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Education for Death

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

Heil Hitler!

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 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 F�hrer.

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. This short was also a runner-up on Jerry Beck's The 50 Greatest Cartoons list.

This short provides examples of:

Berserk Button: The teacher gets really furious at Hans for answering a question incorrectly, yelling and screaming as he does so.
Brawn Hilda: The "Sleeping Beauty" Germany, when awakened, proves to be a fat, beer-swilling Valkyrie � la Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung.
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 than the vast majority of Disney productions.
Deconstruction: Arguably of the Black and White Morality and Xenophobia in the usual anti-Nazi propaganda.
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).
Dystopia Is Hard: Meta-example. Hans grew from birth to adulthood in Nazi Germany, which didn't last long enough for that to occur.
Exactly What It Says on the Tin
Fan Disservice: The scene involving the aforementioned Sleeping Beauty Germany.
Felony Misdemeanor
Narrator: He said "The poor rabbit." Has he lost his mind?
Glowing Eyes of Doom / Sinister Silhouettes: The Nazi officials.
Laser Guided Tykebomb: Hans and company.
Marshmallow Hell: Hitler receives this from Princess Germany in the "Sleeping Beauty" segment.
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 a mother trying to take care of her ill child, 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.
Parody: The "Sleeping Beauty" segment is actually a parody of Wagner's Die Walk�re (The Valkyrie), where Siegfried (cited by German propaganda as a national hero) wakes the Valkyrie Br�nnhilde from her magic sleep, "Sleeping Beauty" style. Hitler was on record as an admirer of Wagner.
Poirot Speak: Though most of the German in the short is genuine, Prince Adolf's speech to the newly wakened Princess Germany is garbled nonsense.
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.
Sadly Mythtaken: The actual "Sleeping Beauty" has a wicked fairy, but no witch proper. Also, she never guarded the Sleeping Beauty.
Shown Their Work: All of the methods explained in the short were really used. On another note, most of the German spoken in the short was genuine.
Something Completely Different: Compared to other Disney shorts, this one really stands out � it's probably to Disney what Chuck Jones' "Old Glory" was to Looney Tunes.
Standard Snippet: Besides Richard Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries", 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.
Title Drop: At the very end: "For now his education is complete. His education... for death."
Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Hans.
User Operation Prohibit Flag: The DVD version's Maltin intro is unskippable and can't be fast-forwarded through.
Wartime Cartoon
Wicked Witch: How the Nazi version of "Sleeping Beauty" depicts Democracy.
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Hans, and pretty much all the children of Nazi Germany.