First of all, VICTORY THROUGH AIR POWER was NOT banned. It was withdrawn in total since its purpose was met at the time. I had the opportunity to see it at a Motion Picture Academy screening years ago. Portions of it were seen years later on the NBC Sunday Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color program, including the history of aviation sequence. That was well before The Disney Channel was created. It should be realized that Walt Disney personally financed the film because he realized the importance of the subject matter. The film was considered important enough to be shown in secrecy to the leaders of the Allied force, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin. The screening was arranged in Montreal. The logic of an air force victory was brilliantly explained and was extremely influential in expanding an allied air force.
You're right, I should have said World of Color and not The Disney Channel. However, the word "banned" has both a technical and a colloquial definition. Song of the South is frequently referred to as banned even though it was not legally banned, it has obviously been internally banned by the Disney company. Even still, Song was released to theaters multiple times, while Victory was never theatrically re released, so I feel calling it banned is fair, especially since I explain what I mean by that in the video.
It's ridiculous to think that this film had any influence on policy, even before the war FDR knew full well the importance of both air power as a whole and strategic bombing, before the war even broke out in Europe he saw to the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam being changed to a "high dam" so it could provide the massive amount of electricity needed to smelt the aluminum that would be required for Boeing to build fleets of long range bombers and he saw to it that the Ford Willow Run plant was built which by 1943 was producing B24's faster than other countries could produce fighter's, the importance placed on the B29 program in early 1942 that shifted it's development into high gear is also proof that long before FDR ever saw that film he knew exactly how important everything was concerning air power and especially strategic bombing, it ramped up in 1943 simply because of the preparations made years before to implement it started to come to fruition, not because of FDR seeing this film.
@@ParkNarcz, Many years ago, I read the book “Victory Through Air Power”. Although not stressed in the Disney film, the fatal flaw of Seversky’s book was that the author was a zealot of LAND-BASED air power, to the point that the book was preaching that the Navy was obsolete. In Serverky’s vision, waves of land-based bombers, flying at high altitude, could simply fly out, into the expanses of the oceans, and sink any enemy fleet. In reality, as proved by the B-17s stationed at Midway, high-altitude, land-based bombers of the era, dropping “dumb bombs”, proved utterly useless against enemy fleets. As one bomber crew described the task, “It was like trying to drop a marble on a running mouse”. Without the CARRIER air power of the U.S. Navy, the Pacific war could not have been won. Land-based torpedo bombers were enough for the Japanese to sink HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse , which were within range of their air base. However, such action is purely defensive, against an attacking fleet. In the 1940s, it would have been impossible to PROJECT power, across the Pacific Ocean, without the U.S. Navy’s carriers. If adopted, Seversky’s vision would have been disastrous.
The U.S military would send Disney a request for a film. "How to clean rifles" for example. Disney would make it and distribute it before a price was even agreed on.
Thanks for this video. I found out about the Disney movie "Victory Through Air Power"" in 1971 when I read Seversky's postwar "Airpower: Key to Survival" but it took until 2004 before I saw the movie. I collected Seversky's three works and my copy of "Victory Through Air Power" has Seversky's autograph--it's one of the joys of vintage books. A short clip of Billy Mitchell starts off "Victory Through Air Power." Right now, that Disney movie would very much be a niche product. For a decade I was a volunteer staffer at the Hill Aerospace Museum. "Victory Through Air Power" is a two-fer, interesting to both Disney fans and aviation history buffs.
Great example of so many of these channels that play fast and loose with the facts, or simply make up facts when it might be too much bother to actually find out the truth. But creators know if they simply speak authoritatively, people will lap up everything they have to say and hail them as "truth tellers."
I bought the Walt Disney WWII DVD compilation back in 2001, and Victory Through Air Power is one of the featured films. Well worth watching, excellent film! 🎥
At 3:28 there is a sketch of what looks like a scarily modified Mickey Mouse. It seemed familiar; and it then came to me. It resembles one of Oogie Boogie's minions in "A Nightmare Before Christmas" (also a Disney production). Later on, the video brings up the fact that Churchill thought "Victory Through Air Power" was so significant that he had it shown to FDR and then British officials, who actually made the armor piercing "Disney Bomb" described in his film based on that Russian guy's book. It went well for the Allies, huh?
@@charlesyoung7436 Wow! It’s a gas mask for kids! Take another look at it. The canister is at the bottom, my guess is the ears are attached to the straps to snug it down.
I used Seversky’s book as a citation in my dissertation on how proximity works. It provided one of the clearest illustrations on the significance of proximity in any venture.
5:50 - the (badly) drawn Lancaster has the Squadron code on my Uncle's aeroplane, EM-F of 207 Squadron. Saw this on the telly 30 years ago, never noticed that bit, and it was an impressive production.
Never forget that Severski had heavy interests in this policy: he founded Seversky Aviation Company some years earlier, which lately became Republic Aviation Company; the Company that designed and sold the famous P-47 Thunderbolt during the same War, the F-84, for the Korean war, the F-105, for the Vietnam war and today's A-10 Thunderbolt II, in alliance wit Fairchiid. for all wars after Vietnam up to this day. So, Severski had much, much at stake with this movie, indeed.
When I was working at the Air War College, Maxwell AFB in 1980, there was at least one bootleg VHS copy of "Victory Through Air Power" floating around, and I got to see it "unofficially". I assume the the USAAF was given several of the theaterical films during the war, and did not give them all back to Disney post-war. Years later, when as the movie was released on DVD, I got one for myself. It is very worth watching.
Meh, if anything it gave power to the "Bomber Mafia" and the US tactical fighter aircraft were not up to European standards. The USAAF was flying 2nd hand Spitfire Mark V aircraft in 1943 because not enough P-38s were reaching the front lines and the P-47 had serious range & climb issues. The USAAF in Europe refused to outfit the P-47 with the type of fuel tanks needed on long range mission and the climb issue would not be solved until early 1944. Conversely, General Kinney of the USAAF Pacific Air Force had an Australian fuel tank manufactured for the P-47 which allowed the aircraft to nearly match the Japanese Zero in range. That means the fight could be taken to the IJAF bases.
