Disney-inspired Middle East propaganda

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on

Sadly, it’s come to this. Animation has been enlisted in the propaganda war between rival Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah. This shocking video from Hamas uses imagery inspired by Disney.

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  • amid

    hakuna matata indeed.

  • http://www.jessica-plummer.com Jessica Plummer

    thankfully the animation is bad. like BAD bad.

  • http://zekeyspaceylizard.blogspot.com Zekey

    I didnt realize I had the sound cut off when I watched this the first time. It’s very funny to watch because it’s so freaking hokey.

    Then I listened to it with the sound on, and felt sad. :[

  • http://rockitpack.blogspot.com :: smo ::

    has anyone made a well produced cartoon as of late promoting peace and nonviolence?

    if there’s anything i’ve learned from pokemon, it’s that fighting fire with fire doesn’t work too well. it can work but not well. but fighting fire with WATER that totally works!

    if anyone has a project like this or is aware of one being put together by a non profit, i’d be willing to help. i’d like to do good work for a good cause vs crap work to make money if that’s possible.

  • Joe

    Smo.. why not start your own? I’d be willing to help also!

  • http://www.animationarchive.org Stephen Worth

    The film promoting peace has already been made… Norman McLaren’s Neighbours. Someone should buy air time on this TV network and air it.

  • http://kitschensyngk.deviantart.com/ Kitschensyngk

    This ranks right up there with Farfur. Why do these people feel the need to drag children into this circle of hatred?

  • red pill junkie

    First it was Farfur, as Kitschensyngk pointed. Then it was a video game released this year by Hezbollah, and then this. Damn!

    Let’s not look at the political propaganda these efforts are trying to promote right now; or even if the animation has quality merits or not (let’s think this was probably done by self-taught amateurs using substandard means so objectively it’s not that bad, from an animation standpoint I SOLELY mean).

    What’s interesting to me is how these extremist groups are now exploring different venues through the use of novel technologies to spread their “philosophy”. They have realized these are much more effective methods to ensure there will be plenty of future generations willing to keep up the fight long after they’re gone. And that’s a sad thing indeed.

    But what really shocked me was when a man goes on saying “(this) is planting hatred among the palestinian children”, and suddenly a voice inside me screamed “what? MORE??”

    Now let’s spark debate here (indulge me). Do you think a Hamas militant would reply to our objections to this short clip saying that it is not so different to american children watching GI JOE cartoons back in the 80s? How would you respond?

  • http://niffiwan.livejournal.com/ Esn

    smo,

    I know of a few projects that might fit the bill which come from Russia (I’m interested in the Russian animation scene – there are probably others in other parts of the world). Russian cartoons have for a long time tried to promote peace and understanding – pretty much since WW2. Since the 1990s, certain people in Russia have tried to promote ethnic tensions for their own gain. Many people and studios in the Russian animation community are starting projects which are trying to counter this, and to counter all of the violence-packed foreign animation being widely shown on tv screens.

    Here are some:

    http://www.bardin.ru/engproject.htm
    “The Ugly Duckling”, an upcoming feature film which Garri Bardin is trying to find the funding for (the government is providing 1/3rd of the funding). I asked at the (now offline) forum back in early 2007, and was told that filming had already started despite the lack of money. Bardin’s a wonderful stop motion animator and great director. Pope John Paul II owned a copy of his film “Adagio”.

    http://www.multiskazka.ru/ (page is in Russian)
    “The Mountain of Gems”. A huge project by Pilot Studio, comprising 52 animated films of 13 minutes each (27 have been completed so far). The goal is to adapt a folk tale from every single ethnic group in Russia (of which there are well over 100). Each film opens with a short clay-painted segment introducing the culture and the land they live in. Since Aleksandr Tatarskiy’s recent death (he was the founder of the studio), the decision was made that the studio would finish every project which he started, and that all decisions will be made by an artistic council headed by Eduard Nazarov.

    http://www.lull.ru/eng/index.html
    “Lullabies of the World”. Another project which consists of a series of short films. It’s going to be released in Russian theatres this month. There’s a trailer of sorts over here:
    http://vision.rambler.ru/users/suzdalfest/1/VTS_01_15/

    All in all, I find the children’s programming in that part of the world very scary. The fact that these are made and allowed to air suggests that nobody over there particularly wants to avoid the radicalization of children, and that those values are considered acceptable in practically all circles. Which is, of course, the case.

