Der Fuhrer's Face
| Der Fuehrer's Face | |
|---|---|
| Donald Duck series | |
Original theatrical film poster
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| Directed by | Jack Kinney |
| Produced by | Walt Disney |
| Story by |
Joe Grant Dick Huemer |
| Voices by |
Clarence Nash Billy Bletcher |
| Music by | Oliver Wallace |
| Animation by |
Bob Carlson Les Clark Bill Justice Milt Neil Charles Nichols John Sibley |
| Layouts by |
Don DaGradi Andy Engman |
| Studio | Walt Disney Productions |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
| Release date(s) |
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| Color process | Technicolor |
| Running time | 8 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | Bellboy Donald |
| Followed by | The Spirit of '43 |
| "Der Fuehrer's Face" | |
|---|---|
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| Single by Spike Jones and His City Slickers | |
| Recorded | 1942 |
| Songwriter(s) | Oliver Wallace |
Der Fuehrer's Face (originally titled Donald Duck in Nutzi Land) is a 1943 American animated anti-Nazi propaganda short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released in 1943 by RKO Radio Pictures. The cartoon, which features Donald Duck in a nightmare setting working at a factory in Nazi Germany, was made in an effort to sell war bonds and is an example of American propaganda during World War II. The film was directed by Jack Kinney and written by Joe Grant and Dick Huemer from the original music by Oliver Wallace. The film is well known for Wallace's original song "Der Fuehrer's Face", which was actually released earlier by Spike Jones.
Der Fuehrer's Face won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 15th Academy Awards. It was the only Donald Duck film to receive the honor, although eight other films were also nominated. In 1994, it was voted Number 22 of "the 50 Greatest Cartoons" of all time by members of the animation field. However, because of the propagandistic nature of the short, and the depiction of Donald Duck as a Nazi (albeit a reluctant one), Disney kept the film out of general circulation after its original release. Its first home video release came in 2004 with the release of the third wave of the Walt Disney Treasures DVD sets.
A German oom-pah band—composed of Axis leaders Joseph Goebbels on trombone, Heinrich Himmler on snare drum, Hideki Tōjō on sousaphone, Hermann Göring on piccolo and Benito Mussolini on bass drum—marches noisily at four o'clock in the morning through a small town where everything is shaped like swastika, singing the virtues of the Nazi doctrine. Passing by Donald Duck's house (the features of which depict Adolf Hitler), they poke him out of bed with a bayonet to get ready for work. Here Donald then faces and "Heils" the portraits of the Führer (Adolf Hitler), the Emperor (Hirohito), and Il Duce (Mussolini), respectively.
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Wikipedia