Nazi Donald Duck??? WTF???

Donald Duck stars in at least eight of these government-sponsored shorts and his popularity bombs. The most insane film was Der Fuehrer’s Face, based around the popular Spike Jones parody song “Der Fuehrer’s Face,” which reached #3 on the charts. In this film, Donald Duck is a

Screenshot from Der Fuehrer's Face (1943)

Nazi??? Yeah, you didn’t misread this; in this short, Donald Duck wears a Nazi uniform, does the “Heil Hitler” salute dozens of times, and helps build shells for the German Army. The point of the film is to show that “Nazi Land” (Nazi Germany) is no Aryan paradise; it’s a totalitarian nightmare characterized by forced worship and dronish obedience to authority (hence Donald must give the “Heil” salute every time he sees a picture of the Führer (Adolf Hitler), harsh wartime rationing meaning little food, and grueling 48-hour work days on an assembly line no one can keep up with.  It’s also an actual nightmare that Donald wakes up from at the end. I totally get the purpose of this cartoon, and Disney gets the message across with some classic animation, but it’s still unsettling a very disturbing to see a Nazi Donald Duck heiling Hitler so much. Thanks, for the nightmares...