''The New Spirit'' is a 1942 American

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

produced by

Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...

and the

U.S. Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and ...

, and released by the

War Activities Committee of the Motion Pictures Industry The War Activities Committee of the Motion Pictures Industry was a group that was formed by the U.S. motion picture industry to assist the government during World War II. It distributed many government-produced propaganda films and organized Serie ...

. The cartoon, which stars

Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor shirt and cap with a bow tie. Donald is known fo ...

, was the first film created as part of Walt Disney's World War II propaganda production. It was commissioned by Henry Morgenthau Jr., then Secretary of the Treasury, to encourage American citizens to pay their

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Ta ...

in support of the war effort. The film was directed by

Wilfred Jackson Wilfred Jackson (January 24, 1906 – August 7, 1988) was an American animator, arranger, composer and director best known for his work on the ''Mickey Mouse'' and '' Silly Symphonies'' series of cartoons and the ''Night on Bald Mountain''/''Ave ...

and Ben Sharpsteen, and features Clarence Nash as the voice of Donald, Fred Shields as the radio announcer, and Cliff Edwards singing the theme song. ''The New Spirit'' was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosoph ...

at the 15th Academy Awards, an honor it shared with 24 other films.Academy Awards Database
/ref> The following year, Disney released '' The Spirit of '43'' which had a similar purpose and reused many of the scenes from ''The New Spirit''.

Plot

The film begins with

, flush with the contemporary patriotic spirit present with the United States' full entry into World War II, dancing to a patriotic song. A radio announcer tells about the new patriotic spirit and asks Donald if he is willing to do his part. Donald fervently asserts his loyalty and begs to know how best to show it. His enthusiasm fades when the radio announcer advises he pay his income tax promptly. However, the announcer changes Donald's mind by stressing the country's need for resources to aid the war effort. Now that Donald is motivated once again, the announcer, along with the help of a talking

dip pen A dip pen or nib pen or pen nib usually consists of a metal nib with capillary channels like those of fountain pen nibs, mounted in a handle or holder, often made of wood. Other materials can be used for the holder, including bone, metal and pla ...

, inkwell, blotter, and note pad, show Donald how to properly fill out his simplifie
Form 1040 A
After this the announcer urges Donald to mail his payment to the Federal government at once, and Donald enthusiastically races across the nation to Washington, D.C. to deliver it in person. The film concludes with a montage of images to illustrate to the audience the wartime necessities the money is needed for such as munitions and combat vehicles to defeat the Axis powers. With a final images framed in a sky lined with red, white and blue, the announcer repeats The Four Freedoms and reminds the audience that taxes are essential for victory and will keep democracy on the march.

Voice cast

* Clarence Nash as Donald Duck * Fred Shields as Radio Announcer * Cliff Edwards as the Singer

Background

Under the Revenue Act of 1942, approximately 15 million American citizens would become eligible to pay income tax for the first time. In anticipation of the law's passing, Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau Jr. requested that Disney produce a film to cast the tax increase in a positive light and to explain why the government needed the money. A main part of the goal was to ensure that the taxes were paid on time, and to create as little resentment among the public as possible. However, there was significant disagreement between Walt Disney and Morgenthau on who should star in the film. After Disney presented a

storyboard A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding process, in t ...

of the film in Washington, Morgenthau said that he did not like Donald Duck, and preferred instead a new character to represent "Mr. Average Taxpayer." This, he thought, could better convey the seriousness of the issue. But Disney was adamant that Donald be used. The duck was at the time the studio's biggest star, and Disney felt that using him could make a painful task as fun as possible. Disney eventually got his way.

Reception

''Time'' magazine said that "although the cartoon does not make the new short-form blank crystal clear, it gets its propaganda across with the anesthetic blessing of laughter and great good humor. As cinema, The New Spirit is a most effective job." It added, somewhat tongue in cheek, that "Bachelor Duck has complained about a lot of things, but his salary ($2,501) is not one of them. Its revelation is pure patriotism on his part." At the 15th Academy Awards the next year the film was one of 25 films nominated for the

. Among the public, the film created its desired effect; income taxes were more prompt in 1942 than in any year previous. Historians have cited

Gallup Polls Gallup, Inc. is an American analytics and advisory company based in Washington, D.C. Founded by George Gallup in 1935, the company became known for its public opinion polls conducted worldwide. Starting in the 1980s, Gallup transitioned its b ...

to show more than 60 million people saw the short in theaters, and it contributed to an increase of twice as many income tax filings from the previous year. Despite the film's response, members of Congress did not appropriate $80,000 for the production. The U.S. Treasury had to fund the film from different sources.

Adaptations

A comic strip version of ''The New Spirit'' was published in ''Look'' magazine. This version of the story was shorter, and ended with Donald actually mailing the tax form.

Home media

The short was released on May 18, 2004 on '' Walt Disney Treasures: Walt Disney on the Front Lines''.

References

External links

* * * *
''The New Spirit''
at The Encyclopedia of Animated Disney Shorts

at The Disney Film Project * {{DEFAULTSORT:New Spirit, The 1942 films 1942 animated films 1942 short films American World War II propaganda shorts 1940s Disney animated short films Donald Duck short films Films directed by Wilfred Jackson Films directed by Ben Sharpsteen Films produced by Walt Disney United States federal income tax Films scored by Oliver Wallace World War II films made in wartime