The Worst Film Ever

How sad is this?

A lot of fun.

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

When Hugh Harman made PEACE ON EARTH, he intended it to be an ambitious anti-war film. He later said he wanted to make it a longer 2-reel cartoon. Nonetheless it turned out to be one of the greatest and most chilling cartoons to come from Hollywood's animation golden age.Despite being an anti-war film from the late 1930's, the message isn't very clear, beyond demonstrating man's inability to maintain a peaceful society with animals succeeding after man's demise. There are religious icons sprinkled throughout the film, but there aren't used to preach any messages, as one would suspect from a film of this kind. Their presence in the film also seem vague. The elder squirrel's recollections of man's war echoes the horrors of World War I, which was still strongly in the public's recollection.Harman and Ising were known for trying to compete with Disney. They were really the only men that come close to replicating Disney's polished animation, but storytelling was not their strength. Nonetheless, this is one of Harman's best films. Unlike most Christmas films, this one can be unnerving to some audiences due to its grim war sequences and outcomes.Remade by Hannah-Barbera in 1955 as GOOD WILL TO MEN with updated horrific war imagery reflecting the Cold War and a more clear cut religious message.

This is an excellent Christmas cartoon (another favorite holiday), and also a great way of showing what nuclear war can do mankind. I absolutely hated war, and I hope nuclear war never happens. There is a 1955 remake cartoon called "Good Will to Men." But I love this short better. I think I had remember watching "Peace on Earth" a long time ago. But it had kind of slipped my mind, until I have watched it on T.C.M's "Cartoon Alley" last December, for they were showing Christmas cartoons at the time. When I have first watched this short, I know it certainly lives up to the old saying: "Peace on Earth, and Good will towards Men." And if I had to choose which is better : this short or the other one; it would be this short.

Hugh Harman was an animation director who essentially produced sentimental and "cute" cartoons. Looking at his work prior to "Peace on Earth," I don't think anyone would have ever anticipated it. Framed by a "cute" beginning and ending, Harman presents a fable so grim and thought-provoking one would think somehow a John and Faith Hubley cartoon from 20 years in the future somehow got mixed into this film.This is not, however, a Hubley film, and this was not the paranoid, stressed 50's and 60's, but the late 1930's. All this makes Harman's film all the more remarkable.The plot revolves around the typically anthropomorphic animals (in this case, squirrels) asking their grandfather (brilliantly voiced by Mel Blanc--that man was in just about every classic cartoon there was) what the "men" are in the line "Peace on Earth, good will to men." He then tells them a telescoped history of the human race, focusing on the seemingly endless succession of wars men waged.The succession turns out not to be endless, and we see the last war, leading to the last two soldiers killing each other in what was perhaps the darkest, most violent scene ever put in a cartoon up to this time (it still would be disturbing for small children--it was to me when I was a child). The grandfather then tells how the animals, directed by the Bible (which the owl notes seems like a good book, but it was a shame men didn't use it), rebuild the world.[end spoilers]On the eve of World War II, the above must have seemed fairly profound. Unfortunately, events in the 64 years since (and up to the present moment) have ensured this cartoon's relevancy has never gone away. In the end the seemingly shallow Harmanian cuteness of the opening is revealed to be the deepness of innocence, love, and peace.At the very end, the words "Peace on Earth" are flashed on the screen, but this time, not followed by "good will to men," because in the story of the cartoon that's not possible. It's Harman's final warning, and one that remains both intensely moving and disturbing.This is a cartoon that should be seen by everyone, and especially adults.

This cartoon is one of the finest produced by MGM and hasn't really lost it's impact even after sixty years. Given that the shadows of WWII lurked during its preparation, the thoughts of those involved in its preparation are fairly obvious. Although I understand why The Ugly Duckling won the Oscar (it's a beautifully crafted short and deserved recognition), I wish that this one had won or at least tied. MGM did a reprise on this one in the 1950s called, "Good Will To Men" that was good and well worth seeing, but this one is better. The Cartoon Network runs this one and it's also in print. Well worth your time. Early use of roto-scoping (live footage fimed and then animated) is excellent. Profoundly recommended. Anyone who argues animation isn't an art-form should see this!