Education For Death
| Education for Death | |
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| Directed by | Clyde Geronimi |
| Produced by | Walt Disney |
| Written by | Joe Grant |
| Based on |
Education for Death: The Making of the Nazi by Gregor Ziemer |
| Narrated by | Art Smith |
| Music by | Oliver Wallace |
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| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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10 minutes |
| Country | United States |
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Education for Death: The Making of the Nazi is an animated propaganda short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released on January 15, 1943, by RKO Radio Pictures, directed by Clyde Geronimi and principally animated by Ward Kimball. The short is based on the non-fiction book of the same name by American author Gregor Ziemer.
The film features the story of Hans, a boy born and raised in Nazi Germany, who is bred to become a merciless soldier.
At the beginning of the film, a German couple proves to a Nazi supreme judge that they are of pure Aryan blood and agree to give their son, whom they name Hans at the judge's approval, into the service of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. They are given a copy of Mein Kampf by the judge as a reward for their service to Hitler; their passport contains spaces for 12 more children (a hint that the couple is expected to produce a large family for the Fatherland).
This is followed by the only extended comical section of the cartoon, the tone of which is very light compared to the rest of the film. The audience is told that as Hans grows up, he hears a distorted version of Sleeping Beauty depicting Hitler as the knight in shining armor rescuing Sleeping Beauty, an obese Valkyrie representing Germany, from a wicked witch (who may be Maleficent) representing democracy. (The narrator sarcastically comments that "the moral of this story seems to be that Hitler got Germany on her feet, climbed onto the saddle, and took her for a ride.") Thanks to this kind of distorted children's story, Hans becomes fascinated with Hitler as he and the rest of the younger members of the Hitler Youth give the Hitler salute to a portrait of Hitler dressed as a knight.
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Wikipedia