Peace On Earth - MGM 1939 Animated Short

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Peace On Earth - MGM 1939 Animated Short

Postby ftldave » Mon Dec 17, 2012 9:02 pm

So many of the history postings focus on war events and since it's the Christmas season, I want to share a unique and touching animated short film that I recently discovered. From 1939, Hugh Harman's charming and chilling post-apocalyptic "Peace On Earth", which poses the grim question, "What were men?"

[media width=500]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8stkqssLYc&hd=1[/media]

From the Wiki:
In 1994, [Peace On Earth] was voted #40 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field. It was also nominated for the 1939 Academy Award for Short Subjects (Cartoons). It did not claim that honor (which instead went to Walt Disney's Silly Symphony The Ugly Duckling).

As a veteran of the USAF Strategic Air Command during the Cold War, this film reminded me of the days when we had to contemplate what an ultimate war might really mean. I'm glad to say that my unit's B-52 bombers were retired after the Cold War ended and, somewhere in Russia or the Ukraine, matching units of their Long-Range Aviation stood down as well.
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Re: Peace On Earth - MGM 1939 Animated Short

Postby Webb » Mon Dec 17, 2012 9:37 pm

So Jesus died to save the squirrels?
"Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!" - Sen. John Blutarsky

You know, this used to be a helluva good country. I don't understand what's gone wrong with it. - George Hanson, 1969

A bad day at golf is better than a good day at work.


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Re: Peace On Earth - MGM 1939 Animated Short

Postby ftldave » Mon Dec 17, 2012 9:57 pm

Jim, somehow I don't think that's what Hugh Harman was trying to say in this film.
Last edited by ftldave on Mon Dec 17, 2012 10:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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