When it comes to propaganda, the creator of it wants the audience to agree and support their cause and their views. Propaganda can be anything from commercials, magazines, posters, movies, cartoons, and more. Although, a majority of the time propaganda is biased and full of fallacies. Only depicting what they want the audience to see and how they want it to be seen. For example, if there is a war between two countries, each one is going to create propaganda making the opposing country seem like the ‘bad guy’ and theirs as the ‘good guy’, or simply just mocking them while representing themselves as the heroes.
Visuals are very important and useful in the case of propaganda. Without good imagery to represent your ideals the piece of propaganda will not have an impact on the viewer’s opinion. Animation is a limitless medium for imagery and therefore very impactful in terms of swaying someone’s opinion and point of view on a matter. In cartoons you can make anything happen and anything be perceived the way you want with exaggeration and straightforward imagery and symbols. Even in regular cartoons without any political agenda, it is very easy to tell who is a good guy or who is a bad guy and who we are meant to be rooting for and against. It’s no different with animations with a political agenda.
During difficult times concerning wars, was a time where blatant propaganda was heavily used. After the attack on Pearl Harbor and World War II, there was a switch in animation and its capabilities. Cartoons studios such as Warner Bros. used propaganda in their cartoons, such as ‘The Ducktators’ (1942) and ‘Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips’ (1944) being a couple examples of cartoons using propaganda. As well as 'Der Fuehrer's Face’ (1943), an anti-Nazi propaganda film by Walt Disney. As stated before, these were made to mock and demoralize the enemy. Wanting to bring attention to the war and encouraging people to help contribute to the war. But some animations such as ‘Stop That Tank!’ (1942) also created by Walt Disney, were created to instruct and train Canadian troops. These types of films were called ‘edutainment’. Animations were no longer focused on comedy or entertainment but instead strived to get a certain ideal out in the media for all to consume.
Animation can be used in a variety of ways, to tell a story, to educate, persuade, entertain. Propaganda is one of the many ways that animation and cartoons have been used. It can display political views and stances in a narrow way so the audience will have no other angle to look at the situation, therefore believing and supporting something that they have limited and misleading information to. If the people who are reading and looking at the propaganda in the media are uneducated and credulous in the matter, they are more likely to buy into it. Although I believe propaganda is a discreditable way to share information, it is effective in coaxing someone’s support on a subject they know little about.
References
Nandwani, Ravi, and Ravi Nandwani. ‘Propaganda in Animation’. Academia.edu - Share Research, www.academia.edu/8012716/Propaganda_in_Animation
Ness, Mari. ‘Animation as War Propaganda: Disney's Victory Through Air Power’. Tor.com, 28 July 2016, www.tor.com/2016/07/28/animation-as-war-propaganda-disneys-victory-through-air-power
‘World War II and American Animation’. Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 Feb. 2019, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_and_American_animation