---
title: Did Disney make propaganda in WW2? Posters, Dr. Seuss and Private Snafu
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/disney-ww2-propaganda/
description: 'Disney propaganda in WW2: Mickey and Donald war posters, a Dr. Seuss drawing and Private Snafu frames, with who issued each and its technique.'
section: FRAME
---

![Illustration: a dossier collage of an evidence wall of pinned propaganda posters, leaflets and printed matter from many eras, with contact sheets and catalog labels.](https://propagandaarchive.org/static/generated/hero-collection.jpg)

Collection

# Did Disney make propaganda in WW2? Posters, Dr. Seuss and Private Snafu

Disney propaganda in WW2: Mickey and Donald war posters, a Dr. Seuss drawing and Private Snafu frames, with who issued each and its technique.

1. [Home](https://propagandaarchive.org/)
2. [Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)
3. Disney and Dr. Seuss WW2 propaganda

[![I get exasperated at people who squawk (Donald Duck)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/appreciate-america-donald-duck-squawk-1941-640.jpg)I get exasperated at people who squawk (Donald Duck)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/appreciate-america-donald-duck-squawk-1941/) [![Come on fellows! The USO's for the U.S.A.](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/come-on-fellows-the-usos-for-the-usa-disney-1941-640.jpg)Come on fellows! The USO's for the U.S.A.](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/come-on-fellows-the-usos-for-the-usa-disney-1941/) [![Get in the scrap!](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/get-in-the-scrap-disney-1941.jpg)Get in the scrap!](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/get-in-the-scrap-disney-1941/) [![Help win the war: Squeeze in one more](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/squeeze-in-one-more-douglas-war-production-drive-1941-640.jpg)Help win the war: Squeeze in one more](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/squeeze-in-one-more-douglas-war-production-drive-1941/) [![Please, Mister, don't be careless. Prevent forest fires. Greater danger than ever!](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/please-mister-dont-be-careless-forest-fires-1943-640.jpg)Please, Mister, don't be careless. Prevent forest fires. Greater danger than ever!](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/please-mister-dont-be-careless-forest-fires-1943/) [![Private Snafu: Operation Snafu, frame of a sword-carrying Japanese soldier caricature](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/private-snafu-operation-snafu-sword-caricature-1945-640.jpg)Private Snafu: Operation Snafu, frame of a sword-carrying Japanese soldier caricature](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/private-snafu-operation-snafu-sword-caricature-1945/)

> **Content note.** Two film frames here are caricatures of Japanese people from the Army's Private Snafu cartoons, drawn with exaggerated teeth, jaw and eyes, and one poster uses the coined word "Japanazis". They are shown as issued, from a country that in February 1942 (Executive Order 9066) ordered the removal of people of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast. Showing an item is not endorsing it.

[Did Disney make propaganda in WW2?](https://propagandaarchive.org/disney-ww2-propaganda/#did-disney-make-propaganda-in-ww2) [Mickey and Donald as speakers, 1941](https://propagandaarchive.org/disney-ww2-propaganda/#mickey-and-donald-as-speakers-1941) [Disney for the USO, scrap and safety](https://propagandaarchive.org/disney-ww2-propaganda/#disney-for-the-uso-scrap-and-safety) [Government posters with Disney art, 1943 to 1944](https://propagandaarchive.org/disney-ww2-propaganda/#government-posters-with-disney-art-1943-to-1944) [Der Fuehrer's Face, Popeye and Dr. Seuss](https://propagandaarchive.org/disney-ww2-propaganda/#der-fuehrer-s-face-popeye-and-dr-seuss) [Private Snafu, 1945](https://propagandaarchive.org/disney-ww2-propaganda/#private-snafu-1945)

## Did Disney make propaganda in WW2?

Yes. Walt Disney Productions drew posters, insignia and films for United States agencies in 1941 to 1945, and its characters appeared on bond, scrap and recruitment appeals. The collection holds those posters, one Dr. Seuss drawing and two Private Snafu film frames. Each names who issued it and which technique it uses.

## Mickey and Donald as speakers, 1941

The earliest items are not Disney art. Appreciate America, Inc., of Chicago issued line drawings in which Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck speak to the reader. A popular character asked for patience or bond purchases, which is [Testimonial](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/testimonial/) and [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/); the Mickey sheet adds the "gang" phrasing of [Bandwagon](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/bandwagon/).

