Victory Through Air Power

I just watched this feature last night from my copy of "Disney Treasures: On the Front Lines," which is an excellent set with many cartoon shorts, educational films, and propaganda films that are unusual of Disney, but nonetheless retain the same feel as the ordinary Disney short.

Being a pacifist, I think that all people should try to understand warfare for what it is, but try to avoid jumping into war until it is absolutely necessary. WWII was indeed a necessary war to fight, and the film, though not specifically aimed to do so, makes this point very clear.

First, before getting directly into the battles, the film educates us on the history of flight. With cartoon humour and sight gags it comes off very entertaining.

Then, the film is turned over to Alexander de Seversky, author of the book on which the film is based. De Seversky makes a valid point that the war should be fought with an enlarged military air force as opposed to naval and land based tactics. He is made to be very informative and enjoyable to watch against the animated maps and diagrams created by Disney's finest animators.

Eerily, there is a link to the 9/11 happening in the idea de Seversky expresses that air power removes the lines between civilians and soldiers and puts the lives of any of us at risk. It is fortunate that he had not lived to see this sad day.

Disney is most known for their family friendly output, featuring lovable characters like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. During WWII several of those characters were put in some really unusual situations as Disney were used to output propaganda movies in an attempt to make the public buy more war bonds to finance the war efforts, with Donald Duck in the Oscar-winning Der Führer's Face as the possibly most famous, or even infamous.

Victory Through Air Power is a feature length animated documentary based on the book by Alexander de Seversky, who also features in the movie. It tells the history of aviation, with main focus on the use of airplanes in war situations, and culminates in one man's viewpoint of how the war could have ended. It is the historic parts that really stands out, starting with the Wright brothers and covering the most historic events in early aviation in its recap of aviation history up until WWII started. But the movies message about the importance of an air force in a modern war rings true to this day, and the movie's presentation of how the war could have gone on for many more years than it actually did was also interesting.

There is nothing hasty or cheap looking in this movie, it is a proper, well done feature length animated movie from Disney, and a fascinating ride even today, as long as one has the right mindset for it.

"Victory Through Air Power" is an exceptionally well made film from Disney. It was made to bolster the notion of strategic bombing...bombing factories in Axis territory in order to bring the Japanese and Germans to their knees. It's told first as a history of military aviation and then a film specifically about WWII and the Allied bombing campaign....along with some portions where Major Alexander de Seversky talks about the program and how it will lead to a victory over the Axis.

The film is great for history teachers (like me) and WWII buffs. Others will likely find it slow and uninteresting. But for what it is, it's exceptionally well made...with some amazing animation and a well structured story.

By the way, SOME of the theory presented in the movie is true, some isn't exactly....and this was learned after the war ended. In Europe, despite all the bombing by Allied planes, German production actually INCREASED as the war progressed. What actually won the war in Europe was a combination of things....including Allied raids on German controlled oil refineries as well as the work of the infantry.

A history of a propaganda about world war 2 an eagle fighting against an octopus, with more guns and planes this was actually a short that premiered on july 17th from 1943 wait a minute, this was actually a documental, promoting of the soundness of estrategical aerial bombing.

Now that Disney's released the Black Cauldron and Melodytime, that leaves very few Disney films that have never been released on a home video format. In fact, it pretty much leaves this and Song of the South.

I have seen about half of the movie, in bits and pieces, because of Disney's habit of using clips from older animations in newer compilations. Chances are, if you've ever seen Disney animation showing WWII vintage fighters or bombers, you've seen a part of this film.

There's nothing terribly entertaining anymore about Victory- it's as entertaining as any other WWII-era propaganda film. But, given collectors' completist mindset, and given the historical significance of any and all war-era films, I think Disney needs to release this movie; even if it's in an extremely limited mail-order-only release. It needn't come in a clamshell, but Disney owes it to their fans to let them have the opportunity to see ALL of their work.