Rhetoric, animation, and the iconic image: Ultimate persuasion by Bugs Bunny and Donald Duck in government-sponsored World War II animation

The United States' involvement in World War II precipitated certain financial difficulties for the Department of the Treasury. Consequently, Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Morgenthau, Jr. instituted a war bonds campaign and an income tax campaign to partially offset the growing cost of the war. As part of these campaigns, Morgenthau contracted with the Hollywood animation studios Walt Disney Productions and Warner Brothers Productions to produce motion picture trailers that would urge support from American citizens for the bonds and income tax programs.;The study concludes that the virtually unlimited potential of the visual images offers the animator a unique approach to persuasion. Further, these Treasury cartoons rely on visual images to create identification with audiences as a means to persuade audiences. Finally, animation from this time period reveals the values and attitudes that constructed the cultural milieu of life in the United States during World War II.;This dissertation analyzes how visual images use the principle of identification to persuade audiences to buy bonds and to pay income taxes. Specifically, this study considers the Warner Brothers' cartoon Any Bonds Today? which asked audiences to buy bonds to support the war, and two Walt Disney short cartoons The New Spirit and The Spirit of '43 which illustrated the ease and urgency of paying the income tax. This study addresses three central questions: What is the unique appeal of animation as a persuasive medium? How do animators use visual images in the Treasury trailers to attempt to persuade audiences? What do these animations reveal about the cultural and historical milieu of the World War II era?...