History WesternAnimation / TokioJokio

* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The cartoon is in black-and-white, just like contemporary newsreels. It happens to be one of the last wide-release WB shorts to be so.[[note]] Their ''Private Snafu'' shorts, produced by and for the military, continued to be in black-&-white.[[/note]]

* IdenticalLookingAsians: All Japanese people in this cartoon look alike: big glasses, buck teeth, imbecilic grin and small stature.

Director Norm [=McCabe=] left Warners soon afterwards to sign up for military service (making this his final WB cartoon, and his most notorious due to how much of an UnintentionalPeriodPiece it is, if online discussions about old cartoon shorts are anything to go by), but nevertheless decades later he saw all of his war time propaganda cartoons as an OldShame.

* AdolfHitlarious: Hitler shows up, wiggling his nose in confusion when he receives Hess' postcard.

[[ValuesDissonance Understandably]], the cartoon has been banned from public broadcast and distribution in America, falling into PublicDomain as a result. Nickelodeon actually ''did'' have this short in its library when it had the rights to air Warner Bros. cartoons as part of ''Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon''[[note]]both the Nick at Nite version and the daytime version that aired on weekends[[/note]], and ''could'' have aired it, but decided not to. Meanwhile, Cartoon Network aired clips of this [with show announcer, Leslie Framm, explaining how cartoons like ''Tokio Jokio'' and others around this time were particularly cruel to the Japanese] as part of their ''[=ToonHeads=]'' special on World War II cartoons[[note]]the clips shown were the title card, the air raid siren gag where it's just two Japanese guys taking turns sticking themselves in the butt with a needle and screaming, and the "Japanese club sandwich" sequence[[/note]]).

Director Norm [=McCabe=] left Warners soon afterwards to sign up for military service (making this his final WB cartoon), but nevertheless decades later he saw all of his war time propaganda cartoons as an OldShame.

[[ValuesDissonance Understandably]], the cartoon has been banned from public broadcast and distribution (Nickelodeon actually did have this short in its library when it had the rights to air Warner Bros. cartoons as part of ''Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon''[[note]]both the Nick at Nite version and the daytime version that aired on weekends[[/note]], and ''could'' have aired it, but decided not to, and Cartoon Network did air clips of this [with show announcer, Leslie Framm, explaining how cartoons like ''Tokio Jokio'' and others around this time were particularly cruel to the Japanese] as part of their ''[=ToonHeads=]'' special on World War II cartoons[[note]]the clips shown were the title card, the air raid siren gag where it's just two Japanese guys taking turns sticking themselves in the butt with a needle and screaming, and the "Japanese club sandwich" sequence[[/note]]), falling into PublicDomain as a result. Apart from the racially offensive content it's also an UnintentionalPeriodPiece. Director Norm [=McCabe=] left Warners soon afterwards to sign up for military service, but nevertheless decades later he saw all of his war time propaganda cartoons as an OldShame.

[[ValuesDissonance Understandably]], the cartoon has been banned from public broadcast and distribution (Nickelodeon actually did have this short in its library when it had the rights to air Warner Bros. cartoons as part of ''Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon''[[note]]both the Nick at Nite version and the daytime version that aired on weekends[[/note]], and ''could'' have aired it, but decided not to), falling into PublicDomain as a result. Apart from the racially offensive content it's also an UnintentionalPeriodPiece. Director Norm [=McCabe=] left Warners soon afterwards to sign up for military service, but nevertheless decades later he saw all of his war time propaganda cartoons as an OldShame.

"Tokio Jokio" is a [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation 1943]] WarTimeCartoon made in the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' franchise, directed by Norm [=McCabe=], who also directed ''WesternAnimation/TheDucktators'' (1942). It's basically an anti-Japanese propaganda vehicle, presented in the style of a {{Mockumentary}} and considered to be one of the most racist cartoons Warner Brothers ever made (though it is not one of the official WesternAnimation/CensoredEleven). The majority of the jokes present the Japanese as ugly, stupid, weak and incompetent, while the rest are just [[IncrediblyLamePun incredibly lame puns.]]