Art can influence culture in needed ways. Before Walt Disney, Mack Sennets Keystone Kops actually changed the hat style of American cops (didn't change their inner Keystone Kops though ) Krispy Kreme Patrol 🍩
Saw ”Arms against the Axis” in 1970 at a comicon. The Disney rep there was to gauge the audience reaction. Since the US was pretty anti war till after ’75, he told me they would archive it longer.
Billy Mitchel’s bombing in the 20s that utterly embarrassed the Navy and the Navy’s humiliation at Pearl Harbor and subsequent battles in the southwest Pacific only fueled that the book was right…
As someone who taught at the US Air Force School of Advanced Airpower Studies and later the US Marine Corps School of Advanced Warfighting, I must say this is an outstanding treatment of the film.
I found the book about victory through air power in 1975 in my grandpa’s books, I had some interest in the book but found it boring after a few chapters. The author had many advanced points about fighter planes and other things. I wasn’t aware that Disney was involved with the author or that a movie was completed.
Here’s an old trick to set levels. If you have 2 to 3 channels of sound, use the master level and reduce the sound..... the last sound you hear would be the narrator or lead singer in music. If I hear more than that, it’s blurry, I don’t hear the storytellers voice, which can be very enjoyable, with just a little background for tone rather empty air. Your video is a good piece on our history, especially Disney. Keep up the good work .
For historical accuracy, extensive review of the strategic bombing campaign prove that the actual destruction caused was far less than the cost in men and material. For completeness, one has to consider the resources expended by the Axis on strategic air defense, those expended to harden targets in various ways (dispersion, AA, etc.) which cost a lot, etc. Those considerations, besides the multiplicative effect of air power on land operations tactically, made the entire air campaign a great assist in victory. Just not in the way the prewar advocates of airpower wanted people to believe. In this way, the Allies air campaign was as flawed as the earlier Axis one, where when the RAF was literally about to go under from the Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe, under Hitler's direction, changed to the Blitz period. This allowed the RAF to recover.
War is all too human! Actually, I knew what you meant. But, for it to make sense, it would all depend on which side you end up being on -- the winning side or the losing side. Long story short, YOUR quip (someone else's?) is not logical/doesn't make sense.
@@jkotynek Exactly what did the Colonists lose as a RESULT of the American Revolutionary War? Yes, both sides lose lives -- but, that is a given consequence of going to war.
I've got a copy of DeSeversky's "Victory Through Air Power" and it's a VERY interesting read. I'd say the book and the movie (which I finally saw on TH-cam) complement each other very well. Thanks for posting this!
@@ParkNarcz You're welcome! Major DeSeversky's book was a big best seller at the time and I believe the survival rate is very good. You may find copies for sale on line or at used book dealers. They also show up at militaria and gun shows if any book dealers are exhibiting.
I think I saw this movie as a little boy, sometime in the early 1950s, in a defense department school or a US Army base theater in Panama. I also saw a movie about how the human body fights infection that was both entertaining and scary. That movie had the wartime Disney touch also. I have never heard anything about them since.
I agree that the movie was not banned. When I saw parts of the story boards, it was obvious that I had seen the film on my Black and White TV in the 1950's.
I'd say the book did damage. The USAF has too much of a love for big bombers and does not give proper attention to fighter aircraft. The F-105, F-4, and most other tactical aircraft did marginally well to poorly over Vietnam. Only post Vietnam has the USAF corrected their tactical air doctrine.
I do believe that it was shown at the conference. As to how much I believe that it affected the course D-Day and the remainder of the war, I don't know. I recall it being on TCM at some point in the mid '00s. What I remember most about it is two things. 1. There was good reason that I've long held a fascination with these planes and the art of them. 2. To a certain extent I could understand how being on a bomber crew so affected my great uncle. I admired that Disney make the effort while pushing his point to also just allow catharsis for the population that might have taken it that way. To see accomplishment against a faceless foe. You know all your wanted what the Axis troops or the Japanese troops looked like, but unless you where there, they could never a true face.
It's funny, really, as we already knew this by WWII and were doing our best to dominate the skies in both Europe and the Pacific. Walt was preaching to the choir.
People seem to think that Disney was pro-Nazi. His efforts during the war proved this to be wrong as does this film does. Disney served as an ambulance driver during the tail end of World War One. I've seen it on TH-cam and it is a great film that needs to be seen. It makes a good case for strategic bombing and how it could affect the outcome of the war.
A lot of those accusations against Walt only started appearing after his employees (many of whom were Jewish) begged him to look into the growing communist presence in Hollywood unions in the late ‘40s and early ‘50s. When Walt finally obliged, he was horrified by how deep the Soviet agents had infiltrated the film industry and started cooperating heavily with the FBI and House Unamerican Activities Committee to snoop them out. Only then did the accusations of Walt being antisemitic appear out of seemingly nowhere. After the Cold War ended, it was discovered that the Soviets had told their agents to accuse any American who was getting wise to them of being an antisemitic fascist.
@benjamingrist6539 It's annoying how many people feel free to spread rumors, as though they are solid fact. There is literally no evidence Walt was antisemitic. I intend to do a full video on the animators strike one day.
@@ParkNarcz I agree with you 💯. Walt wasn’t perfect (no one is) but there’s no evidence to support that pesky rumor. Hopefully your future video will help put an end to it.
Today's transnationalists socialists/globalist socio-fascists (Third Worldism) woke cultists/Hegelian cultists project their fascism on their opponents in their futile efforts to subvert history. Fascism is never on the RIGHT side of history. They have been fairly successful in their destruction of such companies as Disney but in all actuality its true underlying cause is innovation. We've moved out of the secular postmodern "mass society" era/paradigm and into the new postsecular metamodern "network society" era/paradigm. The woke films will have their own genre and there will be a case study on everything woke inorder to understand what not to do.
