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A farmer carrying his pitchfork and vegetables with the caption, 'dig on for victory' emphasizing the importance of agriculture in the outcome of the war.

Food Will Win the War (1942) is a short animated film produced by Walt Disney Studios shortly after America’s declared War on the Axis. It was one of a series of animated films produced by Disney during the war as part of a propaganda campaign. The animation was produced on order of the Department of Agriculture, first and foremost to educate about the importance of American agriculture in the war effort and also, to offset fears and panic of American’s who thought too many supplies were being sent overseas. The film was a morale boosting production, in the hope of improving public mood and opinion about sacrifice for the war effort.

Cast

Directed by: Hamilton Luske Cast: Fred Shields – Narrator (Voice)

Plot

The plot provides ‘unlikely’ and bizarre examples to express the importance of farming. It begins with a description of the world at ruin and explains the solution to those around the world that American agriculture was a beacon of hope in the darkest hour, thus it was important that agricultural production continued to grow. The bizarre examples of impressive production emphasised this: Enough bread to build several pyramids, which if built a mile apart would reach the Suez Canal; enough corn to stretch from London to the Black Sea. A ‘little girl’ on an ‘American’ diet is shown outweighing a warship, emphasising her size; reiterating the point that there is enough food in America to send ¼ of production abroad. The animation finished with a sense of patriotism and pride. Explaining that the war is a fight to maintain the American values that are so highly prized. ‘Food for freedom’ underpins the whole ideology of the animation. American agriculture will win the Allies the war, and consequently, American freedom will not perish under the Nazi dictatorship.

Animation Techniques

The film uses a series of techniques to enhance the message that it was trying to send to those watching. Firstly, the animation itself, by using Disney the film was made both entertaining and informative. The sense of humor which emerges from the film depicts the defeat of the Axis through humorous examples of agricultural production. Throughout the war it was important to depict the opposition as humorous, as well as being weak to improve public morale at home. Other techniques are also involved in the film, most noticeably the music being played in the background. A militaristic tone offers a sense of patriotism to the watcher and increases the patriotic message within the whole film. Additionally, the use of contrasting colours is extremely effective in representing America as the savior to the Allied war effort. The film begins with a dark and destructive world with negative imagery to match. However, a sudden change reveals a bright colourful screen representing the glimmer of hope that American agriculture offers the war effort. These simple yet effective techniques make the message clearer about the importance behind a patriotic war effort and the continuous production of American agriculture.

Background

America entered World War 2 on 8th December 1941, after a Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. Many American’s were reluctant to enter another European war, and preferred a non-interventionist policy towards it. However, the devastating and unprovoked attack on Pearl Harbour, which was described by Franklin Roosevelt as a date that will live in infamy, changed public opinion.

Disney

Upon America’s entrance into the war, Disney was contracted to produce propaganda pieces to gain support for the war and aid recruitment. This was often done through the use of Anti-Nazi propaganda – public opinion polls at the time showed that despite America’s anti-war approach, 72% of people preferred the defeat of the Nazi’s rather than no war and the resulting defeat of the Allies. (CITATION) By 1942, government departments began their own projects with Disney to increase support for the War effort and improve morale on the Home front. The Department for Agriculture produced ‘Food will Win the War’. The animation was made very quickly with little expense, and minimal animation involved. However, with morale being low fast production was imperative. Furthermore, agriculture was not the primary topic for propaganda, it was to provide an explanation as to why America was fighting a war in Europe.

American Economy

America supplied Great Britain and other allies in the war through the Lend-lease 1941, sending roughly $44 million of materials abroad. However America would also need to supply its own army. The expectation of America to supply goods abroad through the lend lease agreement, made those on the home front concerned about possible shortages. The fears were unfounded, American agricultural produced a surplus of goods. Figures show that exports of domestic products quadrupled from 1935 to 1945, demonstrating the continuous growth of output and production. Furthermore, from 1941 to 1945, America’s GDP alone was higher than the total Axis GDP, emphasising the strength of the American economy as a whole and its importance to the war effort. Joseph Stalin during the Tehran conference, 1943, explained ‘without American production the United Nations (Originally named the allies of World War Two, named the United nations after the 1941 Arcadia conference) could never have won the war. This underpins the importance of American production behind the victory of the allies, a message clearly represented within the film.

German Economy

In contrast, German agricultural was reliant upon external alliances throughout the war. Britain’s blockade of German naval bases seriously restricted Germany from world markets. In the early war years Germany had a surplus amount of grain and raw materials which had been supplied by the USSR, their declaration of war on the USSR in 1941 halted this process. Expectedly, this resulted in substantial grain shortages both at home and abroad. The shortages were made worse in April 1942, when poor harvests from previous years and a lack of supplies from abroad resulted in rations being cut, ‘this delivered a potentially damaging blow to the morale of the civilian population’. Agricultural production and sufficient supplies were key for morale, on the home front and on the front line. This issue is explored rather comically in this movie. The idea was clever, however the message could have been depicted much easier.

