History WesternAnimation / TheDucktators

* ArtisticLicenceHistory: Mussolini is depicted as getting his ideas from Hitler, when in reality it was Mussolini who invented fascism and inspired Hitler. Further, Hitler and Mussolini [[WeAreStrugglingTogether were not friends in real life]] even as allies (to be fair, the Axis was basically an alliance only in name whose only common aspects were illiberalism and anti-Communism). Mussolini viewed Hitler as a dangerous parvenue who was stealing his spotlight, and Hitler saw Mussolini as a buffoon who wasn't even "Aryan". The two also had conflicting territorial claims in Austria that [[WhatCouldHaveBeen almost had]] the two nations [[LetsYouAndHimFight come to military blows]]. The main reason Mussolini entered Hitler's orbit was Italy's ejection from the League of Nations over his invasion of Ethiopia and the resulting international shunning Italy received for the invasion.

* AnAesop: "The Ducktators" shows that sometimes, [[ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption peace talks won't change the policies of evil dictators and that war is the only solution]]. The ducks nearly take over the world before the FDR peace dove decides to fight back, at which point they are easily subdued.

* AnAesop: "The Ducktators" shows that sometimes, peace talks won't change the policies of evil dictators and that war is the only solution. The ducks nearly take over the world before the FDR peace dove decides to fight back, at which point they are easily subdued.

* AmericaWonWorldWarII: The cartoon is obviously aimed at a U.S. audience, even with shouts like "Remember Pearl Harbor!" near the end. The Japanese are also the first ones to be beaten up.
* AndImTheQueenOfSheba: When the Japanese duck tries to tell a turtle he's not Japanese by showing him a badge that says "I'm Chinese"[[note]]with a Made in Japan mark on the bottom[[/note]], the turtle doesn't fall for it and keeps hitting him, saying "Yeah, and I'm mock turtle soup!".
* ArtisticLicenceHistory: Mussolini is depicted as getting his ideas from Hitler, when in reality it was Mussolini who invented fascism and inspired Hitler. Further, Hitler and Mussolini [[WeAreStrugglingTogether were not friends in real life]] even as allies (to be fair, the Axis was basically an alliance only in name whose only common aspects were illiberalism and anti-Communism) . Mussolini viewed Hitler as a dangerous parvenue who was stealing his spotlight, and Hitler saw Mussolini as a buffoon who wasn't even "Aryan". The two also had conflicting territorial claims in Austria that [[WhatCouldHaveBeen almost had]] the two nations [[LetsYouAndHimFight come to military blows]]. The main reason Mussolini entered Hitler's orbit was Italy's ejection from the League of Nations over his invasion of Ethiopia and the resulting international shunning Italy received for the invasion.

* {{Bowdlerize}}: In the versions distributed by Guild Films, the entire ending where the War Bonds soldier blasts the fleeing dictators and the dove shows his children his enemies as moose heads on the wall, followed by a message to buy War Bonds was cut, making the short end abruptly with the Jerry Colonna-esque rabbit hitting himself on the head. This edited version has been seen on many gray-market public domain VHS cassettes and [=DVD=]s and sometimes crops up on online video channels (though most video sites have the uncut version with the complete ending and the uncut version has been shown on Cartoon Network[[note]]on a ''[=ToonHeads=]'' special about Norm [=McCabe=]'s cartoons, though the clips showing caricatures of Hitler, Mussolini, and Hirohito (though some sources say the caricature is of Hideki Tojo) were shown on the ''[=ToonHeads=]'' special about World War II cartoons[[/note]] and is featured on the last volume of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD set).

* DarkIsEvil: Hitler duck hatched from a black egg.

* HeroicResolve: Only when the peace dove is trampled by Hitler, Mussolini and Tojo does he finally snap and fight back.

** When Hitler orders everybody to "Sieg Heil" one soldier claims: "I'm a sick hailer too!", while coughing and looking delirious.

* JapanTakesOverTheWorld: The Japanese duck puts a sign with "Japanese mandate island" on the back of a turtle.
* LemonyNarrator: The narrator has a very dry, sarcastic tone.

* ShoutOut: The rabbit with a moustache who says: "Busy little bee, aren't I?" is a caricature of comedian Jerry Colonna.

