Don’t judge a book by its cover but do judge a political party by its garage.
Social & External
Animated WWI-era comic highlights from the innovative cartoonist George Studdy, creator of Bonzo the dog.
A landmark four disc Box Set - Unearthed from Moscow's legendary Soyuzmultfilm Studios, the 41 films in ANIMATED SOVIET PROPAGANDA span sixty years of Soviet history (1924 - 1984), and have never been available before in the U.S.
First World War animated propaganda short, extolling Britain's naval history and mocking the German navy.
This cartoon propaganda short by Halas & Batchelor sweetens the pill of post-war coal prices by promising jam tomorrow.
World War II propaganda trailer asking travellers to have patience and make concessions when travelling on trains. Film mostly consists of rostrum animation of still cartooned images with some very short pieces of true animation. (BFI)
Based on the book by Major Alexander de Seversky's about his theories of the practical uses of long range strategic bombing. Using a combination of animation humorously telling about the development of air warfare, the film shows de Seversky illustrating his ideas of how air power could win World War II for the Allies.
The first Greek animated film was shot by the cartoonist Stamatis Polenakis (1908-1997) with the title "The Duce tells...". The seven-minute "Mickey-Mouse-style" film, as its creator mentions in the credits, satirizes the Italian invasion of Greece on October 28, 1940, and especially Mussolini, who recounts his exploits, but reality constantly contradicts him. Stamatis Polenakis, one of the leading Greek cartoonists of the 20th century and a pioneer of animation in our country, began drawing the sketches for the film in 1942 in his hometown, Sifnos, where he had taken refuge during the Occupation. He worked under the boot of the Italian conqueror, risking arrest. The film was lost during the Civil War and it was not until 1980 that a negative was found and restored.
This remarkable documentary dedicates itself to an extraordinary chapter of the second World War – the psychological warfare of the USA. America’s trusted cartoon darlings from the studios of Warner Bros., Paramount, and the “big animals” of the Disney family were supposed to give courage to the people at the homefront, to educate them, but also to simultaneously entertain them. Out of this mixture grew a genre of its own kind – political cartoons. Insightful Interviews with the animators and producers from back then elucidate in an amusing and astonishing way under which bizarre circumstances these films partially came into existence.
A marching band of Germans, Italians, and Japanese march through the streets of swastika-motif Nutziland, serenading "Der Fuehrer's Face." Donald Duck, not living in the region by choice, struggles to make do with disgusting Nazi food rations and then with his day of toil at a Nazi artillery factory. After a nervous breakdown, Donald awakens to find that his experience was in fact a nightmare.
A propaganda film during World War II about a boy who grows up to become a Nazi soldier.
Tugging Diary documents a footbridge over a year between August 2019 to January 2021. Due to social unrest and the uncertainty of various immediate happenings, both the internet and physical spaces act as critical communication platforms of its own during this period. As such, information can be circulated in the community more widely and rapidly outside of the existing mainstream media. As time goes by, these materials are continuously altered, some were renewed, while the others were removed, covered with paint, or overlaid by other information.
Short cartoon made for US military soldiers during World War Two.
Peaceful citizens (one of whom resembles Felix the Cat) are dancing to music before their island is being invaded by a gigantic rodent that resembles Mickey Mouse. The islanders contact legendary folk-hero Momotaro from a giant book to battle Mickey.
The Sailor and the Seagull was released by the U.S. Navy in 1949 with a simple goal: encouraging servicemen to re-enlist. In the film, a disgruntled sailor named McGinty complains about the raw deal he believes he is receiving by serving in the Navy. As luck would have it, a seagull comes to release him from service so that he can experience the freedom of civilian life. McGinty soon learns, however, that civilian life means less freedom and less money than he had imagined and quickly jumps at the chance to re-enlist. (cont. http://blogs.archives.gov/unwritten-record/2013/09/26/sailor-and-the-seagull/)
Donald is manning a listening post and falls asleep; he blows trumpet calls in his sleep and wakes his nephews. For their revenge, they send up a model airplane filled with gingerbread men with parachutes; Donald shoots it down, and cowers in fear when he sees the parachutes (and hears a simulated battle), until one lands on his beak. Donald kicks his nephews out until he mistakes a bee for an airplane, and calls them back to fight this menace.
Lu Dahai and his shipbuilding team want the 10,000-ton ocean freighter "The East" to be given a sea trial. But the ship is made with domestic parts, and Chen Zongjie, a leader of the Party Committee of the Bureau of Foreign Transport, believes that the quality is not sufficient, and orders that the parts be replaced with imported ones before the sea trial takes place. In the end, the sea trial not only sets a successful new record, but also rescues a Taiwanese fishing boat in distress.
Ever seen a snake with a moustache? The Middle East was as much an ideological as a physical battleground in the Second World War. In the midst of the conflict Halas & Batchelor were commissioned by the British Government to make four cartoons featuring a young boy Abu and his mule. They were intended to demonstrate in simple visual terms that Britain was a stout friend and the Axis powers a pernicious evil.
The first Japanese feature-length animated film. It was directed by Mitsuyo Seo, who was ordered to make a propaganda film for the war by the Japanese Naval Ministry. Shochiku Moving Picture Laboratory shot the 74-minute film in 1944 and screened it on April 12, 1945. It is a sequel to Momotarō no Umiwashi, a 37-minute film released in 1943 by the same director. It is black and white. The whole movie also depicts the Japanese "liberation of Asia", as proclaimed by the Government at the time. Seo tried to give dreams to children, as well as to instill the hope for peace, with hidden movie's hints of dreams and hopes, under the appearance of war propaganda.