[[ValuesDissonance Understandably]], the cartoon has been banned from public broadcast and distribution, falling into PublicDomain as a result. Apart from the racially offensive content it's also an UnintentionalPeriodPiece. Director Norm [=McCabe=] left Warners soon afterwards to sign up for military service, but nevertheless decades later he saw all of his war time propaganda cartoons as an OldShame.

* AnimationLeadTime: When production began, Admiral Yamamoto was still alive, but he had been killed by the time it premiered.
* ArtisticLicenseHistory: The caricatures of admiral Yamamoto, general Masaharu Homma and even Rudolph Hess don't resemble them at all. The Japanese are also depicted as so weak and pathetic that, had this cartoon been realistic, it would beggar belief that they could be a threat to any other country.
* ArtisticLicensePhysics: The Japanese are all building a submarine while the boat is at the bottom of the ocean. None of them seem to have any problem working on this object while being under water. They don't even use breathing apparatus. Which makes you wonder why they would need a submarine in the first place?

** The Japanese sports journalist Red Togo-San is a pun on Red Torgerson.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: The caricatures of admiral Yamamoto, general Masaharu Homma and even Rudolph Hess don't resemble them at all.

* BreakingTheFourthWall: Most characters look straight into the camera at various points.

** The Japanese are depicted as so weak and pathetic that one wonders how these people could've ever been a threat if this cartoon were reality?

** Japanese admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is depicted as a villain in this cartoon. He was certainly responsible in planning the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, but later historical research has proven that he felt rather reluctant to attack to the USA -- not out of moral convictions, but in the belief that picking a fight with the US was just going to result in a Japanese defeat sooner or later. Of course, the makers of this cartoon couldn't have known this.

** Japanese admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is depicted as a villain in this cartoon. He was certainly responsible in planning the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, but later historical research has proven that he felt rather reluctant to attack to the USA. Of course, the makers of this cartoon couldn't have known this.

** TruthInTelevision at least for the first -- the official Japanese newsreel during the war ''was'' called "Nippon News" (日本ニュース). [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3wcIz0xFVE See here for an example]]

* AmericaWonWorldWarII: The cartoon was made to boost up the morale of the US audience.

* WartimeCartoon: One of the more notorious.

[[caption-width-right:350: ''[[JapaneseRanguage Reglettable incident, prease!]]'']]

"Tokio Jokio" is a 1943 WarTimeCartoon made in the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' franchise, directed by Norm [=McCabe=], who also directed ''WesternAnimation/TheDucktators'' (1942). It's basically an anti-Japanese propaganda vehicle, presented in the style of a {{Mockumentary}} and considered to be one of the most racist cartoons Warner Brothers ever made (though it is not one of the official "Censored Eleven"). The majority of the jokes present the Japanese as ugly, stupid, weak and incompetent, while the rest are just [[IncrediblyLamePun incredibly lame puns.]]

* CirclingVultures: The rooster who appears in the opening shot is revealed to be a Japanese vulture in disguise.

'''Tokio Jokio''' is a 1943 WarTimeCartoon made in the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' franchise, directed by Norm [=McCabe=], who also directed ''WesternAnimation/TheDucktators'' (1942). It's basically an anti-Japanese propaganda vehicle, presented in the style of a {{Mockumentary}} and considered to be one of the most racist cartoons Warner Brothers ever made (though it is not one of the official "Censored Eleven"). The majority of the jokes present the Japanese as ugly, stupid, weak and incompetent, while the rest are just [[IncrediblyLamePun incredibly lame puns.]]

* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The cartoon is in black-and-white, just like contemporary newsreels. It happens to be one of the last wide-release WB shorts to be so.[[note]] Their ''General Snafu'' shorts, produced by and for the military, continued to be in black-&-white.[[/note]]

** A Japanese baseballer is called "the King of Swat"; this was a play on the nickname of UsefulNotes/BabeRuth, the "Sultan of Swat".

