But all of these cartoonists were good at their job _because_ of WW2 propaganda cartoons. US Government practically bankrolled Disney (and other cartooning groups) to ensure we had unity throughout the War.
What changed is politics. We're no longer in a World War nor a Cold War... and propaganda techniques such as this cartoon are now frowned upon.
---------
This is "good propaganda" though. I think our country needs more of it these days. But it'd be a difficult political battle to get people used to propaganda again, especially because there's no communist threat anymore for us to point to.
If we were to ask the US Government to spend $50 million bucks making a similar production cartoon today on a variety of US-subjects (imagine an up-to-date version of this cartoon on the modern Stock Market), can you imagine how many people would be pissed off?
--------
In any case, as US Government propaganda money dried up from the post-war period (1960s), the quality of cartoons dropped down. People still agreed upon the commissioning of educational cartoons for children (ex: School House Rock), but not upon educational cartoons for adults.
> Was it Hanna-Barbera and how they commoditized animation?
Hanna Barbera needed to commoditize animation to save money. With less money flowing into the industry from the post-war period (much less propaganda being made), the quality of cartoons suffered.
[1]. https://www.popsci.com/why-nasa-helped-ridley-scott-create-m...
[2]. https://www.wired.com/2009/12/americas-army-budget
[3]. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2015/11/04...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney%27s_World_War_II_p...
>> During World War II, Disney made films for every branch of the United States Armed Forces and government.[13][14] This was accomplished through the use of animated graphics by means of expediting the intelligent mobilization of servicemen and civilians for the cause of the war. Over 90% of Disney employees were devoted to the production of training and propaganda films for the government.[13] Throughout the duration of the war, Disney produced over 400,000 feet of educational war films, most at cost, which is equal to 68 hours of continuous films. In 1943 alone, 204,000 feet of film was produced.[11]
-------
This is _JUST_ the cartoon propaganda. There's also posters, commercials, movies, documentaries, etc. etc.
We don't do this today because we're no longer at a major war between world powers, and too much propaganda is probably bad for our brains and ability to think for ourselves.
It was a different time that called for different measures.
One minor quibble (which I don't think diminishes your main point at all):
> We're no longer in a World War nor a Cold War...
I don't think that's 100% correct. My impression is that PRC is waging a cold war against the U.S., but the U.S. government hasn't accepted that yet.
I'm certainly no expert on the matter, though. I'd be very grateful for any correction.
China is trying to rival us economically, and at best is aiming to maybe increase its sphere of influence out into the Pacific Ocean a bit. But back in the Cold War, Capitalists and Communists were splitting the entire world into two spheres... a communist sphere and a capitalist sphere.
China isn't trying to spread its breed of nationalism across the world. Sure, its picking up African influence and Asian influence, but not quite in the same manner as NATO or Warsaw was picking up influence back then. If the influence is "just" economic influence, I wouldn't really worry too much.
Unfortunately, there's a degree of "hot" war and saber-rattling going on that I find dangerous. Its very different from the Cold War: its entirely focused on Chinese interests and not so much a battle of ideologies around the world.
I agree that it's unlike the actual Cold War in several important ways:
- The two sides aren't engaging each other via proxy wars, e.g. Vietnam.
- The two sides haven't formed clear multi-national alliances, i.e. NATO vs. Warsaw.
Things that do strike me as similarities:
- Like the USSR, China's mood appears expansionistic. E.g., South China Sea, Taiwan, and (arguably?) Tibet.
- Like the USSR, Russia also seems expansionstic. E.g., Georgia and (maybe) Ukraine.
- Maybe less relevant, but China and Russia are to some extent authoritarian (removal of presidential term limits) and seemingly use state-sanctioned violence to suppress political opposition. So as with the Cold War, there's some degree of ideological divide between the two sides.