Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "Peace on Earth" is an 8.5-minute cartoon from 1939 and sadly the world's leaders did not get the message with what happened in the 6 years afterward. But still, this little film is as relevant today as it was back then. the music is the highlight, besides the message of course and the little squirrels are nice to watch. The Academy agreed and nominated it for an Oscar. I think this is a pretty good watch, during the holidays maybe even a great watch. This short film features the talents of High Harman and the eternal Mel Blanc. I suggest you check it out. It delivers from all kinds of perspectives and is very well worth seeing. Thumbs up also for the Choir Boys. And for the entire thing. Go check it out please.

Shawn Watson A squirrel grandad visits his boy/girl twins on a snowy Xmas eve to tell them the story of 'Man' - violent, terrible creatures who killed each other off in a never-ending series of wars. As the last man on earth dies the animals take it back and build a happy utopia on the charred rubble. Naturally, cute, furry animals won't be using flame-throwers on each other any time soon. Though I'm not really sure if the animals taking cues from an old bible negates the point.It's a very important cartoon and was nominated for an Academy Award (losing to Disney's much less significant The Ugly Duckling) as well as a Nobel Peace prize - the only cartoon ever to do so. Of all the Xmas cartoons and specials, this is probably the most poignant.

MartinHafer I was amazed when PEACE ON EARTH began, as its animation was simply beautiful--much more than most Harmon-Ising pictures for MGM. You can really tell that the animation department pulled out all the stops to make this film--with amazingly lovely snow scenes and characters that really showed a ton of effort to construct.The overall message to this short, ironically, is anti-war. During the 1930s there were many anti-war films and this would be one of the last. That's because the hopes and dreams of a peaceful world were dashed with the onset of WWII in September, 1939. Just a few years later, some of the very same animators that made this film were making propaganda films to bolster the US efforts once we entered this global war! The problem with this message is that it does come off as very heavy-handed and preachy. While in 1939 many loved the anti-war message, within a short time the film was to seem quaint and incredibly over-idealistic thanks to the ferocity of the war and the new nuclear age. Overall, it's lovely to look at but horribly dated and preachy--though I do admit it had a very strange ending that made it more tolerable.

Into_The_West Hugh Harman was an animation director who essentially produced sentimental and "cute" cartoons. Looking at his work prior to "Peace on Earth," I don't think anyone would have ever anticipated it. Framed by a "cute" beginning and ending, Harman presents a fable so grim and thought-provoking one would think somehow a John and Faith Hubley cartoon from 20 years in the future somehow got mixed into this film.This is not, however, a Hubley film, and this was not the paranoid, stressed 50's and 60's, but the late 1930's. All this makes Harman's film all the more remarkable.The plot revolves around the typically anthropomorphic animals (in this case, squirrels) asking their grandfather (brilliantly voiced by Mel Blanc--that man was in just about every classic cartoon there was) what the "men" are in the line "Peace on Earth, good will to men." He then tells them a telescoped history of the human race, focusing on the seemingly endless succession of wars men waged.The succession turns out not to be endless, and we see the last war, leading to the last two soldiers killing each other in what was perhaps the darkest, most violent scene ever put in a cartoon up to this time (it still would be disturbing for small children--it was to me when I was a child). The grandfather then tells how the animals, directed by the Bible (which the owl notes seems like a good book, but it was a shame men didn't use it), rebuild the world.[end spoilers]On the eve of World War II, the above must have seemed fairly profound. Unfortunately, events in the 64 years since (and up to the present moment) have ensured this cartoon's relevancy has never gone away. In the end the seemingly shallow Harmanian cuteness of the opening is revealed to be the deepness of innocence, love, and peace.At the very end, the words "Peace on Earth" are flashed on the screen, but this time, not followed by "good will to men," because in the story of the cartoon that's not possible. It's Harman's final warning, and one that remains both intensely moving and disturbing.This is a cartoon that should be seen by everyone, and especially adults.