In 2007 I was completing an extended active duty assignment at the Pentagon and ready to retire. Among the many duties I had to sort out for my replacement was my small part in planning and coordinating the 60th anniversary of the Air Force later this same year. I had contacted a gentleman in our historical department about locating a copy of "Winged Victory", but he did not have one. Instead he offered to do a screening of "Victory Through Air Power" to see if it would be suitable for service-wide distribution. We arranged a showing in one of our conference rooms that had a large screen, but few people attended. Even I was unable to watch more than half of it before I had to depart for a retirement briefing. I never found out if the film was accepted and distributed throughout our bases for the anniversary event, but after retirement I made a point of purchasing a new print of Disney's "On the Front Lines ", which contains the complete film. I also found a less than stellar copy of "Winged Victory". Maybe someday this latter film will receive a restoration in time for the US Air Force's 100th anniversary. If we don't preserve the heritage of our past, how will we judge our progress in the future?
disney was a true patriot who advanced the theory that just relying of the navy and army to win the war was enough, you needed fast strong airplanes and an air force to gain victory for the allies.
What a GREAT video! My only criticism is that at times the music bed is too loud, almost drowning out your excellent narration. Way to go, you've got a new fan!
In 1943, when the movie was released it changed nothing anymore. The bombing campaign was already at full strength. With daily B17 raids over Germany. But I think the Space exploration series by Disney hosted by Wernher von Braun had a much bigger impact and paved the way for the Moon landing!
Sort of. Walt held a number of "progressive" views that are contrary to the US. One example is Bambi (and other scenes in Disney productions) where the hunters are portrayed as so incompetent that they basically need machine guns to hunt.
every air force had problems with antiaircraft fire, the Germans weren’t as bad as believed though…they were tough to deal with, but not as deadly as propaganda makes then out
@@ParkNarcz You're most welcome. I didn't like how some criticized the piece as if the sound mess up was intentional. If an EZ fix were possible, you would have done it. Future works will be made better by you from learning on this one. I listen to YT on speaker(s); I can solve most 'Oops' myself. If not, I move on. Criticism shouldn't be allowed by those who have never tried to create a video for others. Oh well .. THANK YOU! Work well done in MY book, Bro!
Did you read the book? He made some good points and some not so good predictions. Overall though, pretty thought provoking. What he sold to Japan was not that that advanced and very small in number. Not the best decision though.
2:28 Why does every movie, TV show, and Documentary producer insist on having (way to loud) background music during the dialog, making it difficult if not impossible to hear the dialog? Do they play loud music while reading a novel?
I don't believe it was shown it its entirety. I myself saw the history of aviation sequence, but that was all. However, if you have evidence the entire film was shown during the 60 year period, I'll correct myself.
@@ParkNarcz I remember seeing the "History of Aviation" on "Disney's Wonderful World of Color" TV show back in the 1960s but definately not they whole "Victory Throught Air Power" film, EXCEPT for a short segment in the 1970s featuring the American bald eagle fighting the Japanese octopus. A pretty dramatic sequence I might add!
By the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S, already had the B-17s and B-24 among others if full production and the designs for the B-29 and B-32 were beginning production, as such the air war was already being planned out long before any movie was produced in mid 1942.
Why do you have music louder than your voice? This isn't necessary, and ruins videos for those of us with hearing damage. If you have something interesting to say, why do you want to drown out your own voice?
@@ParkNarcz I appreciate that. I don’t understand why so many folks think they need music in videos like this. It adds nothing, is a distraction from the subject, and makes it difficult for many folks to understand. If your subject is interesting, *that’s* what we’re there for. It’s a lot of work for you, and I can’t see it having any return.
@stevekreitler9349 I treated this video like a documentary, and I feel the music gives the right emotion, but you're not alone on your views, and I'm still trying to figure out the right balance for everyone. I appreciate your patience.
@@stevekreitler9349 I understand there is such thing as constructive criticism but you are just being unreasonably obnoxious over something that really isn’t that big of a deal.
I have just read the article you have linked in your description and I can't say anything more than I'm amazed, amazed that someone who's a professor and researcher could believe such a fairytale, granted the part about a copy of the film being flown to Quebec may be true but the thought that previous to that Roosevelt didn't consider air power and especially strategic bombing to be important and that seeing that film in 1943 somehow convinced him of it's importance is absolutely laughable. Just two things that show how much FDR understood how important both air power and strategic bombing would be are the facts that even before the war, which he knew we'd eventually would happen and that the US would be in it, he saw to it that the Grand Coulee Dam was built, which was necessary to provide the massive amount of electricity needed to smelt the aluminum in the Pacific Northwest for Boeing and he saw to it that the Ford Willow Run plant was built which by 1943 was pumping already pumping out B24 bombers faster than other countries could produce fighter's. That's just two of the many things that show FDR always had a priority placed on air power and strategic bombing even before the war started, the priority placed on the B29 alone is also proof of that.
@@ParkNarcz Sure is how it reads, along with this video suggesting that the film had an influence on policy. Walt Disney and Seversky not being privy to the Allies game plan all along might have led them to believe that in 1943 when strategic bombing really started to ramp up as a result of all the plans coming to fruition were actually a product of their film having an influence on policy, and then spent the rest of their lives telling people that but nowadays after everything having been declassified for years we know the real story behind everything and as such would know that film didn't influence anything, as far as the General who never would confirm or deny anything the rest of his life that most likely would have been to save Disney from the embarrassment of after having claimed to influence things not wanting the truth out him and make him look foolish, and I'm sure once Walt Disney embedded that story in Disney Inc for years the people in that organization who admired him, and rightfully so, would have wanted to back the story up. But the thought that it influenced policy as late as 1943 knowing what we know nowadays is just silly.
@dukecraig2402 The video asks a question. Obviously you were hoping the article contradicted my video, and when you found it didn't, you felt the need to attack the article. I'm done now, goodbye.
The statement that some may find the scenes of bombing disturbing is laughable. It was animation for God's sake and I would say any who found it disturbing needs to toughen up.
Uh, no. You don't get to define what other people ought to find disturbing. If the depiction of people en masse being burned alive doesn't bother you - well, you keep on being you.
Animation by nature is not real and if it is disturbing to you then reading about fire bombing or people being marched into gas chambers must be unbearable for you.
I question whether there is any evidence the film affected US policy toward AirPower. Before Pearl Harbor, the US had committed to ramping up aircraft production to astounding levels, with heavy bombers being prominent in the mix. Not only were plans laid out for the B-29, but also its back-up, the B-32, as well as the super heavy B-36. The Army Air Force was run by “The Bomber Mafia”, a group of generals who shared Seversky’s views. Seversky’s Company, Republic, had the single largest Air Force contract for fighters, which required republic to hugely expand its operations in Farmingdale , New York as well as in a brand new megafactory in Evansville, Indiana. I have seen Victory Through Air Power. It s a well-made piece of wartime propaganda that may have made some ordinary Americans feel better about paying for the war in treasure and blood, but I don’t think it significantly affected strategy or policy as that was the direction the Us was headed in even before the book was written.
