The educational screen (c1922-c1956])

September, 194} Page 247 The Film and International Understanding Animated Understanding THIS Department has on more than one occas- ion called attention to the potentialities of the animated fihn in the field of international under- standing, as well as in education in general. From the information discussed . below, it now appears that' these potentialities, like the cartoons themselves, are becoming animated with the life and action of activity and reality. Walt Disney's Message In a recent message to his employees who are in the services Mr. Disney said: "Working, as we never w-orked before, on films for the army and navy, we are thinking of the time when you are coming back. Animation is proving, with war films, that it can help with major problems. The les- sons learned, you will apply constructively in solving the problems of peace." "Making films for the development of better under- I standing between North and South America, we look forward to similar work on a world-wide scale. New and better types of educational motion pictures must give cohesion to this torn earth. Light for China and India must reach their millions through the projection machine. Science, Economics and Industry must be given a voice which all can understand. With these and a thousand other problems, the motion picture can be more helpful than any other force. "This is the work to which you will return with the ending of war. It is an important part of the work to be done, a good thought to hold. Using the ways and means which the art of animation is acquiring through films for war, you will make constructive edu- cational films for peace." Animation's Expanding Scope That the world-wide plans referred to above are not idle dreams is indicated by the increasing variety of training films and other films in which Disney's technique is being used. His work for the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs is hemisphere- wide in scope. Subjects for the encouragement of hemispheric cooperation include health, agriculture and industry, as well as culture and folklore, music and romance. Conferring recently at the studio were Dr. Enrique S. de Lozada, special advisor, and Kenneth Holland, director of the department of education at the Co- ordinator's office; Dr. Hernane Tavares de Sa, of the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil; Jorge Delano, San- tiago, Chile; and Jackson Leighter, from the Co- ordinator's Hollywood office. Professor Clemente Olvera y Soto, one of Mexico's foremost authorities on agriculture, visited the studio and discussed educational films. Jack Cutting and Bill Cottrell, of Disney's Foreign Relations Department, were touring Ceneral America Edited by DR. JOHN E. DUGAN Haddon Heights, New Jersey, Schools to request advice and gather information concerning educational films. Preliminary work for a forthcom- ing picture about Cuba has been under way. Animated Film Seminar Plans have been discussed for a seminar to be held at the studio. Here educators from the Americas might meet to discuss educational film subjects and to further the understanding of health and education problems common to the Americas. Educational Animation Fundamental to all our dis- cussion, however, is the film itself. How is an animated educational film made? How does an idea take on action and come to life? Is any special procedure followed? Bob Carr of the Disney staff has this to say: "Here at the Walt Disiiey Studio, now the largest single producer of educational films in the world, we first make a careful analysis of the exact educational situation in which the proposed film is to be ex- hibited. Is it for classroom use, theatre release, or exhibition under private auspices? Exactly who will comprise the audience? What are their ages, their at- titude toward the instruction offered? What do they really know about the subject? "From this foundation, Walt Disney's story crews shape their material specifically for the intended audience, building in as much or as little entertainment value as will be required to put that specific subject across to a definite audience. A film for Naval cadets, eager for battle and knowing that victory depends upon how well they learn their lessons, is found to require very little garnishment, for the film is shown in an ideal educational situation in which the students are in a high state of receptivity and concentration. But how different is the problem of selling sanitation to a half-wild Indian, who is under no compulsion to stand in the village street and look at the outdoor movie unless the film itself wins and holds him. "In this case we invent an interesting littl^ story, clear and vivid, made up of elements the audience recognizes. With music and color we appeal to their emotions and to their imagination, holding their in- terest long enough to implant the few simple lessons of the film." Can these films which seek "to implant the few simple lessons" help to reconstruct the peace and understanding of the world? Walt Disney believes mightily that they can, and we are inclined to agree with him. After all. it is the "few simple lessons" in the history of mankind which have moved them most mightily to action and to understanding.