Post by StevePulaski on Feb 17, 2014 10:51:05 GMT -5
Der Fuehrer's Face (1943)
Directed by: Jack Kinney
Directed by: Jack Kinney
"Heil Hitler!," Donald Duck barks as he puts together artillery shells in Disney's Der Fuehrer's Face.
Rating: ★★★★
Some people may be shocked or even shriek to find out Disney was once known for creating shorts that involved the Nazis and Nazi Germany during the World War II era. These shorts have gone on to live kind of an infamous life in terms of popularity amongst cinephiles and Disney-enthusiasts, but arguably the most known short of all these is Der Fuehrer's Face, focusing on Donald Duck, who resides in Communist Russia, working the unforgiving job of constructing artillery shells of all different sizes on an assembly line. However, whenever an image of Hitler passes on the assembly line, no matter what Donald is doing, he must "heil" to Hitler to show respect and fatefulness. As one can imagine, Donald's job is an exhausting one, and at home, nothing awaits besides bread that is really a wooden log, a sole coffee bean, and bacon and eggs straight from an aromatic spray can. The music in the short is outstanding, catchy and infectious, while the breakneck animation, paced quite briskly, is equally outstanding. The short flies by the seat of its pants and provides one with thought about the conditions living in the USSR during the Cold War times, if in a vague, propagandistic way. The bottom line is the short is heavily entertaining and so wild it needs to be seen, like many Disney shorts, just to feed rampant curiosity.
Directed by: Jack Kinney.