1942's Weather-Beaten Melody [youtube], an innovative nine-minute cartoon by German animator Hans Fischerkoesen in which insects discover an abandoned phonograph in a meadow. "To fully appreciate Fischerkoesen's daring, one must remember that the Nazis had forbidden jazz and swing as an Afro-Judaic plot to undermine traditional German culture," says William Moritz in "Resistance And Subversion in Animated Films of The Nazi Era: the Case of Hans Fischerkoesen." Before and after subverting Goebbels' battle with Disney, Fisherkoesen made lively cartoons for Philips light bulbs, grocery stores, cigarettes, stockings and digestive aids. [Shorter version of Moritz' article, with pics] [via Glyph Jockey]
posted by mediareport on Dec 3, 2006 - 10 comments