Victory Through Air Power

Victory Through Air Power. 1943 Walt Disney Pictures.
Featuring: Alexander de Seversky
Directors: Perce Pearce, James Algar, Clyde Geronimi, Jack Kinney & H.C. Potter
Part of the Walt Disney Treasures set On the Front Lines, which is still available at Amazon.

Alexander de Seversky wrote the book that later inspired this film, and released it less than six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the book proved to be extremely popular, influential, and controversal. Seversky strongly urged the formation of an independent air force, developing long-range bombers, and a commitment to air power instead of just using it as support for ground-based operations.

Walt Disney himself read the book, and was so moved that he personally financed an animated adaptation of the book, pushing his studio to complete and release the film as quickly as possible. The film was created primarily to express visually Seversky's ideas to government officials and the public. Once the movie was viewed by Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt during their attendance of the Quebec Conference, FDR agreed with Seversky and America's military made a commitment to long-range bombing.

As for the film itself, it went into the vaults after 1944, and was not released in its entirety until 2004 as part of the Walt Disney Treasures line. Still, it is unique film, starting with a light-hearted look at the history of aviation up until 1943, before changing gears and emphasizing Seversky's belief that through an aerial assault, the Allies could eventually drive back the Axis quicker than just relying on ground-based attacks.

Highly recommended.