakes up in America and hugs the Statue of Liberty. This short is a comedic take on the Nazi regime. We see a NAZI marching band with a bunch of oddly proportioned people from the various Axis

Der Fueher’s Face The ending brings the story to a “let's go” America short. Der Fuhrer’s Face is more focused on the German front while Commando Duck is focused on the Japanese front. Commando Duck made later than Der Fuhrer’s Face and focused on showing how well the U.S. was doing in the Pacific, while also trying to keep people invested in the war. Commando Duck is a story about Donald Duck dropping into Japan to attack an air base. He is paddling down a river when Japanese snipers begin to shoot at him and eventually chase him down a waterfall. His inflatable raft becomes a massive balloon that is slowly filled up with water before it pops and as Donald put it “Washed Out the Enemy.” (Commando Duck) This short was very influential to the majority of the U.S. people. The goal of these shorts was to keep people invested at home in the war. After a while, the people started to lose interest in the war and wanted it to end. Walt Disney then came to the rescue. He made a series of shorts centered on the Japanese front. The most prominent of those is the Commando Duck. Walt Disney was in a tough financial spot before WWII, when the animator's strike ended and his contracts with wealthy politicians, he could