Cartoon Wars

During the Hight of World War II it was assumed everyone would "do their part". Including large animation studios. World War II was a battle on many different terrains. During the peak of the war varieties of media and arts were wagging war of a different aesthetic. Propaganda films were mass produced like weapons of a mental war. Disney, a prominent animation studio was being paid heavily to manufacture propaganda films in America.

Leni Riefenstahl was an artist and film maker employed by the Germans to create visually striking propaganda films.

It was very difficult to find pieces of expressive media that did not have some sort of overt heavy handed influence of the government. There was a lot of pressure to produce material that was pro"whatever side your on" due to the dangers of being out of sync in terms of opinion.

Kenzo Masaoka, animation director, received a great deal of negative criticism and contempt from Japanese military authorities, mainly due to the fact that it was one of the only films produced during the years of the war that was NOT intended to be a propaganda piece.

Yet upon further investigation, apparently Kenzo Masaoka did indeed create this piece in response to the war times he was surrounded, however not in support of his mother country. The spider its said was intended to represent the United States, and the allied bunch, the ladybug as the children and education system of Japan, and the flower as the old government and Japanese army.

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