A British WWII propaganda short warning citizens that Nazi sympathizers could be listening to their everyday conversations to discover important information about the war effort.
Short animation from the early 1970s made in attempt to stop movie theater patrons from subscribing to pay TV.
Scooby-Doo and Shaggy must go into the underworld ruled by The Goblin King in order to stop a mortal named The Amazing Krudsky who wants power and is a threat to their pals: Fred, Velma, and Daphne.
In this anime visual album, a mysterious driver heads deep into a postapocalyptic hellscape toward a ferocious showdown with two monstrous opponents.
Charlie Brown is determined to win the big baseball game. But things turn into a fiasco right before the matchup, when Sally bonds with a little flower on the pitcher's mound and vows to protect it at all costs.
A brave young animal explorer teams up with two trusty friends to find a powerful artifact before his greedy uncle can get his paws on it.
Dorothy wakes in post-tornado Kansas, only to be whisked back to Oz to try to save her old friends, the Scarecrow, the Lion, the Tin Man, and Glinda, from a devious new villain, the Jester. New comrades Wiser the Owl, Marshal Mallow, China Princess, and Tugg the Tugboat join Dorothy on her latest magical journey through the colorful landscape of Oz to restore order and happiness to Emerald City.
Animals band together to save the day when the evil Otto Von Walrus hatches a sinister scheme to accelerate global warming and melt the Arctic Circle.
This collection of 10 short films produced by Illumination includes: From the "Despicable Me" franchise: Puppy (2013); Minion Scouts (2019); Training Wheels (2013); The Secret Life of Kyle (2017); Santa's Little Helpers (2019). From the "Grinch" franchise: The Dog Days of Winter (2019). From the "Secret Life of Pets" franchise: Norman Television (2016); Weenie (2016). From the "Sing" franchise: Love at First Sight (2017). From the "Lorax" franchise: Forces of Nature (2012).
GrandPat travels through alternate dimensions and timelines to get home.
When Day, a sunny fellow, encounters Night, a stranger of distinctly darker moods, sparks fly! Day and Night are frightened and suspicious of each other at first, and quickly get off on the wrong foot. But as they discover each other's unique qualities--and come to realize that each of them offers a different window onto the same world-the friendship helps both to gain a new perspective.
Lord Farquaad was eaten by the dragon, but his ghost has returned, and he's still evil. With the help of his henchman, Thelonious, he kidnaps Fiona. Shrek and the donkey set out to save her, with help from the dragon, before she goes over a waterfall on a raft.
A pampered cat takes for granted the lucky hand he has been dealt after he is rescued and loved by Rose, a kind-hearted and passionate student. When he loses his ninth life, fate steps in to set him on a transformative journey.
A relaxing spa getaway evolves into a prehistoric panic when Scooby-Doo and the gang uncover the horrible Phantosaur, an ancient legend come to life to protect hidden treasures buried in secret desert caves. But this scare-a-saurus doesn’t stand a chance with Shaggy around, after he finds his inner hero with the help of new-age hypnosis. Like, it makes him more brave and less hungry!
If Bugs Bunny were to direct his signature inquiry--"What's up, doc?"--toward the modern-day Warner Bros. creative team, he wouldn't be far off. For 1001 Rabbit Tales, they've doctored up a batch of classic cartoons featuring the carrot muncher and his bumbling comrades and bundled them, near seamlessly, into a feature-length film. Here's the premise: Bugs and Daffy, both book salesmen, are competing to sell the most copies of a kids' book. Instead of burrowing a beeline to his sales territory (he should have made a left at Albuquerque), Bugs ends up in the castle of Yosemite Sam, here a harem-leading honcho. Sam's pain-in-the-spurs son, Prince Abalaba, needs somebody to read him stories; Bugs, who'd sooner take the job than suffer the alternative, that involving being boiled in oil, signs on.
A pampered dog named Trouble must learn to live in the real world while trying to escape from his former owner's greedy children and must learn how to survive on the big-city streets.
When a car hits young Victor's pet dog Sparky, Victor decides to bring him back to life the only way he knows how. But when the bolt-necked "monster" wreaks havoc and terror in the hearts of Victor's neighbors, he has to convince them that Sparky's still the good, loyal friend he was.
Maurice is a streetwise ginger cat who comes up with a money-making scam by befriending a group of self-taught talking rats. When Maurice and the rodents meet a bookworm called Malicia, their little con soon goes down the drain.
To free Baba Yaga and Renfield from the clutches of Monster Hunter Mila Starr, the Wishbone Family once more transforms into a Vampire, Frankenstein's Monster, a Mummy and a Werewolf but when aided by their three pet bats, the Monster Family zooms around the world again to save their friends, make new monstrous acquaintances.
Animated film based on the wonderful children's picture book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. The story of a kind witch who invites a surprising collection of animals to join her on her broom, much to the frustration of her cat. The gang ultimately saves the witch from a fearsome dragon, and in gratitude she rewards them with a magnificent new broom which has room for everyone. A magical tale about friendship and family from Magic Light Pictures, the producers of the hugely successful The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child.
The Loud family travel to Scotland and discover they are descendants of Scottish royalty as they move into their giant ancestral castle.
Op and Ed, two adorable donut-shaped animals - flummels - accidentally time-travel from 1835 to modern-day Shanghai. There they discover traffic, trans fats, and worst of all, that flummels are now extinct. It's up to this bumbling pair to save themselves and their species...and, just maybe, change the course of history.