@bwilliams463 ----> soooo, would you just surrender to the enemy / invaders so that you can pat yourself on the pack as a peacenik and get a quaker award?
13:23 war is inhumane. There’s not a dime’s difference between aerial bombing and raining down artillery except that the former demolishes civilians. Yet it is civilians who make every scrap of war material and it is by force of numbers domestically that even the worst of tyrants can be dethroned. Let us not parse or nuance the delivery systems. Rather let us recognize, or re-recognize that the problem is war itself. Frankly I am appalled that America’s current ruler ship never seem to take into account the nuclear capabilities of the countries that they demonize in order to feed the perpetual necessity of new enemies to justify and fund the military industrial complex.
Yes wat is inhumane, it isn’t a cakewalk to dethrone tyrants though. How exactly do you suggest stopping someone like Vladimir Putin when he uses bombs and rockets to attack and destroy civilians? He continues to threaten to use nuclear weapons against the world if not allowed to continue his takeover of Ukraine. What will prevent him or any other bully from attacking neighboring countries when the mood strikes? Just like a school yard bully they have to be stopped. I don’t want to live in fear of people who think power give them the right to run the lives of others. Whether at home or around the world.
1:28 Lower right of fuselage: “Capt. L. B. Johnson / Navigator” From my feeble research, this is not Naval Reserve Lieutenant Commander (later Commander) Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ). He did fly as an observer on a bombing raid of New Guinea, but not as a skilled crew member. Oh well. A fun rabbit trail.
"Banned" here just means the Disney company chose not to re release the film in theaters. Even Song of the South got that, and that film is referred to as "Banned" all the time. Obviously, the technical definition is a legal prohibition, but there's a colloquial understanding too. The character of Little Hiawatha, for instance, is likely "banned" internally at Disney.
Victory through air power was an absolute masterpiece. It was never banned, although today’s witless wonders in charge of the House of Mouse will never put this on Disney plus. Disney went from fighting authoritarians to be being run by them.
So, RAF Bomber Command formed their policy (Arthur Harris assuming command in 1942) flew 364,514 sorties after watching a cartoon from the Mickey Mouse company- dont think so.
Several comments seem to be wrapped up in the title of this post. How many more votes did it receive by including the word BANNED in the title? This Rare Film By Disney Won WWII just isn’t the same.
The Imperial Japanese Navy proved aircraft carriers were relevant in the 7th of December of 1941. The United States Navy proved the aircraft carriers, not at Pearl Harbor that day, and the damage they had done after to the Japanese Navy. Also proved they were relevant. So, you decide? The author wasn't totally correct in his opinion.
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Thank you! I really can't tell you how much I appreciate your comment.
Agreed!
This is a Disney fantasy
Where???
Amazing.
In "Falling Hare" (1943), Bugs Bunny is shown reading VICTORY THROUGH HARE POWER.
First of all, VICTORY THROUGH AIR POWER was NOT banned. It was withdrawn in total since its purpose was met at the time. I had the opportunity to see it at a Motion Picture Academy screening years ago. Portions of it were seen years later on the NBC Sunday Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color program, including the history of aviation sequence. That was well before The Disney Channel was created.
It should be realized that Walt Disney personally financed the film because he realized the importance of the subject matter. The film was considered important enough to be shown in secrecy to the leaders of the Allied force, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin. The screening was arranged in Montreal. The logic of an air force victory was brilliantly explained and was extremely influential in expanding an allied air force.
You're right, I should have said World of Color and not The Disney Channel. However, the word "banned" has both a technical and a colloquial definition. Song of the South is frequently referred to as banned even though it was not legally banned, it has obviously been internally banned by the Disney company. Even still, Song was released to theaters multiple times, while Victory was never theatrically re released, so I feel calling it banned is fair, especially since I explain what I mean by that in the video.
I recall seeing those early sequences about the development of the airplane on Disney's TV show in the 60s.
Sounds more like “shelved” than banned, even with your long explantation.
It's ridiculous to think that this film had any influence on policy, even before the war FDR knew full well the importance of both air power as a whole and strategic bombing, before the war even broke out in Europe he saw to the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam being changed to a "high dam" so it could provide the massive amount of electricity needed to smelt the aluminum that would be required for Boeing to build fleets of long range bombers and he saw to it that the Ford Willow Run plant was built which by 1943 was producing B24's faster than other countries could produce fighter's, the importance placed on the B29 program in early 1942 that shifted it's development into high gear is also proof that long before FDR ever saw that film he knew exactly how important everything was concerning air power and especially strategic bombing, it ramped up in 1943 simply because of the preparations made years before to implement it started to come to fruition, not because of FDR seeing this film.
@@ParkNarcz, Many years ago, I read the book “Victory Through Air Power”. Although not stressed in the Disney film, the fatal flaw of Seversky’s book was that the author was a zealot of LAND-BASED air power, to the point that the book was preaching that the Navy was obsolete. In Serverky’s vision, waves of land-based bombers, flying at high altitude, could simply fly out, into the expanses of the oceans, and sink any enemy fleet. In reality, as proved by the B-17s stationed at Midway, high-altitude, land-based bombers of the era, dropping “dumb bombs”, proved utterly useless against enemy fleets. As one bomber crew described the task, “It was like trying to drop a marble on a running mouse”. Without the CARRIER air power of the U.S. Navy, the Pacific war could not have been won. Land-based torpedo bombers were enough for the Japanese to sink HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse , which were within range of their air base. However, such action is purely defensive, against an attacking fleet. In the 1940s, it would have been impossible to PROJECT power, across the Pacific Ocean, without the U.S. Navy’s carriers. If adopted, Seversky’s vision would have been disastrous.
The U.S military would send Disney a request for a film. "How to clean rifles" for example. Disney would make it and distribute it before a price was even agreed on.