* UncleTomfoolery: the "I'm from South Germany" duck may be this, depending on whether you interpret him as intending to be a parody of black people, southern people, [[TakeAThirdOption or]] [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs both]].
* WarIsGlorious: The cartoon tells the audience that they can enlist in the army to make the defeat of the Axis come true.
* WarTimeCartoon: One of the most famous for its' particularly biting satire of the war.

Since the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, it has been seldom seen on television due to its explicit ties to the era, though the rare times it has been shown on TV usually is shown edited, barring its sole appearance on the Cartoon Network program Series/ToonHeads. As a result, it has fallen into PublicDomain. It's mostly interesting for historians or people interested in [[WarTimeCartoon wartime cartoons]].

"The Ducktators" is a 1942 WartimeCartoon released by Creator/WarnerBros and directed by Norm [=McCabe=], who would later direct "WesternAnimation/TokioJokio" (1943) too. It's notable for being a satirical allegory for UsefulNotes/WorldWarII depicting UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, UsefulNotes/BenitoMussolini and UsefulNotes/HidekiTojo (though some sources claim that the Japanese duck caricature is, in fact, Emperor Hirohito) as ducks and geese who take over a farm, while a peace dove (possibly based on [[UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt U.S. President Roosevelt]]) feels powerless to stop them. Near the end, after being trampled in a failed attempt to end the Ducktators' reign of terror peacefully, he decides to muster up the courage to defeat them. The short ends with a propaganda message to buy more war bonds and join the army.

Since the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, it has seldom been seen on TV due to its explicit ties to the era, though the rare times it has been shown on television usually is shown edited, barring its sole appearance on Cartoon Network. As a result, it has fallen into PublicDomain. It's mostly interesting for historians or people interested in [[WarTimeCartoon wartime cartoons]].

* ArtisticLicenceHistory: Mussolini is depicted as getting his ideas from Hitler, when in reality it was Mussolini who invented fascism and inspired Hitler. Further, Hitler and Mussolini [[WeAreStrugglingTogether were not friends in real life]] even as allies. Mussolini viewed Hitler as a dangerous parvenue who was stealing his spotlight, and Hitler saw Mussolini as a buffoon who wasn't even "Aryan". The two also had conflicting territorial claims in Austria that [[WhatCouldHaveBeen almost had]] the two nations [[LetsYouAndHimFight come to military blows]]. The main reason Mussolini entered Hitler's orbit was Italy's ejection from the League of Nations over his invasion of Ethiopia and the resulting international shunning Italy received for the invasion.

* ForgottenTrope: The "Birth Equals Cigar" trope is on display by Aduck Hitler's father in the opening scene.

* PropagandaMachine: This is a straight out US propaganda cartoon.

* TimeMarchesOn: Although the defeat of the Axis powers is predicted almost correctly, the Allied forces had a lot more trouble defeating them in real life. Here, Japan is defeated first and in one good blow, but in reality it was the last of the Axis countries to surrender.

Since the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, it has seldom been seen on TV due to being an UnintentionalPeriodPiece (though the rare times it has been shown on television usually is shown edited, barring its sole appearance on Cartoon Network. See below for more information). As a result, it has fallen into PublicDomain. It's mostly interesting for historians or people interested in [[WarTimeCartoon wartime cartoons]].

* CutShort and {{Bowdlerization}}: In the versions distributed by Guild Films, the entire ending where the War Bonds soldier blasts the fleeing dictators and the dove shows his children his enemies as moose heads on the wall, followed by a message to buy War Bonds was cut, making the short end abruptly with the Jerry Colonna-esque rabbit hitting himself on the head. This edited version has been seen on many gray-market public domain VHS cassettes and [=DVD=]s and sometimes crops up on online video channels (though most video sites have the uncut version with the complete ending and the uncut version has been shown on Cartoon Network[[note]]on a ''[=ToonHeads=]'' special about Norm [=McCabe=]'s cartoons, though the clips showing caricatures of Hitler, Mussolini, and Hirohito (though some sources say the caricature is of Hideki Tojo) were shown on the ''[=ToonHeads=]'' special about World War II cartoons[[/note]] and is featured on the last volume of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD set).

* NoFourthWall: A title card comes up with the note "Apologies to all the NICE DUCKS and GEESE who may be in the audience", meaning that the writers and animators are genuinely sorry for mocking the Germans and Italians.

* BreakingTheFourthWall: The black duck claiming to be from "South Germany" winks to the audience after saying his line.

