Forbidden Animation in Seattle
There's an intriguing animation festival in Seattle this weekend (running through Thursday) called "The Dennis Nyback Forbidden Animation Festival: Beyond Spike and Mike." According to a Seattle Times article, the festival will showcase Nyback's vast collection of rare propaganda films, many of which would probably be considered highly offensive by today's standards. The films are grouped among such themes as "Strange and Vicious War Cartoons," "Offensive Exploitation Animation," "Cartoons Too Violent for Children" and others.
Apparently, one night will be devoted to a "Dark Side of Dr. Seuss" program, which includes a series of World War II propaganda films written by "Cat in the Hat" author, Theodore Geisel:
"Nyback... is intrigued by a story behind Seuss' war films: studies showed that soldiers didn't react well to standard training films, but really paid attention to cartoons. 'I think this is one reason why animation is used so much in advertising. There's something almost primal — it might go back to cavemen doing art on the walls. Line drawings in art connect with people's brains, in a way that pictures don't."