Thanks for this video. I found out about the Disney movie "Victory Through Air Power"" in 1971 when I read Seversky's postwar "Airpower: Key to Survival" but it took until 2004 before I saw the movie. I collected Seversky's three works and my copy of "Victory Through Air Power" has Seversky's autograph--it's one of the joys of vintage books. A short clip of Billy Mitchell starts off "Victory Through Air Power." Right now, that Disney movie would very much be a niche product. For a decade I was a volunteer staffer at the Hill Aerospace Museum.
"Victory Through Air Power" is a two-fer, interesting to both Disney fans and aviation history buffs.
Thank you for commenting! That's really cool you have an autographed copy of "Victory"!
@@ParkNarcz It was autographed to someone else in 1943, a while before I was even born.
Germany didn’t destroy the Maginot line. It still exists today. The Maginot line ends at the Belgian border. The Germans just went around it.
Great example of so many of these channels that play fast and loose with the facts, or simply make up facts when it might be too much bother to actually find out the truth. But creators know if they simply speak authoritatively, people will lap up everything they have to say and hail them as "truth tellers."
They did break through at one point, but the war with France was almost over anyways.
I bought the Walt Disney WWII DVD compilation back in 2001, and Victory Through Air Power is one of the featured films.
Well worth watching, excellent film! 🎥
Disney Treasures "On the Front Lines The War Years"
At 3:28 there is a sketch of what looks like a scarily modified Mickey Mouse. It seemed familiar; and it then came to me. It resembles one of Oogie Boogie's minions in "A Nightmare Before Christmas" (also a Disney production). Later on, the video brings up the fact that Churchill thought "Victory Through Air Power" was so significant that he had it shown to FDR and then British officials, who actually made the armor piercing "Disney Bomb" described in his film based on that Russian guy's book. It went well for the Allies, huh?
@@charlesyoung7436
Wow! It’s a gas mask for kids! Take another look at it. The canister is at the bottom, my guess is the ears are attached to the straps to snug it down.
I used Seversky’s book as a citation in my dissertation on how proximity works. It provided one of the clearest illustrations on the significance of proximity in any venture.
5:50 - the (badly) drawn Lancaster has the Squadron code on my Uncle's aeroplane, EM-F of 207 Squadron. Saw this on the telly 30 years ago, never noticed that bit, and it was an impressive production.
Never forget that Severski had heavy interests in this policy: he founded Seversky Aviation Company some years earlier, which lately became Republic Aviation Company; the Company that designed and sold the famous P-47 Thunderbolt during the same War, the F-84, for the Korean war, the F-105, for the Vietnam war and today's A-10 Thunderbolt II, in alliance wit Fairchiid. for all wars after Vietnam up to this day. So, Severski had much, much at stake with this movie, indeed.
Outstanding presentation and narration. Thank you
Thank you!
WOW, Great presentation and analysis. Superbly explained with valid historical context. GOOD JOB, Walt would be proud.
Thank you! You're very kind!
Interesting pic at 1:23. Very late model B-17G with suppressed radio room gun and, I believe, Cheyenne tail turret.
Seversky is famous along with Alexander Kartveli, for designing the P-35, P-43 and especially the P-47 Thunderbolt.
Kartveli also went on to design the F-84 series and last, the famous F-105...quite the legacy!
When I was working at the Air War College, Maxwell AFB in 1980, there was at least one bootleg VHS copy of "Victory Through Air Power" floating around, and I got to see it "unofficially". I assume the the USAAF was given several of the theaterical films during the war, and did not give them all back to Disney post-war. Years later, when as the movie was released on DVD, I got one for myself. It is very worth watching.
"In the modern era aerial bombardment is seen by many as inhumane..." Just what part of war is seen as humane?
Fair point!
@InternetGrandpa
The part where the enemy no longer attracts or tries to cause harm.
Peace through superior fire power.
Meh, if anything it gave power to the "Bomber Mafia" and the US tactical fighter aircraft were not up to European standards. The USAAF was flying 2nd hand Spitfire Mark V aircraft in 1943 because not enough P-38s were reaching the front lines and the P-47 had serious range & climb issues. The USAAF in Europe refused to outfit the P-47 with the type of fuel tanks needed on long range mission and the climb issue would not be solved until early 1944. Conversely, General Kinney of the USAAF Pacific Air Force had an Australian fuel tank manufactured for the P-47 which allowed the aircraft to nearly match the Japanese Zero in range. That means the fight could be taken to the IJAF bases.
7:45 am here in Wyoming and I've already learned something new. Interesting info.
I just watched the film, which came up automatically after your vid. It is a terrific film. Thank you.
Donald Duck became Uncle Scrooge during the sale of War Bonds.
Art can influence culture in needed ways. Before Walt Disney, Mack Sennets Keystone Kops actually changed the hat style of American cops (didn't change their inner Keystone Kops though ) Krispy Kreme Patrol 🍩
Saw ”Arms against the Axis” in 1970 at a comicon. The Disney rep there was to gauge the audience reaction. Since the US was pretty anti war till after ’75, he told me they would archive it longer.
I find that fascinating. Thank you for the comment!
I don't know how much influence the film had in fighting the war, but the book played a major role.
Billy Mitchel’s bombing in the 20s that utterly embarrassed the Navy and the Navy’s humiliation at Pearl Harbor and subsequent battles in the southwest Pacific only fueled that the book was right…
As someone who taught at the US Air Force School of Advanced Airpower Studies and later the US Marine Corps School of Advanced Warfighting, I must say this is an outstanding treatment of the film.
Thank you so much! I really appreciate you saying that! And Thank You for your service!
I found the book about victory through air power in 1975 in my grandpa’s books, I had some interest in the book but found it boring after a few chapters.
The author had many advanced points about fighter planes and other things.
I wasn’t aware that Disney was involved with the author or that a movie was completed.
Here’s an old trick to set levels. If you have 2 to 3 channels of sound, use the master level and reduce the sound..... the last sound you hear would be the narrator or lead singer in music. If I hear more than that, it’s blurry, I don’t hear the storytellers voice, which can be very enjoyable, with just a little background for tone rather empty air.
Your video is a good piece on our history, especially Disney.
Keep up the good work .
Thank you for the tip!