![Appreciate America, Inc. poster of 1941: Mickey Mouse waves a 48-star flag over the words Come on gang, all out for Uncle Sam](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/appreciate-america-mickey-mouse-all-out-1941.jpg)

![Appreciate America, Inc. poster of 1941: Donald Duck in a sailor cap salutes beside the quotation I get exasperated at people who squawk](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/appreciate-america-donald-duck-squawk-1941.jpg)

## Disney for the USO, scrap and safety

The USO fund appeal is credited to Walt Disney: Donald Duck waves servicemen toward the USO door ([Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/), [Bandwagon](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/bandwagon/)). The scrap poster carries Mickey and Pluto above a list of materials to save. The studio's own comic strip puts Donald and his nephews in a park, where feeding a bear wrecks the car; its only technique is faint [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/), and the sheet carries no agency.

![USO poster of 1941, art by Walt Disney: Donald Duck in a sailor suit waves four servicemen toward a USO doorway](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/come-on-fellows-the-usos-for-the-usa-disney-1941.jpg)

![Walt Disney Productions scrap-drive poster of 1941: Mickey Mouse and Pluto gather scrap, rubber, paper, rags and fats](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/get-in-the-scrap-disney-1941.jpg)

![Walt Disney Productions comic strip of 1941: Donald Duck and his nephews feed bananas to a bear under a Do not feed the bears sign](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/disney-bear-poster-do-not-feed-the-bears-1941.jpg)

## Government posters with Disney art, 1943 to 1944

The Forest Service poster of 1943 carries a Walt Disney Productions copyright line beside its deer, rabbit and skunk, a mild [Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/) resting on [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/). In 1944 the War Manpower Commission credited "Walt Disney for O.W.I." on a poster that labels the reader a job hopper ([Name-calling](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/name-calling/)) and sets soldiers sticking to their guns against the worker.

![U.S. Forest Service poster of 1943: a cartoon deer with a rabbit and a skunk in tall grass under Please, Mister, don't be careless](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/please-mister-dont-be-careless-forest-fires-1943.jpg)

![War Manpower Commission poster of 1944, signed Walt Disney for O.W.I.: a cartoon grasshopper with a lunch pail and dollar bills walks from a factory](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/dont-be-a-job-hopper-1944.jpg)

## Der Fuehrer's Face, Popeye and Dr. Seuss

The Second War Loan poster takes its headline from the title of the 1942 Disney cartoon song "Der Fuehrer's Face". It was issued by the Treasury's War Finance Committee, not by Disney, and ridicules Hitler's caricatured face ([Name-calling](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/name-calling/), [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/)). A liquor-industry war-stamp poster does the same for Japan with Popeye, the Fleischer-era comic sailor. Douglas Aircraft's production-drive sheet credits an original drawing "by Dr. Suess" (as printed): about thirty cheerful workers in one car, a crowd moving one way ([Bandwagon](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/bandwagon/)) drawn as ordinary people ([Plain folks](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/plain-folks/)).

![U.S. Treasury poster of 1942: a fist in a star-spangled sleeve strikes a caricature of Hitler under Right in Der Fuehrer's Face](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/right-in-der-fuehrers-face-invest-now-1942.jpg)

![War Stamp Council poster of 1941: Popeye with a raised fist under the headline Let's blast 'em Japanazis](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/lets-blast-em-japanazis-buy-war-stamps-1941.jpg)

![Douglas Aircraft War Production Drive sheet of 1941, from an original drawing by Dr. Seuss: workers packed into a small red car singing Hi Ho](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/squeeze-in-one-more-douglas-war-production-drive-1941.jpg)

## Private Snafu, 1945

The Army's Private Snafu shorts began in 1943 as orientation cartoons for soldiers, produced by the First Motion Picture Unit with scripts mostly by Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) and animated at Warner Bros. The two frames below come from the series' last shorts, released October and December 1945. Both draw Japanese figures by exaggeration, the same [Name-calling](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/name-calling/) by image seen in Allied and Japanese caricature alike (see [Anti-Japanese posters](https://propagandaarchive.org/ww2-propaganda-posters/anti-japanese-posters/)).

