Saturday, February 02, 2008

Saturday Morning Cartoons--Tokio Jokio

This is a rather fascinating Warner Brothers wartime cartoon Tokio Jokio. The cartoon was released on May 15, 1943, as a "captured" Japanese newsreel depicting life in Japan. The cartoon is especially racist, depicting all Japanese here as monkey-like men wearing Tojo-styled glasses. And yet, you can still see some of the great humor that made Warner Brothers cartoons famous--a fighter that lands on a tricycle landing gear, kitchen hints on making a sandwich from bread and meat ration cards, an aircraft spotter painting spots on an aircraft, and a minesweeper sweeping mines with a broom. It is a fascinating example of American propaganda during the war. From YouTube:

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