Animation as propaganda and as a tool for subversion -- OUAN405

Animation is such a malleable and broad form of art that it can be used to tell a wider variety of stories than many other media. Because of the ability to anthropomorphise animals, plants or still objects, animation lends itself very well to metaphor and allegory, and because of this has been widely used as a technique for propaganda. Being able to replace human characters with animals allows you to tell stories and messages to the audience that may come across as preachy or have obvious political intentions if people were involved. On top of this, violence against cartoon characters is much more acceptable, and can be much more graphic than would be permitted with live action. An example of this would be the Bugs Bunny propaganda cartoons during the Second World War - depicting the main character inflicting violence against the enemies of the state, in this case the Japanese. At the same time in Germany a small group of animators, working under the direction of Goebells' propaganda machine, managed to sneak subversive anti-Nazi messages past the censors. The main producer of these films was the studio of Hans Fischerkoesen, whose animations - particularly Verwitterte Melodie (Weatherbeaten Melody) and Der Dumme Ganslein (the Silly Goose) - spread messages of unity, fraternity and equality which were quite opposite to Nazi ideals. (It has been suggested that Goebells allowed these animators more freedom and control over their stories as long as they kept up with the American studios in terms of technical achievement.) These films, obvious as their intentions are with hindsight, would not have been able to spread these messages if they had used human characters instead of insects and animals, and in the case of the Bugs Bunny films, would have been socially unacceptable - even in times of war.