How World War One Influenced Disney’s Early Cartoons

Before Mickey Mouse whistled his way into history, Walt Disney was a 16-year-old determined to join World War I—so determined that he lied about his age to enlist. He never saw combat, but his time in France as a Red Cross ambulance driver left a lasting impression.

In this video, we explore how those wartime experiences resurfaced in Walt’s earliest cartoons—from Alice’s Little Parade and Great Guns! to the wartime Mickey short The Barnyard Battle, which was even banned in Germany. Along the way, you’ll see how trench warfare, military gags, and personal memories shaped the early Disney style.

This is the story of how a war Walt barely fought in still found its way into the heart of his animation.

Interested in my references? Here are some of the best (Amazon Affiliate, commissions earned):
• Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination, by Neal Gabler - https://amzn.to/3SsGn4f
• Walt Disney: an American Original, by Bob Thomas - https://amzn.to/4dbhwLL
• Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History, by David Gerstein, J.B. Kaufman, and Daniel Kothenshulte - https://amzn.to/44Cv8xH
• Disney's Art of Animation, by Bob Thomas - https://amzn.to/4iTflhi
• The Illusion of Life, by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnson - https://amzn.to/3GP5xaK
• The Walt Disney Film Archives: The Animated Movies 1921-1968, by Daniel Kothenshulte - https://amzn.to/3EVj3sX
• The Art of Animation, by Bob Thomas - https://amzn.to/4dl0DP6

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