The art of war began to dramatically change in the 20th century. An interesting element to WW2, which people are often unaware, is the role of cartoon propaganda. Characters like Bugs, Daffy and other favorites were placed into "global situations" to get Americans on board with the war effort.
For this week's blog, watch a famously controversial cartoon called "Tokio Jokio".
Also, read this article that describes the role of cartoons as propaganda.
For the comment section...
1) Write 100 words on your observations from the cartoon. Did anything surprise/shock you? Why might Tokio Jokio be considered controversial?
2) Why do you think Warner Brothers and other entertainment companies would spend time, in the early 1940s, creating war propaganda? (100 words)
My observation on the cartoon. I found the cartoon to be weird at first with a lot of the things it did but as it went through the war and what happened it started to make more sense to me. My favorite part of it was probably the boat with the broom playing minesweeper which was towards the end of it. I also found the way they shot the airplanes pretty cool even though it was to attack Pearl Harbor. I found it to be a little controversial with the characters they used in it because they seemed to be not the smartest and the guy looked like he was also Japanese. (112)
ReplyDeleteI believe some of the obvious things why people created propaganda like the Warner brothers was it got the word out to the people of what happened or is going on whether it is good or bad. They also did it because not a lot of people spoke the same language and not a lot of people could read so the pictures helped both of those messages get across to the people. In conclusion the propaganda posters helped influence people on both sides of the arguments over tham and were very helpful for those who could not read or write or speak are languages. (104)
So the video, was a little weird and really hard to follow but I think it described what happened up to the point of Pearl Harbor. It showed A Japanese general sending a post card to Adolf Hitler saying wish you were here. I guess that means that Japan wanted to Side with Germany. It also showed the airplanes flying to bomb Pearl Harbor. This video might be controversial because it talked a lot about ww2 and it depicted a lot of Japanese characters. Which might have caused racial tension. It talked about how they launched airplanes using the slingshot method.(102)
ReplyDeleteTo make money and also to show the people of America and people not in war what was going on in the war. So that people would be able to have an idea of what was going on in the other countries. Also so that these companies would become major names in america. The main reason I think they would have made these is to give some comedy to the public so that it would make America feel better that they were not fighting at all. So this is why I think that they made these war cartoons.200
“Tokio Jokio” is a 1943 wartime cartoon that’s basically an anti-Japanese propaganda vehicle, and is considered to be one of the most racist cartoons Warner Brothers ever made. The majoirty of the jokes that were made represented the Japanese as incompetent and specifically tried to show that they were talking about the Japanese.Civilian defense shows an aircraft spotter painting spots on an aircrafts and a fire prevention HQ that had already burned down. Kitchen Hints shows the construction of a sandwich from bread and meat ration cards used during that time. Poisonalities in the News shows Yamamotot walking on stilts and boasting of plans for the White House, but there's a room that he doesn’t know about with an electric chair waiting for him. There was a submarine launched 3 weeks ahead of schedule, but still being built. A plane’s new landing gear is a little man on a tricycle. All in all this cartoon seems to be very racist, but i'm surprised to hear that people back then thought that too. Not only did they hate the Japanese at the time, the way they treated African Americans was far worse but they saw nothing wrong with that. But yet, this is an issue to them? It seems sort of hypocritical.(212) (if they thought these cartoons were racist at the time it was hard to tell if people did back then or not.)