** A Japanese baseballer is called "the King of Swat"; this was the nickname of UsefulNotes/BabeRuth.

* NoFourthWall: When Yamamoto talks about the chair reserved for him in the White House a title card explains that the following scene will show the ''actual'' chair reserved for him: the electric chair.[[labelnote:Fun Fact]] No one was ever specifically electrocuted for war crimes. Admiral Yamamoto was shot down over New Guinea in April 1943, coincidentally not long before this cartoon came out. Prime Minister Hideki Tojo survived the war but was hanged by the Nuremburg Commission for war crimes, as were nearly all of Japan's civilian and military leaders… with the notable exception of Emperor Hirohito, who was intentionally spared (this infuriated General [=MacArthur=] and likely led to his insubordination during Korea some years later). On the European side, Mussolini was shot by his own people, Hitler shot himself, Lord Haw-Haw was hanged, and Rudolf Hess died in prison in 1987.[[/labelnote]]

* AmericaWinsTheWar: The cartoon was made to boost up the morale of the US audience.

** Japanese admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is depicted as a villain in this cartoon. He was certainly responsible in planning the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, but later historical research has proven that he felt rather reluctant to attack to the USA. Of course, the makers of this cartoon couldn't have known this.[[labelnote:Fun Fact]] Yamamoto ended up being shot down over New Guinea in April 1943, coincidentally not long before this cartoon came out.[[/labelnote]]

* NoFourthWall: When Yamamoto talks about the chair reserved for him in the White House a title card explains that the following scene will show the ''actual'' chair reserved for him: the electric chair.

'''Tokio Jokio''' is a 1943 WarTimeCartoon made in the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' franchise, directed by Norm [=McCabe=], who also directed ''WesternAnimation/TheDucktators'' (1942). It's basically an anti-Japanese propaganda vehicle, presented in the style of a {{Mockumentary}} and considered to be one of the most racist cartoons Warner Brothers ever made. The majority of the jokes present the Japanese as ugly, stupid, weak and incompetent, while the rest are just [[IncrediblyLamePun incredibly lame puns.]]

* {{Bowdlerize}}: This cartoon is rarely seen on television due to it being very discriminative towards the Japanese and an outdated topic.

** Japanese admiral Yamamoto is depicted as a villain in this cartoon. He was certainly responsible in planning the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, but later historical research has proven that he felt rather reluctant to attack to the USA. Of course, the makers of this cartoon couldn't have known this.

* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The cartoon is in black-and-white.

** A literal listening post, aircraft spotter, catapult device, tricycle landing gear and mine sweeper are shown.

* JapanesePoliteness: The Japanese keep saying: "Oh, sorry, me so sorry, regrettable incident please" and variations there off.

* PublicDomainAnimation: The cartoon has fallen into public domain.

** The Japanese sports journalist Red Toga-San is a pun on US sportsjournalist Red Torgerson.
** The donkey radio presenter Lord Hee-Haw is a reference to William Joyce, aka ''Lord Haw Haw'', an American who worked for the Nazis and presented anti-American radio propaganda during the war. In 1945 he was arrested and hung in 1946 for high treason.
** The joke where Hitler receives a post-card from "a friend abroad", who is revealed to be Rudolph Hess in a prison, with the line "Wish you were here", refers to Hess' surprise landing in the UK in 1941, where he tried, without Hitler knowing about it, to make peace with the British. Instead he was made a prisoner immediately. When Hitler heard about this he was furious.

** A Japanese baseballer is called "the King of Swat", this was the nickname of UsefulNotes/BabeRuth.

* StuffBlowingUp: A Japanese man see an incendiary bomb, waits five seconds before approaching it, but gets blown up anyway.

* TimeMarchesOn: It's obviously a product of its time. However, one scene was even dated when this cartoon first came out. Admiral Yamamoto is targeted, but by the time this cartoon was released he was already killed when his plane was gunned down.
* WarTimeCartoon: One of the more notorious.
* WeaksauceWeakness: The Japanese army is depicted as primitive, weak, poor, badly equipped and a lot of their recruits are cowards, lack physical strength or frequently become the victim of their own stupidity.

** The Japanese sports journalist Red Toga-San is a pun on Red Torgerson.

* PropagandaMachine: This is a propaganda cartoon.

** The Japanese sports journalist Red Toga-San is a pun on Red Torgerson.