![U.S. War Department Private Snafu short No Buddy Atoll, 1945: a dazed naval officer with an ape-like jaw lies on the ground beside a sword](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/private-snafu-no-buddy-atoll-officer-caricature-1945.jpg)

![U.S. War Department Private Snafu short Operation Snafu, 1945: a soldier with round glasses and protruding teeth holds a sword before Mount Fuji](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/private-snafu-operation-snafu-sword-caricature-1945.jpg)

## What the collection does not hold

- **Not here:** Dr. Seuss's editorial cartoons for the newspaper PM (1941 to 1943) or his Navy posters; the one Seuss item is the Douglas sheet above.
- **Not here:** frames from Disney's own wartime shorts, including "Der Fuehrer's Face"; the poster only borrows its title.
- **Not here:** evidence of audience effect. The items show what was issued, not how it landed.

Related: [war bonds posters](https://propagandaarchive.org/ww2-propaganda-posters/war-bonds/), [rationing and salvage posters](https://propagandaarchive.org/ww2-propaganda-posters/rationing-and-salvage/), [WW2 propaganda films](https://propagandaarchive.org/ww2-propaganda-films/).

Sources and further reading

## Sources

National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Posters; Wikimedia Commons (Treasury poster, from…

National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Posters; Wikimedia Commons (Treasury poster, from NARA); Internet Archive, Private Snafu collection (Public Domain Mark 1.0). Credit lines are as printed on each sheet.

## Disney, Dr. Seuss and WWII cartoon items in the collection

Showing 12 of 12 objects. [Filter the whole collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/).

- [I get exasperated at people who squawk (Donald Duck)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/appreciate-america-donald-duck-squawk-1941/) (United States · 1941 · Testimonial, Transfer)
- [Come on gang, all out for Uncle Sam (Mickey Mouse)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/appreciate-america-mickey-mouse-all-out-1941/) (United States · 1941 · Testimonial, Bandwagon, Transfer)
- [Come on fellows! The USO's for the U.S.A.](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/come-on-fellows-the-usos-for-the-usa-disney-1941/) (United States · 1941 · Transfer, Bandwagon)
- [Donald Duck and the bear (Disney, do not feed the bears)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/disney-bear-poster-do-not-feed-the-bears-1941/) (United States · 1941 · Transfer)
- [Get in the scrap!](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/get-in-the-scrap-disney-1941/) (United States · 1941 · Transfer)
- [Let's blast 'em Japanazis! Buy war stamps here, now!](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/lets-blast-em-japanazis-buy-war-stamps-1941/) (United States · 1941 · Name-calling, Transfer). Content note: Cartoon wartime poster using the coined epithet 'Japanazis' for the enemy, shown as printed.
- [Help win the war: Squeeze in one more](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/squeeze-in-one-more-douglas-war-production-drive-1941/) (United States · 1941 · Bandwagon, Plain folks)
- [Right in Der Führer's Face! Invest Now... Buy More Bonds](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/right-in-der-fuehrers-face-invest-now-1942/) (United States · 1942 · Name-calling, Transfer). Content note: Caricature of Hitler with swastikas on the face being punched.
- [Please, Mister, don't be careless. Prevent forest fires. Greater danger than ever!](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/please-mister-dont-be-careless-forest-fires-1943/) (United States · 1943 · Transfer, Fear appeal)
- [Don't be a job hopper](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dont-be-a-job-hopper-1944/) (United States · 1944 · Name-calling, Transfer)
- [Private Snafu: No Buddy Atoll, frame of a dazed Japanese naval officer caricature](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/private-snafu-no-buddy-atoll-officer-caricature-1945/) (United States · Oct 8, 1945 · Name-calling). Content note: Animated caricature of a Japanese naval officer with an ape-like jaw, knocked out on the ground.
- [Private Snafu: Operation Snafu, frame of a sword-carrying Japanese soldier caricature](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/private-snafu-operation-snafu-sword-caricature-1945/) (United States · Dec 22, 1945 · Name-calling). Content note: Animated caricature of a Japanese soldier with exaggerated buck teeth and squint, holding a sword.