** The black duck claiming to be from "South Germany" is an Afro-American man from the DeepSouth.

* ArtisticLicenceHistory: [[FanNickname Gooseolini]] is depicted as getting his ideas from [[FanNickname Aduck Hitler]], when in reality it was Mussolini who invented fascism and inspired Hitler.
** Further, Hitler and Mussolini [[WeAreStrugglingTogether were not friends in real life]] even as allies. Mussolini viewed Hitler as a dangerous parvenue who was stealing his spotlight, and Hitler saw Mussolini as a buffoon who wasn't even "Aryan". The two also had conflicting territorial claims in Austria that [[WhatCouldHaveBeen almost had]] the two nations [[LetsYouAndHimFight come to military blows]]. The main reason Mussolini entered Hitler's orbit was Italy's ejection from the League of Nations over his invasion of Ethiopia and the resulting international shunning Italy received for the invasion.

* MistakenNationality: To avoid being beaten up, [[FanNickname Hiducky Tojo]] tries to invoke this trope by claiming he is Chinese instead of Japanese, presenting an "I am Chinese" badge, but the badge has a subtitle ''Made in Japan'' label, which prevents the turtle from buying the ruse.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Subverted. The Hitler, Mussolini and Tojo birds all get beaten up and their heads are stuck on the wall.

* WarTimeCartoon: One of the most famous.

"The Ducktators" is a 1942 WartimeCartoon released by Creator/WarnerBros and directed by Norm [=McCabe=], who would later direct ''WesternAnimation/TokioJokio'' (1943) too. It's notable for being a satirical allegory for UsefulNotes/WorldWarII depicting UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, UsefulNotes/BenitoMussolini and UsefulNotes/HidekiTojo (though some sources claim that the Japanese duck caricature is, in fact, Emperor Hirohito) as ducks and geese who take over a farm, while a peace dove (possibly based on [[UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt U.S. President Roosevelt]]) feels powerless to stop them. Near the end, after being trampled in a failed attempt to end the Ducktators' reign of terror peacefully, he decides to muster up the courage to defeat them. The short ends with a propaganda message to buy more war bonds and join the army.

'''The Ducktators''' is a 1942 WartimeCartoon released by Creator/WarnerBros and directed by Norm [=McCabe=], who would later direct ''WesternAnimation/TokioJokio'' (1943) too. It's notable for being a satirical allegory for UsefulNotes/WorldWarII depicting UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, UsefulNotes/BenitoMussolini and UsefulNotes/HidekiTojo (though some sources claim that the Japanese duck caricature is, in fact, Emperor Hirohito) as ducks and geese who take over a farm, while a peace dove (possibly based on [[UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt U.S. President Roosevelt]]) feels powerless to stop them. Near the end, after being trampled in a failed attempt to end the Ducktators' reign of terror peacefully, he decides to muster up the courage to defeat them. The short ends with a propaganda message to buy more war bonds and join the army.

!! This cartoon provides examples of the following tropes:

* CutShort and {{Bowdlerization}}: When this cartoon was sold to Sunset Productions for television, the entire ending where the War Bonds soldier blasts the fleeing dictators and the dove shows his children his enemies as moose heads on the wall, followed by a message to buy War Bonds was cut, making the short end abruptly with the Jerry Colonna-esque rabbit hitting himself on the head. This edited version has been seen on many gray-market public domain VHS cassettes and [=DVD=]s and sometimes crops up on online video channels (though most video sites have the uncut version with the complete ending and the uncut version has been shown on Cartoon Network[[note]]on a ''[=ToonHeads=]'' special about Norm [=McCabe=]'s cartoons, though the clips showing caricatures of Hitler, Mussolini, and Hirohito (though some sources say the caricature is of Hideki Tojo) were shown on the ''[=ToonHeads=]'' special about World War II cartoons[[/note]] and is featured on the last volume of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD set).

* AllAsiansLookAlike: To avoid being beaten up, [[FanNickname Hiducky Tojo]] tries to invoke this trope by claiming he is Chinese instead of Japanese, presenting an "I am Chinese" badge, but the badge has a subtitle ''Made in Japan'' label, which prevents the turtle from buying the ruse.

Since the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, it has seldom been seen on TV due to being an UnintentionalPeriodPiece (though the times it has been shown on television usually is shown edited, barring its sole appearance on Cartoon Network. See below for more information). As a result, it has fallen into PublicDomain. It's mostly interesting for historians or people interested in [[WarTimeCartoon wartime cartoons]].