For historical accuracy, extensive review of the strategic bombing campaign prove that the actual destruction caused was far less than the cost in men and material. For completeness, one has to consider the resources expended by the Axis on strategic air defense, those expended to harden targets in various ways (dispersion, AA, etc.) which cost a lot, etc.
Those considerations, besides the multiplicative effect of air power on land operations tactically, made the entire air campaign a great assist in victory. Just not in the way the prewar advocates of airpower wanted people to believe. In this way, the Allies air campaign was as flawed as the earlier Axis one, where when the RAF was literally about to go under from the Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe, under Hitler's direction, changed to the Blitz period. This allowed the RAF to recover.
war is inhumane. but losing is more inhumane.
Hope you catch the last season of "Man in the High Castle"
As a parent, it was hard to watch but am so glad the Nazis did not win.
War is all too human! Actually, I knew what you meant. But, for it to make sense, it would all depend on which side you end up being on -- the winning side or the losing side. Long story short, YOUR quip (someone else's?) is not logical/doesn't make sense.
In war, all sides lose.
@@jkotynek true, but one side loses less than the others.
@@jkotynek Exactly what did the Colonists lose as a RESULT of the American Revolutionary War? Yes, both sides lose lives -- but, that is a given consequence of going to war.
I've got a copy of DeSeversky's "Victory Through Air Power" and it's a VERY interesting read. I'd say the book and the movie (which I finally saw on TH-cam) complement each other very well.
Thanks for posting this!
Thank you!
@@ParkNarcz You're welcome! Major DeSeversky's book was a big best seller at the time and I believe the survival rate is very good. You may find copies for sale on line or at used book dealers. They also show up at militaria and gun shows if any book dealers are exhibiting.
I LOVE VICTORY THOUGH AIR POWER!!! Though Victory Though Air Power these days is an RC plane with a grenade
Thanks for letting us know of this interesting film. Now I want to go watch it.
Thank you! You absolutely should!
I think I saw this movie as a little boy, sometime in the early 1950s, in a defense department school or a US Army base theater in Panama. I also saw a movie about how the human body fights infection that was both entertaining and scary. That movie had the wartime Disney touch also. I have never heard anything about them since.
That's awesome! It's great to know this was being shown in places like that! I'm sure Walt would have been proud!
Will have to watch on TH-cam... thanks for showing us this
Thanks for watching!
I agree that the movie was not banned. When I saw parts of the story boards, it was obvious that I had seen the film on my Black and White TV in the 1950's.
Nice presentation, I enjoyed it and learned a few things as well.
Thank you!
Boots on the ground …ultimately
I'd say the book did damage. The USAF has too much of a love for big bombers and does not give proper attention to fighter aircraft. The F-105, F-4, and most other tactical aircraft did marginally well to poorly over Vietnam. Only post Vietnam has the USAF corrected their tactical air doctrine.
I do believe that it was shown at the conference. As to how much I believe that it affected the course D-Day and the remainder of the war, I don't know. I recall it being on TCM at some point in the mid '00s. What I remember most about it is two things. 1. There was good reason that I've long held a fascination with these planes and the art of them. 2. To a certain extent I could understand how being on a bomber crew so affected my great uncle. I admired that Disney make the effort while pushing his point to also just allow catharsis for the population that might have taken it that way. To see accomplishment against a faceless foe. You know all your wanted what the Axis troops or the Japanese troops looked like, but unless you where there, they could never a true face.
It's funny, really, as we already knew this by WWII and were doing our best to dominate the skies in both Europe and the Pacific. Walt was preaching to the choir.
People seem to think that Disney was pro-Nazi. His efforts during the war proved this to be wrong as does this film does. Disney served as an ambulance driver during the tail end of World War One. I've seen it on TH-cam and it is a great film that needs to be seen. It makes a good case for strategic bombing and how it could affect the outcome of the war.
A lot of those accusations against Walt only started appearing after his employees (many of whom were Jewish) begged him to look into the growing communist presence in Hollywood unions in the late ‘40s and early ‘50s. When Walt finally obliged, he was horrified by how deep the Soviet agents had infiltrated the film industry and started cooperating heavily with the FBI and House Unamerican Activities Committee to snoop them out. Only then did the accusations of Walt being antisemitic appear out of seemingly nowhere. After the Cold War ended, it was discovered that the Soviets had told their agents to accuse any American who was getting wise to them of being an antisemitic fascist.
@benjamingrist6539 It's annoying how many people feel free to spread rumors, as though they are solid fact. There is literally no evidence Walt was antisemitic. I intend to do a full video on the animators strike one day.
@@ParkNarcz I agree with you 💯. Walt wasn’t perfect (no one is) but there’s no evidence to support that pesky rumor. Hopefully your future video will help put an end to it.
I heard they were called "salami tactics."
Today's transnationalists socialists/globalist socio-fascists (Third Worldism) woke cultists/Hegelian cultists project their fascism on their opponents in their futile efforts to subvert history. Fascism is never on the RIGHT side of history. They have been fairly successful in their destruction of such companies as Disney but in all actuality its true underlying cause is innovation. We've moved out of the secular postmodern "mass society" era/paradigm and into the new postsecular metamodern "network society" era/paradigm. The woke films will have their own genre and there will be a case study on everything woke inorder to understand what not to do.
I know I would have loved it. Hope it comes on YT.
It is on youtube and I've been informed its on Roku's WW2 channel too.
Great presentation, thank you.
Thank you!
Never knew any of this. Great video.
Thank you!
That was Disney then, look at Disney now!
In 2007 I was completing an extended active duty assignment at the Pentagon and ready to retire. Among the many duties I had to sort out for my replacement was my small part in planning and coordinating the 60th anniversary of the Air Force later this same year. I had contacted a gentleman in our historical department about locating a copy of "Winged Victory", but he did not have one. Instead he offered to do a screening of "Victory Through Air Power" to see if it would be suitable for service-wide distribution. We arranged a showing in one of our conference rooms that had a large screen, but few people attended. Even I was unable to watch more than half of it before I had to depart for a retirement briefing. I never found out if the film was accepted and distributed throughout our bases for the anniversary event, but after retirement I made a point of purchasing a new print of Disney's "On the Front Lines ", which contains the complete film. I also found a less than stellar copy of "Winged Victory". Maybe someday this latter film will receive a restoration in time for the US Air Force's 100th anniversary. If we don't preserve the heritage of our past, how will we judge our progress in the future?
