Friday A/V Club: FDR, Cartoon Character

Franklin Roosevelt meets Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

Universal Pictures

Confidence (1933) begins as many early-'30s cartoons do, with a bunch of animals dancing in a farmyard. When the dancing's done, they get to work, laying eggs and so forth. And then the Depression starts, as symbolized by a skull-faced figure in a cloak that says DEPRESSION flying around and terrorizing everyone. The hens won't lay, there's a run on a bank, the stock market crashes, and cute little Oswald the Rabbit flies to Washington, D.C., to meet with President Franklin Roosevelt, who delivers a stirring song about confidence.

Two things you might notice about this version of FDR:

1. He can walk.
2. He has Hitler hair. Or at least it looks a lot more like Hitler hair than FDR hair.

Oswald fills up a syringe from the president's personal barrel full of confidence, returns home, and marches around the farm, restoring prosperity by giving everyone shots. A merry song plays on the soundtrack, featuring lyrics like New day coming/for worker and drone! And then the barnyard starts dancing again. The end. Thank you, Mr. President!

Enjoy:

(Thanks to Joel Schlosberg for passing this one along. For past editions of the Friday A/V Club, go here.)

Comments

[Bardas Phocas]

Propaganda is a hellava drug.

[MJGreen]

featuring lyrics like New day coming/for worker and drone!

Well, that's close enough to justify posting this classic.

And why do farm animals have a bank?

[SusanM]

"Disney promotes drug use!!1!"

[Careless]

That was Universal. Get your libel straight.

[Fist of Etiquette]

You know who else had Hitler hair?

[WTF]

Charlie Chaplin?

No, wait, that was the mustache.

[Fist of Etiquette]

This guy?

[trshmnster the terrible]

Don't mock der purrer!

[Dweebston]

This teapot?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Ich bin ein kleine Teapot, short und stout
I brew tea zat is fit for a Kraut

[creech]

Liked how the cartoon had "Dixie" playing when Oswald headed off to see FDR. Lost Causers? Implication secession was right? Or just mindless music to go with mindless b.s. propaganda?

[Vulgar Madman]

Back then democrats were proud of the association, now they will tell you that Lincoln was a democrat.

[WTF]

FDR freed the slaves.

[jmomls]

Washington DC is south of the Mason-Dixon line, oddly enough.

[Fist of Etiquette]

And then the Depression starts, as symbolized by a skull-faced figure in a cloak that says DEPRESSION...

Needs more labels. And what kind of animation is that at the 2:40 mark? It's positively Futurama-esque.

[Robert]

The turning globe is not animation (except to the extent all movies are), but a 3-D model shot with most of it in soft focus close to the camera, the focal plane being at the far end of it.

The rabbit looks like Mickey Mouse because it was originally Disney's character. With the mouse, he was ripping off his own creation that'd passed into Lantz's control.

[Robert]

I was imprecise writing this. The turning globe is a 3-D object rather than a drawing, but its motion is synchronized to the hand-drawn frames. So it's not run by a free-turning motor, but a mechanism that allows segments of a turn to match with animation cels or drawings shot in the background or foreground.

[antisocial-ist]

If Keynes were never born we would have to make him up. No fundamental flaws in central banking or government trying to control the economy, just a lack of confidence. If we all believe and clap real loud tinkerbell will come back to life and we'll all be rich. The same people who accuse others of being unscientific in their approach to economics literally believe the economy is driven by animal spirits for fuck sake.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"animal spirits"

Good catch.

[LarryA]

I think it's more, "It's a law of economics. We'll just amend it."

[Citizen Nothing]

Things were so much better back in those good ol' days!

[Rich]

Innocent times. Oswald used the same needle on everyone.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Stimulus for the pharmaceutical industry!

[DK]

Adjusted for inflation, what would that barrel of confidence be?

[antisocial-ist]

They call it QE now.

[The Other Kevin]

I recently read a biography of Walt Disney. I vaguely remember this being mentioned. These shorts were sold through a distributor to theaters, and they were played before the feature. So although it does come off as propaganda, it was created as a product that theaters would want to run.

[Bones]

Well, sure. If people buy into the propaganda they'll be more willing to spend money at the movies. Whether they gain any actual success is irrelevant to the movie house.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"Mr. President, there's a Mr. Oswald to see you" has a different connotation today.

[BigT]

Hillary's campaign theme song: "Harpy Days Are Here Again!"

[BigT]

The recent Ken Burns historical propaganda series on the Rooooosevelts was vomit-enducing puffery. I'm sure it was honey to the proggo-fascists.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Much of the footage was Ordinary People listening to the radio, hanging on FDR's every word, or top-hatted capitalists conspiring against him or Teddy.

[ant1sthenes]

You know who else wrote a work about a bunch of animals on a farm as a metaphor for left-wing socioeconomic policies?

[Loki]

Enjoy:

If by "enjoy" you mean "throw up in your mouth" then consider it done.

[Paul.]

By the way, if this film had been made today, it'd be considered an in-kind contribution. Just sayin'.

[Paul.]

There's so many unintentionally funny things in this propaganda piece. Apparently, everyone had wheelbarrows full of cash, they just didn't want to keep it in the bank.

[Bryan C]

See hoarders. Also, wreckers.

[Robert]

What makes you think the humor was unintentional?

[Bryan C]

I do like cartoon FDR's rictus grin and bulging eyes. Liquid Confidence is a delicate blend of methanol distilled using only the finest car radiators.

[Invisible Finger]

Is that the same year the propaganda song "We're In The Money was a hit?

[jmomls]

FDR's hair looks more like Wendell Willke's hair, at least in the screen shot included. NO way I'm watching the whole thing to see if it morphs into that proto-skater 'do that AH had.