Victory Through Air Power (1943)

Directors:

Perce Pearce
James Algar

Writers:

Alexander de Seversky (book)
Perce Pearce (story)

Release Date:

17 July 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Animation | History | War

Tagline:

There's a Thrill in the Air!

Plot:

An animated documentary promoting of the soundness of strategic aerial bombing in World War II.

Plot Keywords:

Propaganda | Aviation | WWII | Submarine | Military Science

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win

Cast

Alexander de Seversky	...	Himself (as Major Alexander P. de Seversky)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Art Baker	...	Narrator (voice)
Billy Mitchell	...	Himself (archive footage)

Runtime:

70 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:U (1943) | Sweden:(Banned) (1944)

Company:

Walt Disney Pictures

Trivia:

After seeing the movie (at Winston Churchill's urging), Franklin Delano Roosevelt finally committed to a full strategic air campaign against Germany.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The film claims the German's used air power to break through the Maginot line to conquer France. In reality, the German forces avoided directly engaging the Line and instead completely circumvented it.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Billy Mitchell: Today, a war is very different than the last European war was. Now air power is the dominant feature of military operations. Air power can fly directly to the vital centers of an opposing state and neutralize them. It can destroy the cities, it can wreck the aqueducts, it can knock out the lines of communication, it can destroy the food supplies, and make the people helpless to resist.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Your Friend the Rat (2007) (V)

Awesome

I just watched this feature last night from my copy of "Disney Treasures: On the Front Lines," which is an excellent set with many cartoon shorts, educational films, and propaganda films that are unusual of Disney, but nonetheless retain the same feel as the ordinary Disney short.

Being a pacifist, I think that all people should try to understand warfare for what it is, but try to avoid jumping into war until it is absolutely necessary. WWII was indeed a necessary war to fight, and the film, though not specifically aimed to do so, makes this point very clear.

First, before getting directly into the battles, the film educates us on the history of flight. With cartoon humour and sight gags it comes off very entertaining.

Then, the film is turned over to Alexander de Seversky, author of the book on which the film is based. De Seversky makes a valid point that the war should be fought with an enlarged military air force as opposed to naval and land based tactics. He is made to be very informative and enjoyable to watch against the animated maps and diagrams created by Disney's finest animators.

Eerily, there is a link to the 9/11 happening in the idea de Seversky expresses that air power removes the lines between civilians and soldiers and puts the lives of any of us at risk. It is fortunate that he had not lived to see this sad day.