Guest Article About World War II

Above: Picture taken from a WWII-era Woody Woodpecker cartoon.

Let's take a look at World War II, the time when many of the great cartoon characters in history were created. 

The Heart Of World War II

Author: Paul Wise

World War II continues to capture the imagination like no other conflict in history. A large part of this may well be because it is the most recent traditional war - as popularly imagined. While any number of large-scale conflicts have arisen since then, none have been "traditional" as World War II has been. Most wars are between generally unequal powers. After all, no one bothers fighting unless they think they can win - or are forced to.

However, in World War II, though it started out as the usual big-power-attacks-small-power conflict, big powers - the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union - soon joined in and the conflict expanded worldwide almost overnight. Thus World War II was the kind of war we all know and even "love" - a "set-piece" conflict with a real good versus evil theme.

For most wars are over trifling matters; a hill here, a river there. World War II was literally a cultural war, where not only territory was at stake but the very nature of civilization itself, the form it would take for the next several decades or, even, as envisioned by Adolf Hitler, centuries. WWII's case involved the most amount of nations which had 2 military operating alliances, the Allies and the Axis, which began at the beginning of September 1939 with an unseen invasion by Poland.

This was the most widespread battle throughout history, with over 100 million personnel mobilized. It was the only war which contributed global saturation by use of deadly nuclear weapons that have also changed the face of this earth. Not to mention the brutal actions against civilians known as the Holocaust. It has the highest number of fatalities of over 50-75 million casualties. This battle was mostly for power rather than the unconditional relief of another. The United Nations was then instructed and practically developed for the sake of international cooperation to prevent another war. But as the superpowers emerged as rivals, cooperation soon transformed into "The Cold War", which was later resumed by U.S.A. and the USSR for the next 46 years.

It was a war to determine the way of life that should exist in Europe, and by extension as the world's center of geopolitical gravity at the time, the whole planet. Another factor accounting for the enduring appeal of World War II is the personalities of its leading antagonists. Although Japan(Hirohito) and China(Chiang Kai-Shek) were already at war since the beginning of 1937, the support which lost the naval battle against the US, Franklin D. Roosevelt, reluctantly made the invasion on Home Islands imminent and had also lost their chance to expand towards East Asia.

Adolf lost as well just about the same time the Japanese naval battle was lost, except Berlin was to encounter the final attack by Joseph Stalin and the Soviets. The Soviets then took over Berlin which consequently sent an unconditional surrender letter by the SS Germans in May 1945, which was also the conclusion of the life-long battle of World War II. As soon as this was settled, the aforementioned superpowers were at their own war with weapons ready to fire at one another. The European colonies recovered economically as well as the decolonization of Asia and Africa. The battles were bloody and fatal, the weapons showed no mercy, but the outcome was the greatest feeling to have ever attained by the allies, victory lead towards a new beginning.

There was Winston Churchill, an imperialist leading the charge against Hitler in the name of "freedom;" there was Roosevelt, a blue-blood with especially democratic beliefs allied with the imperialist Churchill and a totalitarian dictator no better than Hitler, Josef Stalin of the Soviet Union, whose own anti-Semitic views and actions were simply overlooked. Then there was the gangster-king Chiang Kai-Shek in China and his equally brutal nemesis Mao Tse Tung, battling for control of one-fifth of humanity against the also-brutal cabal of military nationalists in Japan.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/writing-articles/the-heart-of-world-war-ii-3180352.html


About the Author

Article by Paul Wise. When it comes to analyzing the concepts of World War II, Paul recommends Articlesassets.com for detailed analytics.

Inspector Gadget Worth Checking Out

I am watching the live-action Inspector Gadget movie from 1999. Although he is not from the Golden Age of cartoons, he is a great character and worth a post. For more information on Inspection Gadget, visit: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085033/

Look Back ...

