“Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy— the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” -- President Franklin D. Roosevelt, addressing Congress and the American people on Dec. 8, 1941. More than 65 years after President Roosevelt’s timeless announcement, it is easy for us to regard America’s entry into World War II as inevitable. But before Roosevelt spoke those words, the average American would have defined himself as determinedly isolationist. If World War I had taught Americans anything, it was that intervention overseas was a waste of lives and resources. The conflict looming in Europe throughout the 1930s was a problem, but not one he saw as his to solve. All that changed on Dec. 7, 1941. With the attack on Pearl Harbor, it became apparent that the United States’ role in the war was to be an active one, and the national state of denial was crushed. America needed a massive propaganda effort to get a rattled public to move to support intervention as quickly as possible, and every branch of media would have to be involved—including the redheaded stepchild of the film industry: the animated cartoon. Golden age of animation
Wartoons - The History Club - Scout
