Academy screens WWII animation

Oct 10, 2003 by Ian Evans

Animated films from the World War II era will be the focus of a program at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Wednesday, October 22, at 8 p.m. Animation at War will present rarely seen 35mm prints of wartime animation from the major Hollywood studios in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Animation film historian Jerry Beck will introduce the evening and offer a historical perspective to this representative collection of films, which will include a 60th anniversary presentation of the Walt Disney film Victory through Air Power.

This film, which has not screened in Los Angeles for nearly twenty years and has rarely been seen since its original release on July 17, 1943, contains powerful wartime propaganda employing spectacular effects, historical events, an Oscar®-nominated musical score and humorous cartooning.

Other war-themed animated short subjects that will be shown include Blitz Wolf (MGM, Oscar nominee, 1942), Russian Rhapsody (Warner Bros., 1943), Song of Victory (Columbia, 1943), Reason & Emotion (Disney, Oscar nominee, 1943) and Out of the Frying Pan into the Firing Line (Disney, 1942).

The evening also will feature a one-night-only display of original animation artwork from these films.

Tickets for the program are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid I.D. They may be purchased by mail, in person at the Academy during regular business hours or, pending availability, the night of the screening when the doors open at 7 p.m. The Academy is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. For more information, call 310-247-3600.