If you’re a die-hard Disney fan, you’ve probably seen a lot of the short films the animation studio has made over the years.
Whether you’re into Pixar shorts, Mickey Mouse shorts, or the OG mini-films that made Disney famous in the first place, there are plenty to watch. But some of those videos are buried pretty deep and can be hard to find. We recently came across a Disney short film that is probably not what you’d expect from the entertainment company!
Back in 1942, the United States of America was in the middle of World War II. In an effort to fund war efforts, the government passed the Revenue Act, meaning that many Americans who were previously exempt were now required to file tax returns. To help explain the confusing process, Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau enlisted the help of Walt Disney.
You may think this was an odd choice, but according to TIME, Walt Disney “was already heavily involved in making films to boost the war effort” during that time. As a result, Disney made a short film called The New Spirit, which starred Donald Duck and explained to the public how they should fill out a tax form. The film was finished in just four weeks, even though these short films typically took 6-8 months to complete. Check it out below.
So there you go — Disney once made an entire short film just to tell you to pay your income taxes. How bizarre! The film has a lot of propaganda for the war as well, likely hoping to invoke a sense of patriotism to soften the blow of taxes.
Thankfully, we now have online tools to help us with the process and we don’t have to rely on the wisdom of Donald Duck. But, there’s still a connection between Disney and taxes — we’re willing to bet that a lot of tax refunds are paying for trips to Disney World this summer! ?
We’ll make sure to keep you updated with any more strange Disney facts and history, so stay tuned to AllEars.
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Have you ever seen this short before? Tell us in the comments!
Some may wonder why the music in this short repeatedly references the opening notes of Beethoven’s Fifth.
The watchword among WWII allies was “Victory”. You may remember Churchill raising his hand with two fingers extended in a “V” as a symbol for Victory.
The letter “V” in Morse Code is dot-dot-dot-dash; which matches the rhythm of Beethoven’s four notes.
The same notes are the first used in the movie “The Longest Day” about the D-Day invasion.