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The Spirit of '43
The Spirit of '43 is an American animated World War II propaganda film created by Walt Disney Studios and released in January 1943.[3] The film stars Donald Duck and features writer/designer Carl Barks' prototype for the character Scrooge McDuck.[4] It is a sequel to The New Spirit. The purpose of the film is to encourage patriotic Americans to file and pay their income taxes faithfully in order to help the war effort. The repeated theme in the film is "taxes to defeat the Axis". The film is in the public domain[5] and therefore can be seen on many gray market videos[6] as well as official Disney releases.[7] HistoryThe title is an allusion to the expression "Spirit of '76" (referring to the sentiment around the American Revolution in 1776). The plot of the second film recycled from The New Spirit involves how taxes are used to develop war materials to destroy the Axis. The Spirit of '43 was released in 2004 as part of the two-disc DVD collection of Walt Disney Treasures. Since then, it has fallen in the public domain due to wartime films made for the U.S. government. PlotIn the film, Donald Duck is portrayed as an everyman who has just received his weekly pay. He is met by two physical manifestations of his personality—the classic "good angel on one shoulder, bad devil on the other shoulder" dilemma common to cartoons of the time—identified as the "thrifty saver" and the "spendthrift". The "good duck" appears as an elderly duck in Scottish garb who urges Donald to be thrifty with his money so he can pay his taxes and help the war effort. The "bad duck" appears as a zoot suit-wearing hipster who urges Donald to spend his money on idle pleasures such as "good dates". The good duck reminds him of other "dates": the dates when his taxes are due.[8] The narrator explains that Americans should "gladly and proudly" pay their income taxes which are higher than ever that year "thanks to Hitler and Hirohito".  A tug-of-war ensues between "spend" and "save" with Donald caught in the middle. Eventually the two burst apart and Donald sees them for who they really are: one a friend of Hitler, the other an American patriot. The narrator asks the audience whether they will "spend for the Axis" or "save for taxes". Donald chooses the latter and goes to pay his taxes with the good duck. The second part of the film is a montage entirely recycled from The New Spirit, showing how the taxes are being used to make planes, bombs, ships, and other war materials. It then shows them being used against Axis forces, along with the repeated slogan "taxes to (bury, sink, etc.) the Axis", accompanied by the opening bars of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony (the "V for Victory" theme).[9] Voice castHome mediaThe short was released on May 18, 2004, on Walt Disney Treasures: Walt Disney on the Front Lines.[10] References
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