Escalation (1968 animated film)
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''Escalation'' is a 1968 animated short film, directed by
Disney 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 ...
animator
Ward Kimball Ward Walrath Kimball (March 4, 1914 – July 8, 2002) was an American animator employed by Walt Disney Animation Studios. He was part of Walt Disney's main team of animators, known collectively as Disney's Nine Old Men. His films have been honored ...
. It is an
anti-Vietnam War Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War (before) or anti-Vietnam War movement (present) began with demonstrations in 1965 against the escalating role of the United States in the Vietnam War and grew into a broad social move ...
cartoon mocking U.S. President
Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
.


Production

The short was made independently from the
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and is notable for being the only animated cartoon made in this manner by one of Disney's core animators, the "
Nine Old Men Disney's Nine Old Men were Walt Disney Productions' core animators, some of whom later became directors, who created some of Disney's most famous animated cartoons, from '' Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' (1937) onward to ''The Rescuers'' (197 ...
." ''Escalation'' originated from his anger of the "Battle Hymn" during the Vietnam War (a song he performed many times with
Firehouse Five Plus Two The Firehouse Five Plus Two was a Dixieland jazz band, popular in the 1950s, consisting of members of the Disney animation department. Leader and trombonist Ward Kimball was inspired to form the band after spending time with members of the Disney ...
) and a story from
The Realist ''The Realist'' was a magazine of "social-political-religious criticism and satire", intended as a hybrid of a grown-ups version of ''Mad'' and Lyle Stuart's anti-censorship monthly ''The Independent.'' Edited and published by Paul Krassner, an ...
that suggested that Johnson was preoccupied with the size of his genitals. Kimball had a budget of 3,000 dollars and had to outsource the ink and painting to Celine Miles Ink & Paint, had a college choir sing the "Battle Hymn of the Republic", had to pay an outside camera man to shoot the frames, and finished the film with the help of a friend. He showed it at film festivals, college campuses during the U.S. presidential election year in 1968, and personally gave away copies of the film to whoever was interested. The first film festival it was screened at a
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art house called the Cinema Theatre, proving the film so popular, that it was screened three times there. The film was a runner-up for the Academy Award, but was ultimately dropped due to its content. In a 2000 interview shortly before his death, Kimball said that he thought that ''Escalation'' had not received the mainstream attention it deserved. In 2007, relatives of Kimball put the film online on
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.


Plot

The animation begins with a countdown from 10 and a drumbeat, skipping over the number 7 and with each numeral getting larger in size as the countdown progresses. A
dove of peace Doves, typically domestic pigeons white in plumage, are used in many settings as symbols of peace, freedom, or love. Doves appear in the symbolism of Judaism, Christianity, Islam and paganism, and of both military and pacifist groups. Mythology ...
flies upside down and backwards, with X marks over its eyes as if it were dead. Then a giant statue of the head of
Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
is slowly wheeled into view, while the melody of the "
Battle Hymn of the Republic The "Battle Hymn of the Republic", also known as "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" or "Glory, Glory Hallelujah" outside of the United States, is a popular American patriotic song written by the abolitionist writer Julia Ward Howe. Howe wrote her l ...
" plays. One of the statue's ears is shaped as a dollar sign. Actor
Paul Frees Solomon Hersh "Paul" Frees (June 22, 1920November 2, 1986) was an American actor, comedian, impressionist, and vaudevillian. He is known for his work on Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Walter Lantz, Rankin/Bass, and Walt Disney theatrical cartoons during ...
imitates Johnson's voice reading the lyrics, later joined by a choir, with each instance of the word "truth" being bleeped out with a cuckoo sound. As the song goes on, Johnson's nose slowly starts to rise in
phallic A phallus is a penis (especially when erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history a figure with an erect penis is described as ithyphallic. Any object that symbolically—or, more precisely ...
fashion. When fully erect, the nose begins to shake and then violently explodes as images of the
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, bare breasts,
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, copious amounts of meat,
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,
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,
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,
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, beer,
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,
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,
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,
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and
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s flash on the screen in rapid succession amidst images and sounds of explosions, followed by a similarly rapid succession of military decoration, ending on the
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(the medal for those wounded or killed in combat) as a single clock chime is heard. The cartoon fades out by having the statue crack into pieces. The gradual enlargement of Johnson's nose brings up images of
Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...
, whose nose grew longer whenever he lied. Kimball worked on the 1940 Disney adaptation of ''Pinocchio''.


See also

* ''
Mickey Mouse in Vietnam ''Short Subject'' (commonly known as ''Mickey Mouse in Vietnam'') is a 16 mm underground animated short film. The director was Whitney Lee Savage (father of Adam Savage, of ''MythBusters'' fame); the producer and head designer was Milton Glaser. ...
'' * ''
Bring Me the Head of Charlie Brown ''Bring Me the Head of Charlie Brown'' is a 1986 American animated short fan film directed and animated by Jim Reardon, who would later become director and storyboard consultant for ''The Simpsons'' and one of the co-writers of the Oscar-winning ...
'' * ''
Bambi Meets Godzilla ''Bambi Meets Godzilla'' is a 1969 black-and-white animated short student film created entirely by Marv Newland. Less than two minutes long, the film is a classic of animation; it was listed #38 in the book ''The 50 Greatest Cartoons'' (1994). ...
'' *
List of anti-war films Anti-war films may criticize armed conflicts in a general sense to illustrate that war is futile and a loss for all sides involved, while others focus on acts within a specific war, such as poison gas use or genocidal killing of civilians. There a ...


Sources

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External links

* * {{italic title 1960s American animated films 1968 films American animated short films American political comedy films American satirical films American animated comedy films Anti-war films about the Vietnam War Cultural depictions of Lyndon B. Johnson Films directed by Ward Kimball Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War Vietnam War films 1960s rediscovered films Rediscovered American films 1960s English-language films Rediscovered animated films