Top Film Stars of the 1940's

Author: Carl DiNello

Note from blog administrator: Let's take a look back at the 1940s. This is the decade when Woody Woodpecker, Andy Panda and other Golden Age toons were in their prime and America was engulfed in World War II.

Having to once again endure war years, Hollywood, and its top film stars of the 1940's, continued to provide quality entertainment to their audience. Although the early part of the decade provided financial challenges to the entire nation, Americas desire for entertainment was still in great demand. In an effort to meet the demand, and continue with its Golden Era, Hollywood was once again successful in providing a number of talented new stars and producing many popular films.

One of the most iconic movie stars of this period, or any peried, was Bette Davis. Davis has been regarded by numerous feminist historians as one of the most influential actresses in leading the way for more important and meaningful women's roles on the silver screen.

Her film accomplishments are legendary, having won two Best Actress Awards for her roles in Jezebel (1938) and Dangerous (1940). She would also receive five more Oscar nominations for her performances in Dark Victory (1940), The Letter (1941), The Little Foxes (1942), Now Voyager (1943) and Mr. Skeffington (1944). Her talent has firmly established Bette Davis as one of the most honored and respected actresses in Hollywood history.

During the 1940's, Davis would become one of Hollywood's highest paid actresses, and used her notoriety and wealth to contribute greatly to supporting the World War II effort by assisting the Hollywood Canteen's programs for GI's who passed through the Los Angeles area.

Another 1940's film icon, and one of Hollywood's most popular stars, was the great Humphrey Bogart. During this decade, Bogart deservedly earned his reputation in Hollywood as one of their most talented and hardest working stars.

Bogart's impact on the silver screen was huge. Some of his more notable staring roles included High Sierra (1941), The Maltese Falcon (1941), and the classic war time propaganda film Casablanca (1942). His role in Casablanca would earn him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor, launching him into stardom and making him the highest paid actor in Hollywood.

Some of Humphrey Bogart's most popular roles were those in which he teamed up with actress Lauren Bacall. The most notable being To Have and Have Not (1944), The Big Sleep (1946), Dark Passage (1947), and the famous and memorable Key Largo (1948).

The success of their screen pairing carried over to their personal lives as the two stars would eventually be married and come to be recognized as the "star power couple" of Hollywood.

Another movie fan favorite to kick off a very successful film career in the 1940's was femme fatale Rita Hayworth. Although she began making films during the 1930's, it was her role in Gilda (1946) that put her on the map as major movie star and sex symbol.

With one little strip of a glove, while dancing in Gilda, she managed to cement her image into American film audiences. This audience would continue their love affair with the beautiful actress in the black satin dress with that sultry, wavy auburn hair for many years to come.

Take some time to explore these films as the 1940's was a great decade for film stars and the many enjoyable films they made.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/movies-articles/top-film-stars-of-the-1940s-3279870.html


About the Author

Carl DiNello is a Blog Owner whose passion is Hollywood history and those movies from the 1920s - 1950s that make up this rich history.

Hollywood Movie Memories...Movies to Remember and Discover!

Enjoy reading more Hollywood Movie Memories Reel Talent Articles.

Guest Article About Changes in Animation

Early Cartoons - How Did the Animation Go Wrong?

Author: CaitlinFulle


For example, have you ever compared a 1940's Looney Tunes cartoon to a 1960's Flintstones cartoon?
You know before I begin, if you're interested, why don't you Google, sit back relax and take a look at the two cartoon videos I listed below. See if you can point out something different about them, and of course you don't have to watch them. But if you can for fun, just take a peak.

The first video is a Looney Tune cartoon short of Daffy Duck/Elmer Fudd called To Duck or Not to Duck. The cartoon short was a Warner Bros. production that was released to theaters in 1943. Yes, that's right 1943...

The second show is a Flintstones cartoon, No Help Wanted, which premiered on ABC's TV network in 1960. Yes, Once again 1960...

So go head, don't be afraid to give it a shot, take a look and I'll come back later. Trust me, I'll be right back.
Okay, so notice any differences? Yes? Of course you did! But for fun let's assume you didn't.