Thank you for commenting! I completely agree!
fantastic.. going to find the actual film now. thank you!!
Thank you!
I am blown away that Walt Disney had this particular effect on history.
disney was a true patriot who advanced the theory that just relying of the navy and army to win the war was enough, you needed fast strong airplanes and an air force to gain victory for the allies.
this is spectacular, thanks!
Thank you!
The guy who drew Spiderman was stationed in Occupied Germany after WW2
Didn't Walt Disney also handled the animation sequences for a promotional for Northrop when they were promoting the yb-49 flying wing bomber?
Thank you . ps your downhome accent made for easy listening .
did we forget Billy Mitchell?
Didn't forget him, but I didn't wanna break down every single aspect of the movie. I absolutely encourage people to see the film itself.
Seversky designed the P47.
What a GREAT video! My only criticism is that at times the music bed is too loud, almost drowning out your excellent narration.
Way to go, you've got a new fan!
Thank you! I intend to upload a better version of this later with the sound fixed!
In 1943, when the movie was released it changed nothing anymore. The bombing campaign was already at full strength. With daily B17 raids over Germany. But I think the Space exploration series by Disney hosted by Wernher von Braun had a much bigger impact and paved the way for the Moon landing!
Disney now is antithetical to Walter.❤
Sort of. Walt held a number of "progressive" views that are contrary to the US. One example is Bambi (and other scenes in Disney productions) where the hunters are portrayed as so incompetent that they basically need machine guns to hunt.
@@kamaeq Arrogant "progressives" who are against hunting are just ignorant. Hunting is vital to the survival of wildlife.
Strange that Hand looks a bit like Ryan Reynolds.
Very good editing and a film I’d never heard of much less seen. Just one thing: perhaps the b/g music is a little loud in places?
Thank you! Another commenter said that so I assume you're right. I will make it lower in the future. I may re-upload this later with lower sound.
Air forces had a great deal of trouble with German FLAK.
every air force had problems with antiaircraft fire, the Germans weren’t as bad as believed though…they were tough to deal with, but not as deadly as propaganda makes then out
ParkNarcz: Don't worry about the music>voice balance!
Some will whine about anything!
Thank you! I do want to improve, and I appreciate everyone who gave respectful criticism, but I thank you for your support! It means a lot!
@@ParkNarcz You're most welcome. I didn't like how some criticized the piece as if the sound mess up was intentional.
If an EZ fix were possible, you would have done it. Future works will be made better by you from learning on this one. I listen to YT on speaker(s); I can solve most 'Oops' myself. If not, I move on. Criticism shouldn't be allowed by those who have never tried to create a video for others.
Oh well .. THANK YOU! Work well done in MY book, Bro!
Thank you! You rock!
I read this book when i was 17 also liked it and still have the book
Great video, brother.
Thank you, man!
Well done.
Thank you!!
Unfortunately, Seversky decided to sell military aircraft to Japan in the late 30s, It cost him his business.
Seversky was definitely a weird dude, and he made some other, obviously false claims that I chose not to include. To me, the triumph is all Walt's.
Did you read the book? He made some good points and some not so good predictions. Overall though, pretty thought provoking. What he sold to Japan was not that that advanced and very small in number. Not the best decision though.
Don't think i ever jesrd of this film. (Im 70)
2:28 Why does every movie, TV show, and Documentary producer insist on having (way to loud) background music during the dialog, making it difficult if not impossible to hear the dialog?
Do they play loud music while reading a novel?
Honestly I just screwed that up. I'll have a version with lower sound out later to correct this. Sorry about that.
"Roosevelt was blown away" ... well ...
Now it is missiles and drones.
I saw it in the 80s
Not banned. It was shown on the Disneyland show. Not shown due to lack of interest.
I don't believe it was shown it its entirety. I myself saw the history of aviation sequence, but that was all. However, if you have evidence the entire film was shown during the 60 year period, I'll correct myself.
@@ParkNarcz I remember seeing the "History of Aviation" on "Disney's Wonderful World of Color" TV show back in the 1960s but definately not they whole "Victory Throught Air Power" film, EXCEPT for a short segment in the 1970s featuring the American bald eagle fighting the Japanese octopus. A pretty dramatic sequence I might add!
By the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S, already had the B-17s and B-24 among others if full production and the designs for the B-29 and B-32 were beginning production, as such the air war was already being planned out long before any movie was produced in mid 1942.
Why do you have music louder than your voice? This isn't necessary, and ruins videos for those of us with hearing damage. If you have something interesting to say, why do you want to drown out your own voice?
I don’t think he was purposely trying to do that lil bro.Calm down.
Sorry, man. When I listened to the video before posting, I could hear myself okay. In the future, I'll try to make it more balanced.
@@ParkNarcz I appreciate that. I don’t understand why so many folks think they need music in videos like this. It adds nothing, is a distraction from the subject, and makes it difficult for many folks to understand. If your subject is interesting, *that’s* what we’re there for. It’s a lot of work for you, and I can’t see it having any return.
@stevekreitler9349 I treated this video like a documentary, and I feel the music gives the right emotion, but you're not alone on your views, and I'm still trying to figure out the right balance for everyone. I appreciate your patience.
@@stevekreitler9349 I understand there is such thing as constructive criticism but you are just being unreasonably obnoxious over something that really isn’t that big of a deal.
Thankyou
I have just read the article you have linked in your description and I can't say anything more than I'm amazed, amazed that someone who's a professor and researcher could believe such a fairytale, granted the part about a copy of the film being flown to Quebec may be true but the thought that previous to that Roosevelt didn't consider air power and especially strategic bombing to be important and that seeing that film in 1943 somehow convinced him of it's importance is absolutely laughable.
Just two things that show how much FDR understood how important both air power and strategic bombing would be are the facts that even before the war, which he knew we'd eventually would happen and that the US would be in it, he saw to it that the Grand Coulee Dam was built, which was necessary to provide the massive amount of electricity needed to smelt the aluminum in the Pacific Northwest for Boeing and he saw to it that the Ford Willow Run plant was built which by 1943 was pumping already pumping out B24 bombers faster than other countries could produce fighter's.
