mouse robot archie wanted to take over the world.
mouse robot archie wanted to take over the world.
mouse who wants to take over the world?
robot archie
Na
Na
some films were more potent with propagandistic symbolism than others. "fifth column mouse" is a cartoon that through childlike humor and political undertones depicted a possible outcome of world war ii. the film begins with a bunch of mice playing and singing a song about how they never worry. one mouse notices a cat looking in through a window, but is calmed when another mouse tells him that the cat cannot get inside. the cat however, bursts in through the front door alerting a mouse that wears a world war ii style air raid warden helmet and screams, “lights out,” promptly turning off the main light. the phrase, 'lights out,' was a popular saying during the war, especially in major cities to encourage people to turn off their lights to hinder targeting by potential enemy bombers. the same mouse who said the cat could not get inside, ends up getting caught by the cat. the cat tells him that he will not kill him, but will give him cheese if the mouse follows the cat's instructions. during the dialogue between the two, the cat's smile resembles the tojo bucktooth grin and it speaks with a japanese accent. near the end, the cat screams “now get going!” and the mouse jumps to attention and gives the infamous nazi salute. the scene cuts to the biddable mouse, now an agent of influence, telling the other mice that the cat is here to “save us and not to enslave us,” “don’t be naughty mice, but appease him” so “hurry and sign a truce.” this message of appeasement and signing a truce would have been all too familiar to the adults in the theaters who were probably with their children. the next clip is of the cat lounging on pillows with multiple mice tending to its every need. however, when the cat reveals that he wants to eat a mouse they all scatter. inside their hole, a new mouse is encouraging the others to be strong and fight the cat. the mice are then shown marching in step with hardy, confident grins on their faces with “we did it before and we can do it again” by robert merrill playing in the background. amidst the construction of a secret weapon, a poster of a mouse with a rifle is shown with the bold words “for victory: buy bonds and stamps.” the mice have built a mechanical dog that chases the cat out of the house. before he leaves though a mouse skins the cat with an electric razor, but leaves three short dots and a long streak of fur on his back. in morse code, the letter "v" is produced through dot-dot-dot-dash. as depicted in many pictures but made popular by winston churchill, the “v” for victory sign was a popular symbol of encouragement for the allies. the cartoon ends with the mice singing, “we did it before, we did it again!”
world war ii and american animation