Posters Artwork Documents

"Education for Death"

Walt Disney Productions/RKO

Still from the animated movie short, "Education for Death: the making of a Nazi", depicting Hitler as the noble knight who rescues "Germany" (pictured as an obese, beer-swilling Wagnerian Valkyrie) from the hideous wicked witch, "Democracy". Walt Disney's studio was involved in quite a bit of "war work" in both animated and non-animated media. He contracted with the US Government to make 32 propaganda short movies in 1941, and his actual production of propagandistic and "informational" movies for the Service departments was certainly larger. Among the puffing propaganda shorts are a number that do not fit precisely into the general pattern. Among these, the best known (although not very well) is "Der Fuehrer's Face" (1943 Academy Award for best animated short; music achieved #1 status in US record charts). Another that pops up from time to time is "Commando Duck", in which Donald Duck destroys a Japanese airfield with the aid of a defective inflatable boat (!). Among these, the little known "Education for Death" stands out as a most unusual, for Disney at least. Based on a book by American educator Gregor Ziemer of the same name, who had lived in Germany and was very familiar with the Nazi educational system, the overall aim of this little 10 minute movie is to encapsulate Ziemer's message in a short movie format. The result is a short that viewers of the present day tend to find shocking. The first third of the movie is very "Disney" in the way we expect. It depicts a retelling of the fairy tale, "Sleeping Beauty", as adapted for Nazi brainwashing of the young, featuring Hitler as the "handsome prince", presented in the manner of the "Lohengrin" knight of Hubert Lanzinger's preposterous painting "The Standard-Bearer" (http://ww2incolor.com/art/HubertLanzingerHitler.html). The remainder is much more grim, showing how small, tender children are progressively brainwashed to become brutalized Nazi soldiers, marching towards inevitable death in war. In the process, we witness active classroom brainwashing, book burning, artwork burning and even reference to the euthanasia programme against those in society too weak to be of use to the Fuhrer. Walt Disney seems to have had mixed feelings about movies like this. While he did not take active measures to restrict distribution of "Education for Death" postwar (as he certainly did with "Der Fuehrer's Face", for example), he certainly did not facilitate distribution, either. It appears that he thought that these movies might damage his "brand" and the image of his cartoon "actors". Several have only become easily accessible in Disney compilations, long after Walt's death. Best regards, JR.