Labor Force

Conscription in both Germany and America by 1942 resulted in a shortage of labor. Both women and children were drafted onto the farms as laborers to help maintain production levels. As Russell Buchanan says, 'Women and children being drafted on to farms was one essential factor for agriculture not to drop below the adequate level'. Alternatively, by 1939 women made up 37.4% of the total labor force in Germany. However, due to a sense of grievance through lower pay and long hours resulting in the neglect of families, women's labor did not increase throughout the war. The Nazi party made numerous attempts to increase the size of women's labor through patriotic propaganda, however they were unsuccessful. Adolf Hitler was reluctant to conscript women to Labor therefore alternatives had to be considered.

Year	No of Women Workers
1940	5689
1941	5369
1942	5673
1943	5665
1944	5694

Table showing the stagnant number of women workers in Germany from 1940 - 1944. Instead the Nazi's incorporated Polish labor for agricultural work and after the defeat of France in 1940, one million French POW's (Prisoners of War) were drafted into German agriculture.

Propaganda

In the Second World War propaganda had a key role for both the Allies and the Axis powers. Both were aware of the affect that propaganda could have on the war effort, especially on the home front where it would boost morale. ‘The Second World War witnessed the greatest propaganda battle in the history of warfare – All participants involved in the conflict used propaganda like never before. All sides in the conflict were aware of the importance of propaganda to the war effort. The struggle for hearts and minds of belligerent societies intensified unlike ever before. Leaders realised it was important to censor out any negative propaganda that may affect public morale while at the same time ensuring mood was positive on the home front . Propaganda was used in a variety of methods however, the most prominent became animations, especially within America. ‘The motion picture industry would become the most powerful propaganda tool, whether it tries to or not’ – Franklin D. Roosevelt. America utilised the motion picture best. Disney Studio’s produced 62,000 metres of film, more than five times of that produced in times of peace. This is evidence of how vast America’s propaganda campaign was. They identified five areas as needing priority for propaganda -

1. Explanation of why Americans were fighting.
2. Portray US and their people.
3. Encourage work and production.
4. Boost morale on the home front.
5. Depict the heroics of the Armed forces.

Two of the five areas identified are clearly represented in ‘Food Will Win the War’ – Boosting morale and encouraging work and production. Phillip Taylor believes that the great achievement of American wartime propaganda was its contribution to boosting U.S and Allied morale.

Purpose

Most propaganda is politicised, an engineering tool for America during the Second World War. David Culbert regarded the propaganda as ‘Social Engineering’, influencing popular attitudes amongst the masses through media to manufacture social solidarity. This was the purpose of the film, produce an animation that will influence popular attitudes – supporting production for the war effort, and enabling American’s to understand that production levels were high enough to avoid starvation at home. Lindley Fraser outlines what she believes are the key principles behind a successful propaganda campaign. ‘Home Propaganda in War time relies upon patriotism, family love, hatred and fear of the enemy, confidence in ultimate victory, and the sense of courage and maybe even adventure’

Morale Booster:

The animation is a morale boosting piece. The depiction that production was stretched, but Americans maintaining social solidarity and utilising goods was a necessity. The Allies needed Americans to persist with their efforts on the home front. ‘Hang on, we will win if you pitch in’– if the American people continued high levels of production, a successful war effort would emerge. Lindley Fraser explains that America succeeded specifically in this, providing the home front with a vigorous and enthusiastic picture of the importance of their war effort. Adolf Hitler was aware of America’s mass production and for this reason was anxious about American intervention. Subsequently, he attempted to halt American shipping with German U-Boats. Submarines did cause a decline in American shipping. However, this was not influential enough to decrease the effect of American production in the outcome of the war. This is evidence of how formidable and influential American production was.

Reassurance:

The animation also acted as a reassurance to American people. Many were under the assumption that all supplies were being sent abroad. The examples the animation gives, such as a giant egg covering all of America and Canada, or vegetables covering the wall of China, exaggerate American production. This use of hyperbole undermined worries at home.

Importance of Agriculture:

The animation stressed the importance of American agriculture. The title emphasised this point clearly: ‘Food will win the War’. General Wickard, secretary of Agriculture was most aware of the importance of agriculture, as he explained that America would need to feed a minimum of 10 million Britons. Therefore it was important for production to continue to grow, as well as exports. Figures show that exports of domestic products quadrupled from 1935 to 1945, demonstrating the continuous growth of output and production. The animation was produced in 1942, the same time in which there were labour shortages - this was also warning Americans of possible hardship and long hours from those unknown to it to in order to maintain required levels of productivity; without adequate farmers the war effort would suffer. Women and children were drafted in to farms to maintain production levels during the labour shortages. The animation depicts farmers as being crucial to the war effort, and its eventual victory. It was the agricultural production of America that fuelled the allies in order to overpower the enemy