Though by looking at the two videos it's blatantly obvious that the animation in Looney Tunes seem much more fluent and exciting. Personally, I was drawn in by the exaggerations of the animation. Where as, the Flintstones portrayed little to no animation movements at all. In fact, I was getting very annoyed by the constant isolation of the bobbing heads.

I was having constant reminders of driving to work, seeing the Bobblehead bobbing back and forth in the corner of my eye on the dashboard. With all honesty, I can't believe this was even considered to be a form of animation. But hey, I guess it falls under the same thought of Taylor Swift being a country artist.

So why the step back? Why is a 1943 cartoon more visually appealing than a 1960 cartoon? (And even some of today's cartoons.)

Simple, ready for it?

Back in the 1940's and even before the 1940's, cartoons were called 'theatrical cartoon shorts'. These cartoons were originally released to theaters and only theaters. They were considered side shows or previews for a premiering live action film. Most cartoon shorts were only about 5-7 minutes long hence, the reason they were called 'shorts'.

Woody Woodpecker was among characters created in the 1940s.

But the real key to why these cartoon shorts were more appealing than early TV cartoon shows were due to a few things.

First, there were on average, approximately 10-13 theatrical cartoon shorts produced per year for a giving studio, with each cartoon being only a few minutes long. However, for TV cartoon shows, studios were producing a new show each week with a total run time of approximately 20 minutes.

Of course to effectively produce a 20 minute show each week, the quality of the animation had to be cut. Often times animation cells or backgrounds would be re-used multiple times in different shows. (You'd probably noticed this a lot.)

For animators and the animation studio, the process wasn't very fun, challenging or thrilling. But as for networks, they did not care if the animation was good or bad. The only thing they cared about were the ratings.

But wait... There's more...

Animation studios for TV networks were given very small budgets. In the early 1950's studios were given approximately $2,500-$3,000 to produce a 20 minute cartoon. Does it sound like a lot? Well it does until you compare the cost it took to produced the worlds first Technicolor cartoon short Flowers and Trees (1932), which turns out to be a whooping $27,500 with a runtime of 8 minutes.

Honestly, I can't even imagine animating a 20 minute cartoon show for a mere $3,000, talk about trimming out the fat. Though, if being pushed on the brink of an edge; there are only two options, fall over or push your way out. Luckily, these animators and animation studios found a way to push their way back into the cartoon animation business. Otherwise, we'd all be stuck here watching Desperate Housewives and Days of Our Lives.



Dominique Edwards is the founder and owner of Netoonime: The Evolution of Cartoonime, a website for cartoon and anime fans that offers fun and entertainment in many different forms, such as: quizzes, informed and personal articles, polls, discussions, trivia, puzzle games, and video clips that are based on cartoon and anime shows, movies, and history.




Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/art-and-entertainment-articles/early-cartoons-how-did-the-animation-go-wrong-4131520.html

Bugs Bunny WWII Cartoon!

Bugs Bunny War Bond Drive World War II Cartoon http://dld.bz/3BcU 


Check it out. I just love the Looney Tunes and Walter Lantz cartoons from the golden age of animation. I am glad kids who grew up in the 1970s and '80s still got to see these cartoons on television. 

Funny Beast Graphic

This graphic has been circulating on Facebook. I thought it appropriate to share this graphic of pop culture figures on my blog.

Presenting....Beast and His Amazing Anthropomorphic Friends!

Golden Age Team JSA Set to Return

DC Comics has finally announced the Justice Society of America will be back sooner than later!

Read More at: http://www.digitalspy.com/comics/news/a337530/justice-society-new-project-confirmed-by-dc-comics.html

Great Justice Society of American news also available at: http://ifanboy.com/articles/fanexpo11-dc-announces-justice-society-of-america-with-james-robinson-and-nicola-scott/

For a list of all Justice Society of America members visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Justice_Society_members