Merrie Melodies
03/26/2006 @ 6:00 pm
Here’s some really hilarious U.S. WW-II propaganda showing Bugs Bunny and Popeye doing their part in the Pacific against the Japanese.
You can even catch a few bars of the Japanese national anthem in the background music that plays during the Bugs Bunny sumo wrestler sequence (as the wrestler walks over to wipe off the flag painted on the tree).
Big thanks to Raymond S for the tip!
I saw one of these before. I was shocked on how un-PC it was! But when you’re fighting a war against someone, you generally don’t flatter them.
March 26th, 2006 at 9:45 pmDon’t you mean WWII propaganda?
March 26th, 2006 at 11:11 pmIt’s almost comical, one infamous bugs cartoon, called bugs nips the nips or something like that, caused a minor stir during its release on video a few years back
March 27th, 2006 at 2:14 am…. Wow unbelievable. Its pretty much just brainwashing children.
I wonder if the same type of stuff was being produced over here in the Uk and over in Japan.
Its amazing how openly racist you could be not too long ago =/
March 27th, 2006 at 2:48 amHell, even Dr. Seuss was pumping out the WWII propaganda.
http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/speccoll/dspolitic/Japan.html
March 27th, 2006 at 3:44 amInteresting link Arashi, I heard Seuss did WWII propaganda cartoons but I never actually saw the illustrations.
March 27th, 2006 at 5:38 amThey used to show this one on kids’ TV in NY in the late 60’s.
March 27th, 2006 at 6:03 amIndeed it is WW-II propaganda.
March 27th, 2006 at 10:01 amWhat’s so hilarious about this?
March 27th, 2006 at 10:16 amIt is hilarious in that there was a time it was considered quite normal to produce cartoons such as these.
I remember a conversation I had with a WW-II generation man in the States some years back. It went something like this:
“I hear you’re living in Japan.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Those Japs are some pretting good people.”
The last sentence was uttered in complete innocence and without any apparent malice, and was meant as a compliment. To this guy, “Jap” was a perfectly normal word.
This is just the way it was, on all sides, during that particular time of world history. They had world view back then that sounds pretty hilarious now.
March 27th, 2006 at 10:29 amWhat a strange thing it is that the US produced both this racism AND pc in such extremes, so that someone else from a foreign country has FORGOTTEN the US was racist.
That both existed in such close proximity superficially says nice things about America, but I suspect it really says something very nasty in our naturally occuring in our character, seeing as how both ideological stances are bonkers.
And while I suspect this says nasty things about America, I know it says nasty things about Europeans and the UK.
And it certainly bodes ill for the Europeans that they follow us in our little monomanias so perfectly.
Although in the end I suspect it’s just white people’s love of lecturing everyone: if we can’t lecture them as to the superiority of our race, we can lecture them as to why we’re so very very very bad and not superior at all and ptooie, ptooie on white people. Just so long as we can keep lecturing. Ugh.
March 27th, 2006 at 12:13 pmThe U.S. world view was hardly unique among the other countries of the world during the time cartoons such as these were produced.
March 27th, 2006 at 12:30 pmI love it. The “everyone else was doing it” excuse.
March 27th, 2006 at 4:07 pm“Although in the end I suspect it’s just white people’s love of lecturing everyone: if we can’t lecture them as to the superiority of our race, we can lecture them as to why we’re so very very very bad and not superior at all and ptooie, ptooie on white people. Just so long as we can keep lecturing. Ugh.”
Haha, that made me LOL. Funny ’cause it’s true.
March 27th, 2006 at 4:18 pmI love it. The “everyone else was doing it” excuse.
He has a point. The point is that it is useless to single out the US on doing that. You might as well replace “US” with “world”
March 27th, 2006 at 4:29 pmThanks, Ray. Of course, you are correct.
March 27th, 2006 at 5:17 pmIt wasn’t brainwashing children, Tom. Those cartoons ran in theaters showing movies for adults. The movie theater experience in those days involved an A picture, a B picture, a newsreel, and a cartoon, produced by the studio making the movies.
