Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Peace on Earth (1939) & Good Will To Men (1955) animated shorts

I came across these oddities while poking around YouTube for some Christmas animation from the 1930's. Never before had I heard or seen anything concerning this pair of anti-war Christmas cartoons. Both tell the story of a post-apocalyptic world in which humans have killed themselves off, leaving only cute talking animals to populate the Earth. The 1955 version is a near replica, with only a final nuclear assault replacing the final rifle shoot out of the 1939 version. As mhirtes12 states in the text accompanying the post on YouTube, it's a big difference to see Hanna-Barbera creating something of nearing Disney quality in their 1955 remake. The Hanna-Barbera I know (and sometimes still enjoy) from 1960's and 70's shows I viewed in reruns or first runs (when Saturday mornings meant big fun and cartoon time) is a more an assembly line product than what is on display here. Check 'em out and let me know what you think...


Peace on Earth (1939)





Good Will To Men (1955)


4 comments:

  1. Both are great & have terrific animation ~ excellent finds!

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  2. Glad you enjoyed 'em. Have to say I'm partial to the 1939 version with that lush, fluid style of animation.

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  3. I'm glad you found them. I love both of these. Thanks for posting them. I love the animation of this time period.

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  4. Both are note worthy examples of classic American animation. Thanks for letting me know you appreciated 'em and their old school style.

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