''Escalation'' is a 1968 animated short film, directed by Disney animator Ward Kimball. It is an

anti-Vietnam War Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War (before) or anti-Vietnam War movement (present) began with demonstrations in 1965 against the escalating role of the United States in the Vietnam War and grew into a broad social move ...

cartoon mocking U.S. President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

Production

The short was made independently from the Disney Studios and is notable for being the only animated cartoon made in this manner by one of Disney's core animators, the "

Nine Old Men Disney's Nine Old Men were Walt Disney Productions' core animators, some of whom later became directors, who created some of Disney's most famous animated cartoons, from '' Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' (1937) onward to '' The Rescuers'' (1 ...

." ''Escalation'' originated from his anger of the "Battle Hymn" during the Vietnam War (a song he performed many times with

Firehouse Five Plus Two The Firehouse Five Plus Two was a Dixieland jazz band, popular in the 1950s, consisting of members of the Disney animation department. Leader and trombonist Ward Kimball was inspired to form the band after spending time with members of the Disne ...

) and a story from

The Realist ''The Realist'' was a magazine of "social-political-religious criticism and satire", intended as a hybrid of a grown-ups version of ''Mad'' and Lyle Stuart's anti-censorship monthly ''The Independent.'' Edited and published by Paul Krassner, a ...

that suggested that Johnson was preoccupied with the size of his genitals. Kimball had a budget of 3,000 dollars and had to outsource the ink and painting to Celine Miles Ink & Paint, had a college choir sing the "Battle Hymn of the Republic", had to pay an outside camera man to shoot the frames, and finished the film with the help of a friend. He showed it at film festivals, college campuses during the U.S. presidential election year in 1968, and personally gave away copies of the film to whoever was interested. The first film festival it was screened at a

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

art house called the Cinema Theatre, proving the film so popular, that it was screened three times there. The film was a runner-up for the Academy Award, but was ultimately dropped due to its content. In a 2000 interview shortly before his death, Kimball said that he thought that ''Escalation'' had not received the mainstream attention it deserved. In 2007, relatives of Kimball put the film online on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

Plot

The animation begins with a countdown from 10 and a drumbeat, skipping over the number 7 and with each numeral getting larger in size as the countdown progresses. A dove of peace flies upside down and backwards, with X marks over its eyes as if it were dead. Then a giant statue of the head of

is slowly wheeled into view, while the melody of the "

Battle Hymn of the Republic The "Battle Hymn of the Republic", also known as "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" or "Glory, Glory Hallelujah" outside of the United States, is a popular American patriotic song written by the abolitionist writer Julia Ward Howe. Howe wrote her l ...

" plays. One of the statue's ears is shaped as a dollar sign. Actor

Paul Frees Solomon Hersh "Paul" Frees (June 22, 1920November 2, 1986) was an American actor, comedian, impressionist, and vaudevillian. He is known for his work on Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Walter Lantz, Rankin/Bass, and Walt Disney theatrical cartoons during ...

imitates Johnson's voice reading the lyrics, later joined by a choir, with each instance of the word "truth" being bleeped out with a cuckoo sound. As the song goes on, Johnson's nose slowly starts to rise in

phallic A phallus is a penis (especially when Erection, erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimesis, mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history a figure with an erect penis is described as ithyphallic. Any object that symbolically— ...

fashion. When fully erect, the nose begins to shake and then violently explodes as images of the

Playboy Bunny A Playboy Bunny is a waitress who works at a Playboy Club and selected through standardized training. Their costumes were made up of lingerie, inspired by the tuxedo-wearing Playboy rabbit mascot. This costume consisted of a strapless corset ...

, bare breasts,

hot dogs A hot dog (uncommonly spelled hotdog) is a food consisting of a grilled or steamed sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced bun. The term hot dog can refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener ( Vienna sausage) or a f ...

, copious amounts of meat,

Billy Graham William Franklin Graham Jr. (November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American evangelist and an ordained Southern Baptist minister who became well known internationally in the late 1940s. He was a prominent evangelical Christi ...

, John Wayne,

Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, " Sent ...

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atla ...

, beer,

Aunt Jemima Pearl Milling Company (formerly known as Aunt Jemima from 1889 to 2021) is an American breakfast brand for pancake mix, syrup, and other breakfast food products. The original version of the pancake mix for the brand was developed in 1888–18 ...

Lassie Lassie is a fictional female Rough Collie dog and is featured in a short story by Eric Knight that was later expanded to a full-length novel called '' Lassie Come-Home''. Knight's portrayal of Lassie bears some features in common with another ...

, Superman,

Little Orphan Annie ''Little Orphan Annie'' is a daily American comic strip created by Harold Gray and syndicated by the Tribune Media Services. The strip took its name from the 1885 poem " Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley, and it made its debut on ...

S&H Green Stamps S&H Green Stamps was a line of trading stamps popular in the United States from 1896 until the late 1980s. They were distributed as part of a rewards program operated by the Sperry & Hutchinson company (S&H), founded in 1896 by Thomas Sperry a ...

and cigarettes flash on the screen in rapid succession amidst images and sounds of explosions, followed by a similarly rapid succession of military decoration, ending on the

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

(the medal for those wounded or killed in combat) as a single clock chime is heard. The cartoon fades out by having the statue crack into pieces. The gradual enlargement of Johnson's nose brings up images of

Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...

, whose nose grew longer whenever he lied. Kimball worked on the 1940 Disney adaptation of ''Pinocchio''.

Sources

External links

* * {{italic title 1960s American animated films 1968 films American animated short films American political comedy films American satirical films American animated comedy films Anti-war films about the Vietnam War Cultural depictions of Lyndon B. Johnson Films directed by Ward Kimball Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War Vietnam War films 1960s rediscovered films Rediscovered American films 1960s English-language films Rediscovered animated films

Production

Plot

See also

Sources

External links