That's just two of the many things that show FDR always had a priority placed on air power and strategic bombing even before the war started, the priority placed on the B29 alone is also proof of that.
To be fair, I don't think thats exactly the argument being made in the article.
@@ParkNarcz
Sure is how it reads, along with this video suggesting that the film had an influence on policy.
Walt Disney and Seversky not being privy to the Allies game plan all along might have led them to believe that in 1943 when strategic bombing really started to ramp up as a result of all the plans coming to fruition were actually a product of their film having an influence on policy, and then spent the rest of their lives telling people that but nowadays after everything having been declassified for years we know the real story behind everything and as such would know that film didn't influence anything, as far as the General who never would confirm or deny anything the rest of his life that most likely would have been to save Disney from the embarrassment of after having claimed to influence things not wanting the truth out him and make him look foolish, and I'm sure once Walt Disney embedded that story in Disney Inc for years the people in that organization who admired him, and rightfully so, would have wanted to back the story up.
But the thought that it influenced policy as late as 1943 knowing what we know nowadays is just silly.
@dukecraig2402 The video asks a question. Obviously you were hoping the article contradicted my video, and when you found it didn't, you felt the need to attack the article. I'm done now, goodbye.
The statement that some may find the scenes of bombing disturbing is laughable. It was animation for God's sake and I would say any who found it disturbing needs to toughen up.
Uh, no. You don't get to define what other people ought to find disturbing. If the depiction of people en masse being burned alive doesn't bother you - well, you keep on being you.
Animation by nature is not real and if it is disturbing to you then reading about fire bombing or people being marched into gas chambers must be unbearable for you.
You need to lower the music
Atlas Shrugged? The Influence of Sea Power upon History?
Who cares what “The Daily Worker” thought of the film.
isnt that a communist rag?
I question whether there is any evidence the film affected US policy toward AirPower. Before Pearl Harbor, the US had committed to ramping up aircraft production to astounding levels, with heavy bombers being prominent in the mix. Not only were plans laid out for the B-29, but also its back-up, the B-32, as well as the super heavy B-36. The Army Air Force was run by “The Bomber Mafia”, a group of generals who shared Seversky’s views.
Seversky’s Company, Republic, had the single largest Air Force contract for fighters, which required republic to hugely expand its operations in Farmingdale , New York as well as in a brand new megafactory in Evansville, Indiana.
I have seen Victory Through Air Power. It s a well-made piece of wartime propaganda that may have made some ordinary Americans feel better about paying for the war in treasure and blood, but I don’t think it significantly affected strategy or policy as that was the direction the Us was headed in even before the book was written.
13:16 All war is inhumane. That is it's very nature.
Personally, I agree.
@bwilliams463 ----> soooo, would you just surrender to the enemy / invaders so that you can pat yourself on the pack as a peacenik and get a quaker award?
How sad that Disney today has not one iota of patriotism that it had then.
Disney is actively hostile towards the family and the USA. Florida is smart for trying to expel Disney.
Bwahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh #blessyourheartsouthernstyle
Agree with you!!!!
Basically the biggest ''at first i loled and then i serioused'' in the world of animation
Wish I could hear what you're saying.
13:23 war is inhumane. There’s not a dime’s difference between aerial bombing and raining down artillery except that the former demolishes civilians. Yet it is civilians who make every scrap of war material and it is by force of numbers domestically that even the worst of tyrants can be dethroned. Let us not parse or nuance the delivery systems. Rather let us recognize, or re-recognize that the problem is war itself. Frankly I am appalled that America’s current ruler ship never seem to take into account the nuclear capabilities of the countries that they demonize in order to feed the perpetual necessity of new enemies to justify and fund the military industrial complex.
Yes wat is inhumane, it isn’t a cakewalk to dethrone tyrants though. How exactly do you suggest stopping someone like Vladimir Putin when he uses bombs and rockets to attack and destroy civilians? He continues to threaten to use nuclear weapons against the world if not allowed to continue his takeover of Ukraine. What will prevent him or any other bully from attacking neighboring countries when the mood strikes? Just like a school yard bully they have to be stopped. I don’t want to live in fear of people who think power give them the right to run the lives of others. Whether at home or around the world.
1:28
Lower right of fuselage:
“Capt. L. B. Johnson / Navigator”
From my feeble research, this is not
Naval Reserve Lieutenant Commander (later Commander) Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ).
He did fly as an observer on a bombing raid of New Guinea, but not as a skilled crew member.
Oh well. A fun rabbit trail.
Music is distracting
Lose the bells in the background. They drown out the narrator.
I've seen victory through air power and for your information it was never banned during WW2 or after
"Banned" here just means the Disney company chose not to re release the film in theaters. Even Song of the South got that, and that film is referred to as "Banned" all the time. Obviously, the technical definition is a legal prohibition, but there's a colloquial understanding too. The character of Little Hiawatha, for instance, is likely "banned" internally at Disney.
What were the Soviet's problem with it?
What, all by itself?
Disney is still producing propaganda
Wrinkles the duck sometimes reminds me of Donald Duck.
@Greenjagsurf:
"Propaganda THIS, you worthless bag of dog poop!"
"Waaah! Disney is 'woke' now!" cries the snowflake.
Victory through air power was an absolute masterpiece. It was never banned, although today’s witless wonders in charge of the House of Mouse will never put this on Disney plus. Disney went from fighting authoritarians to be being run by them.
Why have music at all?
So, RAF Bomber Command formed their policy (Arthur Harris assuming command in 1942) flew 364,514 sorties after watching a cartoon from the Mickey Mouse company- dont think so.
That is not what I said.
Disney bond
Turn OFF the wretched noise track !!!! I had to watch it using the mute tab and the CC option.
Several comments seem to be wrapped up in the title of this post. How many more votes did it receive by including the word BANNED in the title? This Rare Film By Disney Won WWII just isn’t the same.
The Imperial Japanese Navy proved aircraft carriers were relevant in the 7th of December of 1941. The United States Navy proved the aircraft carriers, not at Pearl Harbor that day, and the damage they had done after to the Japanese Navy. Also proved they were relevant. So, you decide? The author wasn't totally correct in his opinion.
Shut you background music off
Your background music is louder than the narration voice. Makes it hard to listen.
I'm sorry, man. I realized too late.