ReplyDeleteI think ar propaganda was a huge deal because it was knowledge at the time. In the article they said, “cartoons went from entertaining the young to educating adults.” This makes sense. At the time they didn’t have nearly the capability that we do today but noneless and good sources for the news. They had radio’s but that was it. Cartoons gave a sense of, “oh this is what's happening in the war” Although it may have not been 100% accuracte or on the spot, cartoons gave a sense of what was going on and almost a peace of mind to some you could say because it was teaching them what was going on around the world, because how else are they suppose to know? (125)
The cartoon “Tokio Jokio” could be considered extremely controversial for many reasons. For instance the first words the film says is “It is a typical example of vicious Japon Nazi propaganda.” As the film continues the narrator has a Japanese accent which could also be taken as controversial. This film is a good example of how Americans perceived the Japanese at the time of World War II. Although this was filmed a long time ago when times were different I feel that people nowadays would still get upset over the comments made throughout this video. But to answer the question yes I feel this video is extremely controversial.(100)
ReplyDeleteI think the Warner Bros. and other entertainment companies would spend their time making videos on the Japanese propaganda and war propaganda simply because it was what was relevant during the time. World War II was a major piece of American also many other countries history. And throughout all the depression and the distress that World War II caused on the citizens that were affected by it some turned it into humor which is why we have cartoons and funny videos about the events.(100
Propaganda is used to influence the audience based on the point of view of the creator of the propaganda. This is the case with the cartoon, “Tokio Jokio.” Tokio Jokio is a play on words. Tokyo is a city in Japan, and the slang word, Jokio, is a way to make fun of the Japanese people. The propaganda cartoon is racist and was a way to influence the thoughts of the American people against the Japanese during World War II. Propaganda like this cartoon was used as a political weapon. Most of the jokes focus on showing the Japanese as unattractive, stupid and weak. (104)
ReplyDeleteWarner Brothers’ Studios played an important role in wartime films. They produced animated cartoons that were used to boost morale and to offer an escape for those watching. The short films were satire aimed at making fun of the wartime enemy. The main characters of the cartoons were shown aggravating and overcoming the enemy. The cartoons allowed Americans to feel the weight of their anger through humor. War Bonds were debt securities issued by the government to finance military operations. Warner Brother’s encouraged the purchase of war bonds in their animated films. The characters in these films either directly or indirectly did their part by spending less and using their money to buy war savings certificates. (116)
The political cartoon could be preserved as racist because in the cartoon it makes fun of japan and their allies. Back then the cartoon was only scene by mostly americans but now the cartoon can be viewed by all types of nationalities. The cartoon also pokes fun at their technology that they used during the war. The cartoon also pokes fun at the accent and facial features of the japanese. During the first scene of the cartoon they make fun of the different jobs of different people during the war. The video also shows the “fire prevention center” as hiroshima poking fun at the fact that we wiped them out. (116)
ReplyDeleteWarner brothers probably created these cartoons to spread the word since during this time they were one of the only animation companies and the fact that were one of the only ones meant that they were watched by millions of americans so they could see the cartoons and somewhat understand what was going on during the war but also have a good laugh at the comedy of it and since they were our enemy back then many americans during this time were also racist towards the japanese so the fact that the cartoon made fun of their culture and looks it made it even more funny. (103)
1:First thing that stuck out to me was how they drew the characters in the cartoon with the slanted eyes and their gigantic overbite. Not to mention their rendition of a person who speaks Japanese trying to pronounce English words. I couldn’t tell if the announcer was supposed to be German or Japanese, still pretty racist though. I don’t know if any of the actions they were doing were necessary stereotypical of the Japanese but it seemed like to me they were basically just calling them dumb instead of actually being racist with the things they do like eating dogs or something like that.(104)
ReplyDelete2:I think warner brothers were trying to make the axis powers look more stupid and goofy so that way it would make the Americans think that way of them and in turn not be scared of the or take them as a threat. This would mean that more people would be inclined and encouraged to join the military too because they would see them as easy to beat. Companies would spend a lot more time on doing this so that they could reach a wider audience of people who would see it too help spread the narrative of the war efforts and keep the fear of the people down.(109)
Some observations I made from the cartoon Tokyo Jokio is that the creators were methodical in their belittling of japan. Whereas , they took the time to show the various parts of japans military and social infrastructure while each time pointing out or portraying something ethnically insensitive. I also found their use of racial based humor interesting as it is diffrent then that of today’s. I was reminded of the Hiroshima joke that was made after reading guffies comment which made me reevaluate the significance of its inclusion. Which I found pretty daring Becuase today bragging about a nuclear genocide would be considered Nazi-like although it seems as though the application of the that term applies to what the targeted ethnicity is which was a really enlightening experience that watching this cartoon brought up for me.135
ReplyDeleteI think that Warner Brothers and other entertainment companies would spend time, in the early 1940s, creating war propaganda due to the society of the time. Which is of course an all encompassing answer due to the various reasons for its existence. Such as the one feustured in the article which was to sell war bonds. Which was obviously done due to the audience that the cartoons pandered to which was almost all America since almost all were heavily invested in the war thus creating the demand for more media pertaining war. Which so happened to be a great way to lower the seeming threat of japan in order to raise its peers national pride and perception of the cartoon. Which ultimately leads to more military volunteers and war bonds. 130
First post: Kyle
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