A Vitória Pela Força Aérea

When I was about 13 years old around 1978, our school teacher had our class watch a 16mm print of the first part of Disney's "Victory Through Air Power", which is all in animation and is about the history of aviation. I loved it. In the decades since, I'd always clearly remembered the comical shot of an early WWI fighter plane pilot using a machine gun before the technology to synchronize machine guns with propellers had been developed.

When I became interested in Disney animation several years ago, I hoped to find a copy of that one. But I learned that it had never been released on any videotape or videodisc format, and that my only glimmer of hope of ever seeing it again was to buy a 16mm film projector and find an old 16mm print, and probably pay a lot for it. More than any other, this title had me seriously thinking about doing that.

It's been some time since I've kept up with new DVD releases. I was shopping at Costco today and stumbled across some of Disney's "Treasures Limited Edition" tins. I already had some of those, but I noticed that these were titles I hadn't seen before. I tossed the Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck titles into my cart, passed on one that was about Tomorrow Land, and dug through to make sure I hadn't missed any. I could hardly believe my eyes when I picked up one that said "On the Front Lines" and "The War Years". My first thought was to wonder if it included that aviation history I had seen in 1978. I turned it over and yes, it said it included not only the aviation history part I had seen then, but the entire film!

Somewhat in a daze, I went straight to the checkout line, then straight home, then straight to the DVD player. Even my wife watched it with me, I guess because she could see how excited I was about it.

I loved it in 1978 on 16mm, and I loved it again in 2004 on DVD. It's at once an interesting history, attractive animation, and fun entertainment. I was also interested to see the realism in animation of planes I had learned about over the years.

The live action part was also very interesting and well worth watching, if a little on the tedious side at times, especially for my wife. It's certainly very interesting to consider how this movie may have changed the course of the war, or more precisely, this movie may have brought enough attention to the book that inspired it, and to that book's brilliant and prophetic author, to have changed the course of the war.

It was so interesting, I plan to watch it again soon -- though my wife probably won't.

I'm struggling to articulate how it feels to suddenly stumble across this title on a very well-made DVD, after not seeing it at all for 26 years and having more or less given up any serious hope of ever seeing it again. It's still almost a little hard to believe.

When I looked up this DVD title on the web, I was a little startled to find that I had bought it on the very day it was released! (May 18th, 2004)

It looks like Disney has let the earlier "Treasures Limited Edition" tins go out of print, and undoubtedly they will do the same with "On the Front Lines". If you have any interest at all in aviation history, and/or in WWII, and/or in rare Disney animation gems, then "On the Front Lines" is a must-have, just for Victory Through Air Power. (I haven't even watched most of the shorts on the DVD yet.)

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.

Disney like most other Americans in the early 1940s wanted to find some way to contribute to the war effort short of actually fighting. This film - along with the other wartime shorts on the DVD that contains it - stems from that impulse.

On one level, the film is meant to educate general audience in the scenarios of the history of flight, aerial combat and the (then) global crisis regarding the Allies vs. the Axis powers.

It does its job, entertaining when possible, affirming destruction and American/Allied dominance at critical points.

During my most recent viewing of it, I found that it almost seemed to make the case for nuclear warfare. Not outright, mind you, but through its continued emphasis of how Allied airstrikes, because of their remote points of origin, can/could not possibly inflict enough damage to Axis supply lines to shut them down. The film and its military authority Major Seversky propose that long range bombers are the answer - after which a presumably innovative animated version of just such a long range bomber is shown on screen: its long, clumsy-looking, with several large gunwales pointing out all over the plane's body. After seeing that, i could only surmise that military officials of the 1940s saw the folly in trying to build bigger and better airships to do in the Axis. Instead, per the film's rhetoric, the more logical solution seems/seemed to be: "Forget about trying to send a volley of superplanes; instead, send only one plane - but design its cargo to deliver Armageddon!"

"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.

Victory Through Air Power (1943)

*** (out of 4)

With WWII going full strength, everyone in Hollywood did what they could to bring attention and information to the screen and that includes Disney. This animated feature is pretty entertaining in its own right as we learn about the history of aviation and then go into details on how planes are playing a major role in the war.

If you've seen any of the documentaries from this era then you're really not going to learn anything new here. The "Why We Fight" series pretty much covered this stuff in much greater detail but of course the one difference is that this film is animated. The Disney crew really did a terrific job with the animation as it's up to their usual high standards. Fans of Disney will certainly enjoy the animation but WWII buffs will also like the way the documentary shows the bombings at Pearl Harbor and the animated maps on the various issues America faces going up against Japan and Germany.