Western Animation / Education for Death

The Making of a Nazi

"What makes a Nazi? How does he get that way? Well, let's look into the process..."

Education for Death: The Making of a Nazi is a Wartime Cartoon in the Classic Disney Shorts lineup, based on the Gregor Ziemer book of the same name and released on January 15, 1943. High production values aside, suffice it to say this is not your typical Disney cartoon — aside from some brief bits of comedy (particularly the retelling of Sleeping Beauty as an allegory of how Adolf Hitler "saved" Germany from democracy), this short was intended as a dead-serious message for American audiences, displaying just what destructive and terrifying methods the Nazis used to brainwash young Germans into becoming perfect soldiers for the Führer. Hence, the title.

The short is included on the DVD set "Walt Disney Treasures: On The Front Lines", uncut and uncensored and with a message from Leonard Maltin explaining the short and how horrific and chilling it truly is.

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This short provides examples of:

• Acceptable Breaks from Reality: At the time of the film's release in 1943, the Nazi regime had lasted only 10 years, not long enough for the events of Hans's life to all happen to one person. Under the circumstances, the creators had no way of knowing how much longer Nazi Germany would last (only two more years, it turned out), and the film reflects the dark prospect of it potentially lasting indefinitely. However, the film prediction of children born in Germany becoming soldiers became reality when the Nazis started deploying Child Soldiers at the end of the war. In 1945, young boys born including 12 to possibly as young as 8 years old, were assigned to combat duties during the last stages of the war in 1945.
• Adolf Hitlarious: Hitler is depicted as a medieval knight coming to wake up Germany. He is caricatured as a complete angry fool, shouting gibberish, and provides the only comic relief in the entire cartoon.
• Artistic License – History:
  • A Nazi official comes to Hans's parents house saying they have to not coddle him anymore when he's sick or the state will intervene. In reality, while people with disabilities were indeed killed and sterilized under the Nazi eugenics programs, the Nazis weren't stupid enough to go after children just for being sick (that would have left them with fewer future soldiers, if nothing else).
  • The whole segment where Sleeping Beauty is being retold with Hitler as the Prince waking up Germany under the presumption that this is the way it's "being told under the New Order in Germany" has little basis in reality.
  • There WAS a well-known painting depicting Hitler as a knight which is referenced in this cartoon (see Shown Their Work below), and Nazi interpretations of folktales might have been practiced; however, there is little indication of widescale re-writing of folktales. Nazi children's stories (like „Der Giftpilz“ = "The Toadstool") were usually less allegorical and much more overtly racist.
  • While the Nazis indeed persecuted dissident Christians and tried to Nazify Christianity (apparently planning on wholly replacing it with an Aryan religion later if they could), they didn't switch out Bibles for Mein Kampf and crucifixes with SS daggers as is shown here, nor simply vandalize churches wholesale. However some similar things were done, such as removing "YHWH" inscriptions as they were deemed Jewish, or one instance where crosses were replaced with swastikas. The latter caused such protests however that it was quickly reversed. This bit was undoubtedly inspired by this FDR speech, which claimed that the Nazis planned to abolish all existing religions and "set up an International Nazi Church-a church which will be served by orators sent out by the Nazi Government. In the place of the Bible, the words of Mein Kampf will be imposed and enforced as Holy Writ. And in place of the cross of Christ will be put two symbols-the swastika and the naked sword." These claims about Nazi post-war plans are now known to have originated in a wartime forgery, so this is also an example of Dated History. Moreover, FDR was clearly talking about what the Nazis would do after they won the war and didn't claim this as something that was happening currently.
• As Long as It Sounds Foreign: Actually averted for the most part; the written and spoken German in the segments with Hans is entirely accurate. Played straight, however, in the Sleeping Beauty segment where Prince Adolf's speech to the newly wakened Princess Germany is garbled nonsense.
• Assimilation Academy: Hans' Nazi teacher uses the metaphor of a fox and a rabbit to teach that the strong have the right to dominate the weak. Hans expresses sympathy for the rabbit, and other boys laugh at him and his furious teacher makes him sit in a corner and wear a dunce cap. He starts yelling that he hates the rabbit, the first sign that he is becoming a proper Nazi.
• Berserk Button: The teacher gets really furious at Hans for pitying the weak rabbit instead of admiring the fox, yelling and screaming as he sends him to the corner.
• Book Burning: Near the end, the Nazis burn all the books they hate, which is Truth in Television.
• Brawn Hilda: The "Sleeping Beauty" Germany, when awakened, proves to be a fat, beer-swilling Valkyrie à la Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung.
