Short Subject

Having recently watched Donald Duck be a Nazi in a propaganda film from World War II, I came to this film without knowing much but presuming it is probably something similar. Of course within seconds it is clear that this comparatively basic animation is nothing official and it is actually a protest film against the war in Vietnam, where the death of American youth is made incredibly obvious by essentially enlisting and killing that most American of popular culture characters – Mickey Mouse.

As a film it is effective in how simple it appears but yet how it ends. The looped animation on a few simple scenes lead to a death scene which is sudden and allows for a sudden shift of tone as we see the light fade from Mickey's eyes – it is strangely effective although it by all rights shouldn't be given how short and basic the film is. The lack of sound is distracting at first (I checked to see if my volume was muted – like many I imagine) but on thinking about it, I think the basics of it meant that sound would have dominated the visuals and it does work without sound.

It is a curio film and worth a look just to see it because it is quite simple and basic, however at the same time the very simple delivery and very simple point is surprisingly effective and the change to Mickey's face in that final shot is dramatic and memorable.

Mickey Mouse is the most famous cartoon character of all time, since 1928 he has starred in multiple cartoons and apparently in 1968 he also starred in a Propaganda Cartoon against the Vietnam War.

This short was lost for decades, until it was discovered and uploaded to YouTube, and boy is it grim...

The short is about Mickey seeing a sign that says "Join the Army" Mickey without expression enlists and when he goes by ship to Vietnam he ends up being killed by a sniper and when he falls to the ground we see him die while blood drips from his head, that makes him called propaganda?, the truth this must have been chilling in its time and even, 5 decades later, it is still disturbing to see how Mickey dies.

The Animation is not great, it is quite simple and not very fluid, do not expect to see the incredible backgrounds and fluid Animation that existed in the 40s, here we are simply facing empty backgrounds and simple animation, do not expect color either, this is White and Black.

The truth was an attempt at Scary Propaganda, seeing an iconic character die in that way is Rough, although the historical value makes this interesting to Criticize.

In itself, This propaganda is not the best, its message is sudden and too ruthless, it could be implemented in a better way but that Ending with Mickey Dying makes this more interesting than it already is.

Being a short duration footage I can not comment more.

For everything I said above, This Footage Gets a 6.

The worst show ever in 1969, not only that, they make some Mickey Mouse fanatics look like the bad guy, the worst short from world war 2 an absolute mess i have ever heard whoever created this short should be executed for good.