Now for something completely different

Disney has released more of their Treasures DVDs. The DVDs assemble unreleased content along some common theme, like Black and White Mickey, or the 1950s space films. In order to create buzz, the sets are limited and generally sell out within a year. One of this year collects the Mickey Mouse Club adventures of Spin and Marty. I've heard my Dad wax nostalgic over that one, so this might be a good gift for boomer parents.

My favorite of all the Disney treasures is the On the Front Lines DVD, which collects the shorts made to support the war effort in WW2. Some of the shorts are fascinatingly creepy and strange, at least from our self-centered, disengaged modern perspective. One shows Donald Duck considering whether to spend some cash or to pay his taxes. He finally opts for the latter and the narrator begins to intone more and more aggressively about "Taxes....to CRUSH THE AXIS...taxes for guns....tank guns....anti-aircraft guns" It is intensely violent, but then so was the war. I'm not belittling the effort or the need to propagandize given the immense burden borne by society. In fact it is hard to imagine our current society rallying to do anything.

There is another short which concerns the spread of malaria. The Seven Dwarfs volunteer to kill all the mosquitoes on the farm, for as the narrator tells us, mosquitoes lead to malaria which leads to a loss of productivity! Oh and life too. The Dwarves blanket the farm with something called Paris Green. At one point the narrator applauds Dopey saying"That's right Dopey, kill her dead" The Dwarves are also encouraged to cover all standing water with oil to prevent breeding of skeeters.

There are also some very creepy shorts about life in Nazi Germany. One features a sensitive young lad brow beaten into becoming a hate spewing Nazi. They are quite effective, but also not easy to do today. One side of cultural debate find it too easy to caricature our enemies, while the other is too busy complaining about America's ills to admit that other countries are capable of bad acts.

This DVD is hours of entertainment, but it is also no longer on sale. It's Ebay, Amazon sellers or the library for you, I am afraid.