• Celebrity Cameo: Hitler is depicted as a German knight. Later during the class room scene his portrait can be seen hanging on the wall, along with those of Joseph Goebbels and Hermann Göring.
• Chest of Medals: Hermann Göring's portrait is depicted having so many medals that they literally come out of the frame of the painting.
• Conscription: It is implied that when Hans comes of age, he will be drafted into the Wehrmacht to fight (and then die) as a soldier.
• Corrupt the Cutie: Hans starts out as a sweet, innocent child, but Nazi propaganda and training eventually mold him into a Nazi who sees, says and acts as the Nazis expect him too, completely devoid of freethought, mercy and compassion.
• Cradle-to-Grave Character: Over the course of ten minutes, Hans is born and presented before a Nazi judge, schooled in Nazi education and propaganda by his teachers as a young boy, takes part in the Nazis' atrocities, grows up into a soldier serving the Nazi regime, and is implied to die on the battlefield, leaving behind a cross marked with a Nazi swastika.
• Crapsack World: This short goes whole hog in presenting Nazi Germany as a horrible place to live in. To be specific, Hans Used to Be a Sweet Kid, but his parents (especially his mother) appear to be frightened of Nazi rule even though they can do nothing about it. And besides, the Nazi teacher is a prime example of how some adults bully their kids until the kids themselves act genuinely cruel, which, according to Leonard Maltin, "is shocking, just as it's meant to be." And it's implied that Hans will die in battle. In real life, it would have been even worse, as, when the Allies invaded Germany in 1945, Hans could have died as a Child Soldier no more than twelve years old.
• Creepy Changing Painting: After his teacher reprimands him for showing sadness towards a rabbit getting killed by a fox, Hans imagines the paintings of Hitler, Göring and Goebbels giving him a Death Glare. Inverted after Hans recants; the Hitler painting changes to look even cheerier than before.
• Cunning Like a Fox: Used by the Nazi teacher to demonstrate that the strong and cunning should naturally devour the weak and timid.
• Darker and Edgier: Compared to the vast majority of Disney productions, especially when contrasted with Der Fuehrer's Face, an earlier Disney Wartime Cartoon with a lighter and more comedic tone. The fact that the Nazi regime indoctrinated many German youths to become hateful killers is something that actually happened in reality as opposed to being rooted in fiction easily makes this short a convincing contender for Disney's darkest cartoon, period.
• Dated History: Goebbels's portrait at school portrays him as if he were trying to hide and learning in the classroom at the same time. This was because, at the time, there was a (now discredited) theory that Goebbels was the real ruler and Hitler just a puppet/poster boy for the regime.
• Deadpan Snarker: The narrator. He sarcastically criticizes Hans' pity for the rabbit, then praises Hitler and the teacher for corrupting the children.
• Deconstruction:
  • Of the Wartime Cartoon, because it shows how a child can be taught to believe in something as insane as Nazism. The Nazis in many wartime cartoons are caricatures, whose ideologies and demeanors come off as silly to the allied heroes, but this doesn't change the fact that they genuinely held onto those beliefs and were willing to kill to achieve them.
  • Also a rare deconstruction of the Kids Are Cruel trope. Here, Hans Used to Be a Sweet Kid, but, growing up in the Crapsack World that is Nazi Germany, he and all the other kids are brainwashed by their Politically Motivated Teacher into becoming mindless, cruel Hitler Youths with no room for their former kindness.
• Downer Ending: All of Hans' good traits are successfully stamped out by his Nazi teachers, and he grows up into a mindless, brainwashed soldier who willingly serves the evil Nazi regime. As he and his comrades march off into the distance, they fade away and are replaced with crosses, implying they will die in battle.
• Dunce Cap: Hans is forced to wear this when standing in the corner simply for showing sympathy for a rabbit, a weak creature, that gets eaten by a fox, a strong and cunning creature (see Felony Misdemeanor below). Incidentally, actual German dunce caps were of the French "donkey ears" variation, a fact that's ignored here.
• Dystopia Is Hard: Meta-example. Hans grew from birth to adulthood in Nazi Germany, which didn't last long enough for that to occur.
• Evil Is Hammy: Every single Nazi, especially Hans's teacher.
• Evil Laugh: The wicked witch's crackle, which is a reused audio clip of Evil Queen's hag form from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
• Evil Teacher: Hans' teacher is a fanatical Nazi who punishes Hans for not living up to the Nazi creed of violence and cruelty.
• Fat Bastard: Hans's teacher is obese and he's a cruel man who teaches children how to be hateful German supremacists, most notably humiliating Hans for even showing pity for the rabbit. Also, Hermann Göring makes a brief cameo as a photo too big to be contained in its frame.
• Fan Disservice: Downplayed since there's nothing sexual, but Hitler in the role of a romantic prince is not something anyone wants to imagine anytime soon.
