The Insane History of Animation, Part 3: Cartoons Go to War
Censorship, propaganda and the time Donald Duck won an Oscar for making fun of a dictator.
In Part 2, animation grew up fast. Now it's the 1930s and '40s, and suddenly everyone wants to control what cartoons say: censors, governments and worried parents.
1. The Hays Code: cartoons get rules (1930s)
REAL: in 1930, Hollywood adopted the Production Code, nicknamed the Hays Code, a list of rules about what movies could show. Starting in 1934, it was strictly enforced, and cartoons had to follow it too.
What changed: - Betty Boop got a makeover. REAL: her short dress got longer and her jazzy flapper attitude got toned down. She became more of a career girl with a dog. - Less rough stuff. Cartoons had to cool the violence a bit. - Respect the rules. Characters who mocked police or authority got toned down too.
2. Cartoons go to war (1940s)
When the U.S. entered World War II in December 1941, cartoon studios went to war too.
Disney - REAL: during the war, most of Disney's work was for the U.S. government: training films, health films and morale-boosting cartoons. - REAL: in The New Spirit (1942), Donald Duck reminds Americans to pay their taxes on time to support the war. - REAL: Der Fuehrer's Face (1943) shows Donald having a nightmare that he lives under Hitler's rule. It won the Academy Award for Best Cartoon Short. It was a way of laughing at a dictator, which is one of the bravest things comedy can do.
Warner Bros. - REAL: in Any Bonds Today? (1942), Bugs Bunny sings to convince Americans to buy war bonds. - REAL: Warner made the Private Snafu cartoons (1943–1945) to train soldiers. Snafu always did everything wrong, so soldiers learned what not to do. Some were written by Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss.
A hard truth: many wartime cartoons from every studio include racist caricatures of the people America was fighting. That's part of how propaganda works: it makes the enemy look less human. It's an important thing to recognize, and a reason to watch old cartoons with a grown-up who can explain the history.
3. The Cold War and the Red Scare (late 1940s–1950s)
REAL: after the war, fear of communism swept the U.S. Some Hollywood artists, including animators, were blacklisted, meaning studios wouldn't hire them because of their political beliefs, real or suspected.
REAL: some cartoons were made to promote American business and warn against communism, like Make Mine Freedom (1948).
4. "Too violent!" (1960s–1970s)
REAL: by the late 1960s, parents' groups pushed back hard against violent TV cartoons. Networks toned down action shows.
REAL: one result was Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (1969): a show where kids solve mysteries instead of fighting. The monster is always just a guy in a mask.
5. Cartoons that are "good for you" (1970s–1980s)
REAL: Schoolhouse Rock! (1973) taught kids grammar, math and how a bill becomes a law, with catchy songs that people still sing today.
Lots of shows started adding a lesson at the end of every episode. Some were great. Some… really wanted you to brush your teeth.
6. The '90s: the rules loosen
By the 1990s, cartoons got wild again. Animaniacs (1993) brought back the rubber-hose chaos of 1940s Looney Tunes. Networks launched whole channels of cartoons, and prime-time cartoons for grown-ups came back to TV.
The censorship era was ending, and animation was about to get very, very weird. (That's Part 4.)
What we learned
The Hays Code put rules on cartoons.
Donald Duck and Bugs Bunny joined the war effort.
Propaganda can make heroes, and can be cruel to enemies.
Parents' complaints helped create Scooby-Doo.
Educational cartoons gave us Schoolhouse Rock!
Up next
Part 4: The Chaos Era. The 1990s cartoons that broke all the rules.
New episodes drop on YouTube first. Subscribe to Mr. Bray Labs so you never miss one.