In fact, I have a video of Warner Bros. cartoons from that era, and many of the references are specifically to adult situations. Indeed, the brilliance of the entire Warner Brothers output over the years is that they appeal to both children and adults.
There is a disclaimer by the host in the video reminding people that attitudes were different in those days. I was surprised that it was necessary, but I see from some of the posts here that superficial attitudes, shallow thinking, and ignorance of the world before one’s birth is more common than I thought.
The same stuff was being produced *everywhere* at the time. That is how people think, unfortunately.
In fact, that is also how the PC thought police operate, too. They just use different subjects for their demonization. All for the sake of a good cause.
Which is exactly what the people in days gone by thought, too.
March 27th, 2006 at 6:35 pmInteresting to note that the Warner Bros was the first American studio to actively pursue, produce and harbor Martial Arts (Asian themed) films in the U.S. (eg. Enter the Dragon 1973) It was normal to have degrading propaganda in those days. Thank god the world is quite a bit more PC nowadays.
March 27th, 2006 at 6:49 pm. Thank god the world is quite a bit more PC nowadays.
Some might think that the PC police over did it, and now were sliding back towards the middle. Go SouthPark!
March 28th, 2006 at 3:01 amWas “Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips” even made for mainstream consumption? I thought it was war propaganda for the troops… (Which, of course, does not excuse it, but given the era, does explain much of it).
March 29th, 2006 at 12:14 amThe Un-PC Bunny
The un-PC Bugs Bunny may be a surprise to younger audiences….
March 29th, 2006 at 11:54 am“Was “Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips” even made for mainstream consumption? I thought it was war propaganda for the troops… (Which, of course, does not excuse it, but given the era, does explain much of it).”
From Wikipedia:
Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips is a Merrie Melodies animated cartoon directed by Friz Freleng, produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions, and released to theatres on April 22, 1944 by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Vitaphone Corporation.
…
Since the 1960s, Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips has become very controversial, because of its portrayal of the Japanese and Bugs’ attitude and casual violence toward them. When Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips was included on the compilation home video Bugs and Daffy: The Wartime Years in 1992, Japanese rights groups protested its distribution, and the cartoon was immediately replaced with another.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugs_Bunny_Nips_the_Nips
March 29th, 2006 at 1:58 pmAnd while I suspect this says nasty things about America, I know it says nasty things about Europeans and the UK.
And it certainly bodes ill for the Europeans that they follow us in our little monomanias so perfectly.
Although in the end I suspect it’s just white people’s love of lecturing everyone: if we can’t lecture them as to the superiority of our race, we can lecture them as to why we’re so very very very bad and not superior at all and ptooie, ptooie on white people. Just so long as we can keep lecturing. Ugh.
One can’t well criticize a national or ethnic group for holding preconceived or sterotypical views towards another national or ethnic group without holding similar views about the first group oneself.
March 30th, 2006 at 1:19 am“One can’t well criticize a national or ethnic group for holding preconceived or sterotypical views towards another national or ethnic group without holding similar views about the first group oneself”
That is the anti-reasoning of pc for ya.
March 30th, 2006 at 4:08 amBut then, I didn’t claim I was pc. I characterize and generalize left and right. And I didn’t say whites were actually racist- in terms of attitude, they’re probably the only substantially unracist people on earth. I just accused them of being talkative.
He has a point. The point is that it is useless to single out the US on doing that. You might as well replace “US” with “world”
Comment by Ray
complete drivel. the entire world was not demoning japan during WW2.
March 31st, 2006 at 8:00 amI enjoyed that.
I love Japan; they’re like, the friendliest people on Earth, their music scene totally rocks, and I’ve spent four years studying the language. Given the historical context, I think this film is entirely appropriate as satire and I found myself rooting for America.
March 31st, 2006 at 6:06 pmyeah right. and amos and andy was entirely appropriate satire in historical context, too, i guess. (i see it coming: it’s ok to demonize those you’re at “war” with, but not an ethnic group within your own culture).
April 3rd, 2006 at 2:57 pmDon’t know if it was appropriate, but there can be no question it was acceptable.
April 3rd, 2006 at 3:08 pm