  • http://robcatview.blogspot.com Robert

    Hugh Harmann’s “Peace on Earth” (1939) would be the earliest peace promo-toon I can think of. Can anyone think of earlier examples?

  • Nic Kramer

    Sheesh, talk about “Education For Death”. What the heck is this world coming to?

  • Quiet Desperation

    >>> if there’s anything i’ve learned from
    >>> pokemon, it’s that fighting fire with fire
    >>> doesn’t work too well. it can work but not
    >>> well. but fighting fire with WATER tha
    >>> totally works!

    Yeah, but then I pull out my Pikachu and *totally* electrocute you. :)

    As for the analogy in the propaganda world, use your imagination.

  • http://www.kdcartoon.com Khalid alDakheel

    Whoever made this stupid thing doesn’t deserve the tools they used; a really bad and disgusting film.

  • Oscar Grillo

    It is almost as bad as Aladdin.

  • Matt Sullivan

    This just proves how we, as Americans, must use our science and technology to develop alternate fuels, so we don’t have to depend on this awful, backwards part of the world for stability and economic growth.

    These people are f***ed in the head. I can’t even fathom the mentality it takes to create this, especially when animation has a tradition of showing the positive side of foreign cultures.

  • http://rockitpack.blogspot.com :: smo ::

    thanks all for the responses to my comment! i’ll look through all those links. Stephen, and Robert; i’m definitely aware of the films you mentioned and yes they should totally get airtime! but i think we can make something new as well!

    perhaps i should get on that.

  • http://www.autodaddy.blogspot.com tom

    Well, in the States animation has always been part of the propaganda machine, in political ads and politically themed PSAs and such. I think it’s a little sad, sure, but it’s got a long tradition here, and as we export so much of our television culture around the world, it’s bound to have an influence.

  • http://www.ronimation.com Ron

    A little over 10 years ago I worked in what was at the time, the only animation studio in Israel- Bet Anima in Tel Aviv.(there are many more now thanks to the digital boom-one of which was started by Alex Orel: a former Pixar animator but that’s another story) While there I met some other animators an animation students who were trying to get things going and nearly all of their films were about promoting the then current Peace Treaty between Israel and the PLO. Most were student projects or independent films. I don’t know if they’re still around but you might want to look up: Israeli animation and see what you find. Some activist groups like “Peace Now” perhaps sponsor some of those peace propaganda films. That’s something that would be worth looking in to.

  • Inkan1969

    I found the full length cartoon over here:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPQMhISuMcQ

    In fairness, Fatah did have a serious problem with corruption, a motivating factor for them losing the election. The characterization of Fatah as corrupt rats probably isn’t that far off the mark. I liked the sight gag of that one rat accidentally pointing his weapon the wrong way. :-)

    Nontheless, the cartoon comes off as fascist. That lion is so much bigger than the rats. It looked like he could’ve wiped them out any time he wanted (so why just sit around and wait?) The lion emphasized strength, and was like a god. I don’t like that message; Hamas is no god, we need to question it as much as we should question Fatah/Israel/U.S./Iran/etc. We need to stand up to the lion as much as we stand up to the rats. The Palestinian people shouldn’t turn to lion strongmen.

    Palestinian children have a difficult enough life as it is. War based propaganda like this cartoon and (a lot worse, IMHO) that Fahfour show doesn’t help their lives at all.

  • Chris Sobieniak

    > This just proves how we, as Americans, must use our science and technology to develop alternate fuels, so we don’t have to depend on this awful, backwards part of the world for stability and economic growth.

    True, the internal combustion engine needs to be given a proper retirement in favor of what we could advance to.

    > Palestinian children have a difficult enough life as it is. War based propaganda like this cartoon and (a lot worse, IMHO) that Fahfour show doesn’t help their lives at all.

    These children deserve better than this. :-(

  • http://thewronghamptons.blogspot.com/ bardhol

    Haha, that’s great! Burn, burn, destroy, kill, maim, burn, pillage, *tear off head covering* – those rats sure are *merciless* motherscratchers! Sadly, you can’t make shi’ite like this up.

  • Inkan1969

    bardhol makes a good point. I never heard of Fatah fighters tearing off women’s veils. One Fatah rat appears to aim his weapon at al-Asqa Mosque, something I find highly unlikely. These are cheap loaded images that Hamas is too fond of; the Palestinian equivalents of accusing your opponent of disrespecting the Pledge of Allegiance.