Victory Through Air Power

Release Date: July 17, 1943

If I were to ask random people of all ages to list the animated movies that Walt Disney produced in his lifetime, I doubt anybody would remember this film. Victory Through Air Power is a full-length feature, but it's more of a documentary explaining how the United States and its allies could win World War II through planes and bombing. It is meant to be more educational than it is to be entertaining.

After the bombing on Pearl Harbor, the Disney Studio was pulled into the war effort. Many of the employees were enlisted in the army. The studio itself was used for all sorts of things (one of the sound stages housed tanks and ammunition!) Walt did what he could for the cause, and refused to make a profit off the government. After the armed forces left the studio, Walt continued to focus on the war with the cartoons he made.

I have not seen most of these cartoons, but one I have seen is The Fuhrer's Face, a cartoon depicting Donald Duck living in Nazi Germany. This short works like an animated political cartoon, with features of America's enemies (at the time) grossly exaggerated in a way considered offensive today. Such a thing was common at the time; enemies were de-humanized and mocked in an effort to bring Americans together and to boost morale during the war.

It is in this context that we have the film Victory Through Air Power. The film is based on a book by Alexander P. de Seversky. Walt Disney read the book and felt an urgent need to make a film based on it to sway public and government opinion. Walt even sent copies to Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. Although some of the ideas in the movie were actually adopted before government leaders saw the film, other ideas did influence some decisions during the war. In that sense, Walt's purpose in making the movie was successful.

It is hard to find the movie today because it is more propaganda than it is entertainment. I found the movie in its entirety on YouTube, which is how I watched it. I personally found it hard to watch (or maybe I was just extremely tired) and I had to watch it in more than one sitting, even though it's only just over an hour long. The movie has its place in history, but lacks relevance today.

Bambi

Release Date: August 9, 1942

While Fantasia is considered fine art for its music, Bambi is considered fine art for its visual style and animation. The backgrounds, the color, the special effects, and the realistic movement of the animals are all exquisitely done. The artists involved with this movie spared no pains to create the best work of art that they possible could. The viewer is pulled into the forest through the backgrounds, color, and use of the multi-plane camera. The impressionist backgrounds also help the viewer really focus on the characters in the movie, while surrounded by an almost dream-like setting.

Even though Bambi was the sixth movie released by the Walt Disney Studios, work began on it shortly after Snow White was finished. It took the studio years to finish this movie. Part of the reason is due to the story not being completely fleshed out beforehand. Entire sequences were worked on, and then scrapped because they distracted too much from the story. But the other delay was because Walt constantly pushed for the very best, requiring his animators to do what had never been done. Their work paid off to make Bambi the classic that it is today.

The music in this movie is also timeless. It is the first animated movie where the characters don't sing any of the songs. Instead, the use of a choir in the songs bring to life the pastoral symphony feel of the movie, capturing the grandeur and beauty of the forest setting in the film. Personally, I also think the musical theme for Man is also genius. Similar to the theme for Jaws, the theme for Man indicates a danger that leaves you on edge. Even though you don't actually see Man on screen, the threat is very present through the music.

I have memories of watching this movie from a very young age. In fact, I think I received the movie on VHS for Christmas in my early childhood. Thumper was always my favorite character. He has the best expressions and some of the best lines in the movie. My two favorite scenes with Thumper are when he is teaching Bambi how to talk, and when he tries to teach him to ice skate.

In my opinion, Bambi is well worth the time and talent put into its creation. Like other movies that came out in the 1940's, it did not make a profit during its original release. There was too much going on in the world, especially World War II. Fortunately, since then people have recognized its value. Some elements of Bambi have become pop culture norms, such as the word "twitterpated." Bambi deserves its place of honor among Walt Disney's classic films.

Dumbo

Release Date: October 23, 1941

Dumbo was a lifesaver for Walt's studio. It is the shortest of all the studio's animated films--just barely lasting over an hour. The shorter movie meant it was cheaper to make, and it didn't take as long as other recent endeavors. It paid off, and the movie brought some much needed cashflow to the studio. After a few movies in a row that didn't bring in a lot of income, Dumbo was the hit Walt needed! It had such an impact that it was slated to be on the cover of TIME magazine. This was changed at the last minute, with the bombing at Pearl Harbor rightfully replacing the movie as the top story.

It wasn't just the audiences who enjoyed this movie; the people who worked on the movie had a lot of fun with it too! The Pink Elephants on Parade scene is a masterpiece of animated brilliance. It is a bizarre scene, but the fluidity of the action is a testament to the animators' skill. Skill in animation can also be seen in the use of shadows in the film, the dancing crows, and more.

The music is also memorable. In fact, the movie won the academy award for the best score, and Baby Mine was nominated for best song that year. The music was written by Frank Churchill and Jack Lawrence, who were the team behind the previous movies released by Disney, as well as the hit song Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf. The songs they wrote, said to have been more of a commentary on scenes in the movie than a plot device, are memorable and helped bring a lot of the emotion into the film.

In recent years, Dumbo has become a target of controversy (along with many other films from Walt Disney's era) because of racial insensitivity. While I do not want to minimize or disregard anyone's feelings who may be offended by the scene with the crows, I recognize that the movie is a product of its time, and I can grant it grace for that. For example, the chatter among the crows is very similar to what you would hear on records by black artists at the time. I also think it's important to note that the crows are the most important characters besides Dumbo and Timothy. When Timothy explains how poorly Dumbo has been treated, the crows empathize with him because they know what it means to be an outsider. They are the ones who teach Dumbo to fly.

Dumbo deserves to be considered a Disney classic. The movie takes the viewer on a ride of emotional highs and lows. The Baby Mine scene is contrasted by the thrill of Dumbo flying around the circus tent and ultimately ending the movie in his mother's embrace. The movie emits both tears and laughter. I think most people can relate to having some sort of trait or characteristic that they dislike about themselves. But the moral of the movie can be summed up by Timothy's encouragement to Dumbo: "The very things that held you down are gonna carry you up, and up, and up!"