Victory Through Airpower (part 1 of 3)

Title: Victory Through Air Power
Studio: Disney
Date: 07/17/43
Credits:
Major Alexander P. de Seversky in ...
Director of Photography ... Ray Rennahan, A.S.C.
Art Direction ... Richard Irvine
Color Direction ... Natalie Kalmus
Associate ... Morgan Padelford
Sound Recording ... C.O. Slyfield / Lodge Cunningham
Production Manager .. Dan Keefe
Film Editor ... Jack Dennis
Interior Decoration ... William Kiernan
Narrated by ... Art Baker
Scenes with Major Seversky Directed by H.C. Potter
Animation Supervision
David Hand
Story Direction
Perce Pearce
Story Adaptation
T. Hee
Erdman Penner
William Cottrell
Jim Bodrero
George Stallings
Jose Rodriguez
Sequence Directors
Clyde Geronimi
Jack Kinney
James Algar
Music
Edward Plumb
Paul J. Smith
Oliver Wallace
Art Direction
Herbert Ryman
Don Griffith
Donald Da Gradi
Bill Herwig
Tom Codrick
Cliff Devirian
Charles Philippi
Glen Scott
Elmer Plummer
Karl Karpe
Backgrounds
Al Dempster
Dick Anthony
Claude COats
Ray Huffine
Bob Blanchard
Joe Stahley
Nino Carbe
Animation
Ward Kimball
Josh Meador
John Lounsbery
Carleton Boyd
Hugh Fraser
Bill Justice
George Rowley
Ed Aardal
John Sibley
John McManus
Norm Tate
Oliver . Johnston, Jr.
Bill Tytla
Marvin Woodward
Harvet Toombs
Series: (Feature)
Running time (of viewed version): 1:09:47 (with Leonard; again, when I click on the words "Victory Through Air Power", I don't want to see someone introducing it; just have a feature length commentary I can choose to listen to; and make it so I can switch back and forth between commentary and film; Tron anniversary DVD, I'm looking at you), 1:05:14ish without
Commercial DVD Availability: OTFL

Synopsis: A history of aviation is followed by an attempt to convince the US to build long range bombers.
































Comments: Disney's secondish feature of the year (it is at least the second one I'm covering). People (at least me, traditionally) think of this movie even less than the package features. In spite of my dislike for the Maltin intro's placement, it is informative, with its bit of "this cartoon made FDR commit to long range bombing and so changed history", and "distributors didn't like it so Disney released it through UA". Opening text following the titles with simpering music makes me expect we will jump into comedy. Lots of paper images. I wonder if pushing in on a talking head (of, presumably, Billy Mitchell) in a paper was an impressive effect at the time. Newspaper fashion art style longshot of Kitty Hawk. Tex Avery style bug eyed people (I may be putting slightly later Tex; also; it's not Tex tit eyes). Many stills of plane plans. England was no longer separated from the rest of Europe by an impassable body of water? I think the Vikings would put an earlier date than 1910 on that (not to mention the Romans, the Celts, etc.). Plane shadow shot. Old "shoot the propeller" joke (tho it is of course true). Little character animation, lots of plane animation; I wonder if this easier, or a unique challenge. More papers. Complex planes that are just paintings with (sometimes) animated props. I wonder who's ont he cover of Life. Looks like Liz Taylor, but that's impossible. I think the big newspaper pages are real; otherwise, Disney was intentionally putting in stories like "Kills Herself and Children" into the papers. Is the tourist in the back of the barnstormer Walt? Sounds like a cut after the bombing of Cologne.