Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) It's a common opinion that all kinds of propaganda movies should be banned altogether and not made accessible to the public. This 8-minute Donald Duck short film is the perfect example of why that would be a huge mistake. These kind of films are often a great way to understand historical context from times long gone and are also a fascinating watch in order to witness how they tried to and often succeeded to manipulate the people. "Der Fuehrer's Face" is possibly the most famous political cartoon from World War II. The only other one that may reach the same status is MGM's Blitz Wolf from the same year. "Der Fuehrer's Face" BTW. also won the Oscar over that one in a year where it was the only Disney entry in the animated short category, a rather unusual occurrence as Disney occasionally took 4 of the 5 spots with their films.In any case, the film is packed with a few subtle and very many not-so-subtle Nazi symbolisms and metaphors, like the windmill or Donald's house. But also the Italians and Japanese get their fair share of shade. The story can be summarized pretty quickly. Donald wakes up as a proud Nazi, but his lack of great living conditions, especially food, and hard work make him quickly turn insane as he has knives put to his neck and is constantly treated with noisy propaganda. The end is as patriotic as it gets and it's easy to see why people liked it that much in times like these. An important historical document.

marcus_stokes2000 *The SPOILERS' Face* The short begins with a Nazi band - with Hirohito, Mussolini (who wittily states 'We would leave if we could'), an enormous Nazi, a very tall and lanky Nazi and a very effeminate Nazi singing the title song, which basically makes fun of Hitler.Cut to Donald Duck, who lives in a minuscule house in this 'Nutziland' where EVERYTHING either is Swastika-shaped or refers to Hitler (including clouds and picket fences). Also his house is decorated in the 'Hitler style' (the Hitler-cuckoo is a hoot!).After having gotten dressed in paper clothes and hat, Donald manages to eat a slice of bread so hard it requires a saw to cut, drink coffee made from one single bean and spray 'Aroma of Bacon and Eggs' down his throat, before the Nazi band makes him read the Mein Kampf - to 'improve his mind' - before coming to get him to work.Donald is a 'willing worker of Nutziland' who has to work 48 hours a day for the Fuehrer making shells, and having to salute Hitler's image at the same time.He gets a 'vacation mit pay' working out obsessively in front of an image of the Alps. The poor guy gets bombarded with Nazi propaganda, and ends up being 'chosen' by special degree of the Fuehrer to work overtime.Eventually, he goes insane and hallucinates various things, among whom switching places with the shells, the Nazi orchestra made of shells, and even himself as Hitler, being saluted by a shell, as the song 'The Fuehrer's Face' keeps on being played faster and faster, until...Donald wakes up from the Nazi nightmare and realizes he is safe in America.Awesome, awesome short where Disney openly makes fun of Hitler's insanity. An Academy Award-winner classic not to miss! The Fuehrer's Face: 9/10.

MartinHafer Despite this cartoon being about WWII, it is still a great cartoon here in the 21st century. That's because unlike some American propaganda cartoons of the era, this one is so funny and well-made that it still is a super-impressive film.The film begins in a surreal world where Spike Jones' song, Der Fuehrer's Face, is being blared everywhere by a group of bumbling Nazis. In the middle of this awful world is poor Donald Duck--who is being forced at gunpoint to heil the Fuehrer and make munitions for the Axis at an alarming rate. The film becomes much sillier and weirder, as Donald goes faster and faster until he becomes mentally unhinged! This is absolutely hilarious. The cartoon ends with Donald awakening to find it's all a bad dream. he's back in the good old USA and life is good.Inventive, cute and a lot more fun than other Disney shorts, this is the absolute height of Disney's creative talents. Plus, it's a wonderful history lesson!UPDATE--When I first wrote this review, it was practically impossible to find this cartoon, as "politically correct" types had buried all the cartoons at Disney and Warner Brothers because they might offend--even films that show evil Nazis (after all, children can never see ANYONE as evil or see a swastika). Fortunately, the short WAS re-released with the recent Volume 2 of the Best of Donald from Disney. This multi-disk set is terrific--not just for this cartoon, but for all of them. Buy it now, as it's only scheduled to be on sale for a limited time AND volume one is already sold out everywhere. My only reservation is that Disney is so concerned about political correctness that there's a very long prologue by Leonard Maltin that you are forced to first watch--you cannot skip it. And, if you go back to see other "banned" films, it makes you watch the Maltin segment again! Annoying, but a small price to pay to see these wonderful films.

tony_ginorio In this marvelously surreal and funny short, Donald Duck is a subject of Nazi Germany, forced to make munitions for the Reich. He has to endure abysmal food rations (wooden bread, Aroma of Bacon and Eggs, and coffee brewed from a single bean), superhuman workloads, 30 seconds of forced calisthenics for his "vacation", and an unrelenting barrage of Hitler portraits which he must hail unfailingly - or else! It's all too much for Donald, who has a nervous breakdown, and the film disintegrates into a bizarre phantasmagoria of dancing missiles and stomping boots. Thankfully, it was all just a bad dream, and Donald is relieved to see that the hailing shadow on the wall is cast by his Statue of Liberty on the window sill. As he kisses it he proclaims, wearing his star-spangled jammies, "Am I glad to be a citizen of the United States of America." This cartoon, perhaps the most savagely satirical Disney ever made, was a sensation in its day, winning the Oscar and spawning a hit song. After the war, however, it was shelved and kept out of public circulation - and not without reason. Now it has been released on DVD as part of the excellent Walt Disney Treasures collection, "Walt Disney on the Front Lines", for discerning film buffs to enjoy. Many will find it disquieting to see a beloved American icon wearing a brownshirt uniform with swastika armband, hailing pictures of Hitler, and goose stepping to work; but then, Donald doesn't seem too thrilled about it, either. In no way does this cartoon promote Nazism. Instead, it punctures its pretensions of superiority by reducing its brutality to absurd slapstick, turning its Ubermensch into buffoonish caricatures. (Bear in mind that at the time of this cartoon the true extent of Hitler's inhumanity was unknown to the Allied countries.) As Mel Brooks has noted, the best way to deal with monsters like Hitler is to laugh at them. So go ahead and laugh, laugh, right at Der Fuehrer's Face.