  • Ditto with an overweight "Germania" as the princess. Animator Ward Kimball, who worked on the scene, even stated that she "was a caricature of Hermann Goering [sic]."
• Felony Misdemeanor:
  Narrator: He said, "The poor rabbit." Is he out of his mind?
• Fractured Fairy Tale: Sleeping Beauty is retold with Hitler as the prince driving the witch (democracy) away and Germany as the beauty being awakened.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: The two names at the top of the "Verboten" list are "Franklin" and "Winston." The rest are Jewish or Slavic names.
• Genre Deconstruction: It's not a typical Wartime Cartoon. Instead of showing you mindless, evil soldiers, the short demonstrates how an otherwise normal child becomes a mindless, evil soldier. And that their transformation is tragic, as is their death in battle. While animation studios would still produce conventional Wartime Cartoons later, the short reminds its audience that the laughable Nazis really do hold onto their beliefs, especially the part about killing for the regime's goals as a moral obligation.
• Germanic Depressives: Nazi Germany is presented as a depressing place, where every young boy is doomed to die for the Führer.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: The Nazi officials.
• Gratuitous German: It would be expected that the German language would be used in a movie about Nazis, but it's still surprising that it's not some gibberish like in many other propaganda cartoons of the time, but actual correct German (aside from whatever Hitler is spewing).
• A Hero Is Born: The story begins with Hans as a little baby, being presented by his parents to a Nazi judge as they prove that they are of pure Aryan blood. He is conscripted into the service of the Fuhrer from the very day he is born.
• He Who Must Not Be Named: When Hitler comes into view, the narrator simply refers to him as:
  "And the prince... well, you know who he is."
• Lohengrin and Mendelssohn: Lohengrin's "Bridal Chorus" is heard at the end of the "Sleeping Beauty" sequence, while Mendelssohn's recessional is played during the book burning scene.
• Marshmallow Hell: Hitler receives this from Princess Germany in the "Sleeping Beauty" segment.
• Massive Numbered Siblings: When Hans is born, his parents receive a passport with a page to write the names of up to 12 children, in line with Nazi Germany's expectation that they will produce many blonde, blue-eyed children in order to propagate the superior Aryan race. However, Hans ends up being his parents' only child that we see.
• Mood Whiplash: The comedic "Sleeping Beauty"/Ring of the Nibelung parody contrasts violently with the rest of the short. The short in general goes back and forth between dark moments and lighthearted ones. It starts out with showing a couple registering their child with the government in what looks like a big dark room; not exactly pleasant, but nothing edgy. Then, it gets more lighthearted with the "Sleeping Beauty" bit. Then it shows an ill Hans's mother trying to take care of him, and then a government official stepping in and warning her to stop coddling Hans or he'll be taken away by the state. Then, it gets softer again with an example of a classroom lesson where the kids are being taught that the future belongs to the strong and brutal. After that is when it starts getting really dark.
• National Stereotypes: Some stereotypical German imagery is used in the cartoon. During the Sleeping Beauty sequence, the woman is depicted as a Brawn Hilda character drinking from a stein. As she salutes Hitler, "Ride of the Valkyries" by Richard Wagner is quoted. All German children wear lederhosen.
• Nazi Protagonist: Hans is an ordinary young boy who has the bad luck to be growing up in Nazi Germany, expected by his country to serve the Führer as a soldier.
• No Indoor Voice: The Nazis very seldom speak in a casual voice — they tend to yell and scream.
• Parody: The "Sleeping Beauty" segment is actually a parody of Wagner's Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), where Siegfried (cited by German propaganda as a national hero) wakes the Valkyrie Brünnhilde from her magic sleep, "Sleeping Beauty" style. Hitler was on record as an admirer of Wagner.
• Peer Pressure Makes You Evil: Hans's transformation into a cold-blooded Nazi is triggered partly by the ridicule of both his classmates and teacher.
• Politically Motivated Teacher: The teacher of a class of boys in Nazi Germany actually wears a party uniform to work while he indoctrinates his pupils (actual teachers then didn't).
• Prince Charmless: In a German retelling of Sleeping Beauty, the prince turns out to be Adolf Hitler.
• Propaganda Machine: A US propaganda cartoon intended to show the enemy at his worst. Interestingly enough it's one of the few where the US army or eventual victory isn't mentioned at all.
• Public Domain Animation: In the USA, the copyright of this cartoon hasn't been renewed.
• Reality Has No Subtitles: The characters all speak in German with no subtitles, though the English-speaking narrator still provides context and it's fairly easy to understand what's going on.
• Regional Riff: When the chalkboard rabbit is hunted by the fox, the tune playing is Im Wald und auf der Heide, an old German hunting tune.
• Rotoscoping: Presumably used to animate the human characters.
• Rousseau Was Right: Hans actually used to be a pretty sweet and concerned kid. That is, until his teachers drove any compassion out of him.
