Victory Through Air Power (1943) on Netflix
Approved19431h 10mAnimationDocumentaryHistoryWar
Major Alexander de Seversky argues that long-range strategic bombing can win the Second World War. Animated sequences trace how air warfare grew from the first flights to modern bombers.
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- Netflix3.2/5
- IMDb6.4/101,426 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Plot summary
The film was made to carry Alexander de Seversky's argument to government officials and the public. Animation traces the growth of air warfare, from the Wright brothers' first flights through the machine guns, bombs and aircraft of the First World War, and then turns to de Seversky himself, who sets out his ideas on screen. He argues that earlier campaigns, among them the German advance through France and Britain's defense against German bombers, showed what airplanes could do, and that defeating Germany by matching its air fleets would waste men and materials. Instead he calls for bombers able to fly thousands of miles and strike an enemy's war industry directly, cutting the factories that keep its armies supplied.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Victory Through Air Power (1943)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- A scene showing a fictional rocket bomb destroying a fortified German submarine pen is said to have directly inspired the British to develop a real rocket bomb to attack targets heavily protected by thick concrete; the weapon became known as the Disney bomb and saw limited use as a bunker buster before the war ended.
- Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt were among the notables who decided after seeing Victory Through Air Power that Seversky and Disney knew what they were talking about; the Disney studio sent a print for them to view while they attended the Quebec Conference.
- After RKO Radio Pictures refused to release the film in theaters, Walt Disney had United Artists release it instead, making Victory Through Air Power the first and only Disney animated feature to be released by a film studio other than RKO or Walt Disney Studios.
- After its release and re-release in 1943 and 1944, Victory Through Air Power went 60 years without a theatrical release, perhaps because it was seen as propaganda, or perhaps because it was deemed offensive to Germans and Japanese.
- Victory Through Air Power was the true beginning of educational films for the Disney Corporation, which went on producing them for the military, schools and factory instruction.
