America at War - 24 Frames a Second
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America at War - 24 Frames a
Second
Rhett Wickham reflects on VICTORY THROUGH AIR POWER, and talks with animation
historian Jerry Beck about the upcoming Los Angeles screening of this seldom
seen classic Disney feature
Hard as it is to fathom Michael Eisner green-lighting a feature animated film just out of civic or patriotic pride, it is even more difficult to understand how Walt Disney convinced his brother, and the Bank of America, that it was okay to do so in 1942 when Walt produced VICTORY THROUGH AIR POWER.
The January 1, 1943 edition of VARIETY wrote:
“Historically, albeit kaleidoscopically, Disney and Major Alexander P. de Seversky trace the progress of aviation in 65 snappy minutes, a combination of super-animation, all in color, plus Technicolored photography with the major himself participating.�?
“Disney and his battalion of artists, animators and backgrounders have not permitted the seriousness of the theme to completely dwarf their humor. There are the usual imaginative complement of Disneyisms in his cartoonics, and an excellent musical score to point it up.�?
The studio had just come back to work after a bitter labor dispute and lengthy strike, and they were practically hemorrhaging money; resulting in a debt of close to $4 Million. Keep in mind that that’s just less than half of the value of company’s assets at the time they went public.
Yet, Roy O. Disney remembered VICTORY thusly: “As a motion picture for the theatre it was a big flop. We lost most of our money on that picture, but we did it as a patriotic gesture.�? According to Bob Thomas’s 1998 biography of Roy O. Disney, Building a Company, Roy had told Walt he could spend no more than $400,000 to $450,000 per picture. (DUMBO had cost just over $800,000 to make) VICTORY THROUGH AIR POWER cost the studio $436,000 to make at a time when a hit was practically required. So, exactly why would they have taken such a gamble?
America at War in 1943 was vastly different than America at War in 2003. For one thing, the press spoke for the public (whether accurately or not) and that voice was clear and unopposed. The closest most of us have come to this kind of unified patriotic sentiment was in the days immediately following the attacks of September 11, 2001. Where the effects of 9-11 were diluted within weeks, if not days, the effects of World War II grew stronger and were longer lasting, standing nearly unopposed in the press as well as in public debate well after the war was over. Disney’s decision to make a feature length film version of the (then) somewhat controversial book by
Major Alexander P. de Seversky would be the equivalent today of the studio making a film version of Kenneth Pollack’s best-selling THE THREATENING STORM. It is unlikely that a film of Pollack’s book would be met with such high regard, and without opposition from a cynical press or a more discerning and demanding public. But to have opposed the sentiments or purpose or the content of VICTORY THROUGH AIR POWER in 1943 would have practically been treason.I suspect that somewhere between both Walt and Roy’s patriotism was a deep concern for freeing up their lucrative foreign markets. I don’t say that to be cynical and I don’t doubt the sincerity of either man’s allegiance to his country. Still, it’s worth considering that VICTORY THROUGH AIR POWER was both an act of passionate patriotism and a calculated and bold attempt to influence policy and popular opinion in hopes that a quicker end to the war would save an ailing company.
This is only part of what makes the wide re-release of this film (on the Walt Disney Treasures On the Font Lines coming this December) worth getting excited about. Whether seeing it again or for the very first time, putting this film in context of the time in which it was made and shown opens up a wide array of fascinating questions about the man behind the mouse and a Hollywood that went to war along with the rest of America.
The December release date for the DVD is still some time off, but Southern California residents (or anyone who can make the trek, for that matter) will have a rare and worthwhile opportunity to screen this long absent curiosity almost two months beforehand, and as it was meant to be seen - in a theatre on a big screen. On Wednesday, October 22, 2003, at eight o’clock in the evening, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will show VICTORY THROUGH AIR POWER, along with REASON & EMOTION (1943) OUT OF THE FRYING PAN INTO THE FIRING LINE (1942) and three other non-Disney war time shorts as part of an evening billed as ANIMATION AT WAR. Hosted by animation historian and author Jerry Beck, it promises to be a film-buff’s buffet of rare and glorious 35 millimeter perfection! Plus, later in this article I’ll tell you how LaughingPlace.com readers, exclusively, can win two free tickets to this event!