• Sadly Mythtaken: The actual "Sleeping Beauty" has a wicked fairy, but no witch proper. Also, she never guarded the Sleeping Beauty. Of course, in the cartoon it seems to be implied that the Nazis have changed this for their propaganda (though that didn't actually occur).
• Shown Their Work:
  • The makers present the cartoon as an actual documentary, including having characters speak actual and accurate German to provide authenticity.
  • Right after the "Sleeping Beauty" segment, a painting is seen that shows Hitler as a knight in shining armor on horseback, carrying the swastika flag (obviously the template for the cartoonish "Prince Hitler" seen in the preceding scene). This is based directly on a real painting, „Der Bannerträger“ ("The Standard Bearer") by the Nazi artist Hubert Lanzinger (itself based on Albrecht Dürer's famous engraving, "The Knight, Death, and the Devil"), painted in 1936, and frequently reproduced in the Third Reich.
• Show, Don't Tell: Cleverly handled in the scene where the official consults a list of banned names to make sure Hans is an appropriate name for the baby. We are shown the list but not told why these names are banned. All one needs to do is read some of the legible names (Isaac, Simon, Miriam, Benjamin, Joseph) and you will get the idea. It's also shown briefly in the book burning, with the music of Mendelssohn being burned.
• Sinister Silhouettes: The Nazi officials can either have eyes or mouths but never both at the same time. The sole exception is Hans's teacher.
• Standard Snippet: Besides Richard Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" during the scene where Sleeping Beauty is saluting Hitler, reference is also made to his wedding march from Lohengrin. When the Nazis are shown burning Felix Mendelssohn's music, we hear a snippet of his wedding march from Ein Sommernachtstraum.
• Stock Audio Clip: The wicked witch Democracy's Evil Laugh is none other than the infamous cackle of the Evil Queen (as an old hag).
• Taught to Hate: Hans is naturally kind and feels pity for poor rabbit who gets eaten by the fox. His Nazi teacher humiliates Hans in front of his class for that answer, making him wear a dunce cap and sit in a corner. After getting the Death Glares from Hitler and his cronies' portraits and seeing his classmates give the "correct" answer, Hans declares to his teacher that he hates the rabbit now for being weak and cowardly. The teacher gives an evil smile and then teaches the class how to implement this hateful lesson for the real world. By the end of the short, Hans grows up to be a stone-cold soldier of the Third Reich with a permanent scowl on his face as he marches into war.
• Those Wacky Nazis: Deliberately averted. The only Nazi depicted as wacky is Hitler — and even, then it is meant to be ironic.
• Time Marches On: The cartoon is obviously a product of its time. Not only in its subject matter, but also in a lot of statements it makes that are actually wrong or simplified (but then, this is propaganda, which by design is supposed to be simplified). For instance, no explicit mention is made of antisemitism (implicit depictions, such as the list of banned names for children, are another thing) and a dramatic shocking moment is the scene where the Bible is replaced by Mein Kampf on the pulpit (along with a sword taking the place of the crucifix) after the book burnings, something the Nazis never did literally. One of Hitler's top aides, Rosenberg, did however demand that such measures be adopted, and Hitler's number two in the Party, Martin Bormann declared, "National Socialism and Christianity are irreconcilable."
• Title Drop: At the very end the narrator announces:
  "For now his education is complete. His education... for death."
• Today, X. Tomorrow, the World!: The infamous line "Heute gehört uns Deutschland — morgen, die ganze Welt!" is uttered by a Nazi rally leader as the mob proceed to burn the books and destroy the local church. The narrator translates this as "Today, we own Germany! Tomorrow, the whole world!"
• Tyke Bomb: Hans and his peers are raised to become mindless, arrogant killing machines for the Nazi state.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Reconstructed with Hans. Because of his indoctrination during his upbringing and education, he becomes an obedient servant of the state and hateful of anything he considers weak and inferior. He's implied to subsequently die in battle.
• Virtue Is Weakness: Hans's teacher is horrified when he expresses sympathy for the weak rabbit killed by the strong, cunning fox. Instead, he claims that the fox is to be admired and the rabbit hated because, according to the Nazis, Might Makes Right. After being the class fool for a day, Hans becomes a fanatic who screams that he hates the rabbit. Eventually, as Hans grows up, in him is "planted no seed of laughter, hope, tolerance, or mercy."
• Wartime Cartoon: The most serious of them all. The only other possible contender is Peace on Earth, and even that one was filled with cute little cartoon animals, even if they were living in a post-World War I world where humans had been wiped out.
• Wicked Witch: How the Nazi version of "Sleeping Beauty" depicts democracy.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Hans, and by extension, pretty much all the children of Nazi Germany.

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