{"id":19023,"date":"2013-03-30T22:54:29","date_gmt":"2013-03-30T22:54:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thomasjpitts.co.uk\/wp\/?p=19023"},"modified":"2013-03-30T22:54:29","modified_gmt":"2013-03-30T22:54:29","slug":"day-89-an-award-winning-nazi-duck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thomasjpitts.co.uk\/wordpress\/2013\/03\/30\/day-89-an-award-winning-nazi-duck\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 89: An Award Winning Nazi Duck"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today was notable for helping Mrs Pitts reorganise her iPod<\/a> and iTunes as well as making a few DVDs<\/a> of things I have recorded.<\/p>\n

Alongside these though, the main highlight of the day was the discovery that Disney made a war propaganda film – \u00a0and not only that, but it also won an Oscar!<\/p>\n

\""Der<\/a>
“Der Fuehrer’s Face<\/em>” Theatrical Film Poster (from Wikipedia)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As OMG Facts! states:<\/p>\n

The film is called Der Fuehrer’s Face<\/em> and is set in Nazi<\/a>-land, a place where the clouds and trees are shaped like swastikas and the houses look like Hitler.\u00a0Caricatures\u00a0of German government officials, such as Joseph Goebbels<\/a> and Benito Mussolini, are seen marching through the streets singing praise to the Nazi regime.<\/p>\n

A Nazi Donald Duck<\/a> is then awakened, fed a severely rationed breakfast and made to read a portion of Mein Kampf while sitting under Hitler\u2019s portrait. Donald then goes to work in a factory, where he makes shells on a\u00a0conveyor\u00a0belt and salutes Hitler as portraits of him pass by.<\/p>\n

Donald then starts experiencing some hallucinations, which then collapse away to reveal it was all a bad dream. The movie won the Best Short Film award at the 1943 Academy Awards and remains to this day the only Donald Duck film to do so. The main song in the film has also been covered multiple times.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Wikipedia takes up the story:<\/p>\n

In 1994, it was voted Number 22 of “the 50 Greatest Cartoons<\/a>” of all time by members of the animation field. However, because of the propagandistic nature of the short, and the depiction of Donald Duck as a Nazi (albeit a reluctant one), Disney kept the film out of general circulation after its original release. Its first home video release came in 2004 with the release of the\u00a0third wave of the Walt Disney Treasures<\/a>\u00a0DVD sets.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It continues:<\/p>\n

Before the film’s release, the popular band\u00a0Spike Jones\u00a0and His City Slickers<\/a>, noted for their parodies of popular songs of the time, released a version of\u00a0Oliver Wallace’s theme song, “Der Fuehrer’s Face<\/em>” (also known informally as “The Nazi Song<\/a><\/em>“). The song parodied the Nazi anthem, the “Horst Wessel Song<\/a><\/em>“. Unlike the version in the cartoon, some Spike Jones versions contain the rude\u00a0sound effect\u00a0of an instrument he called the “birdaphone”, a rubber razzer (aka the\u00a0Bronx Cheer) with each “Heil!” to show contempt for Hitler. (The version in the cartoon features the use of a tuba instead.) The so-called “Bronx Cheer” was a well-known expression of disgust in that time period and was not deemed obscene or offensive. The sheet music cover bears the image of a tomato splattering in Hitler’s face.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Truly amazing stuff. You can watch the video here:<\/p>\n