BDM106, Animation history, Propaganda presentation, 11 August

Soviet Propaganda:  Faceless, cruel military boots with a swastika symbol stomp across Europe towards Russia.  The aggressor is revealed to be a slavering pig.  But all is not lost!  The pig is quickly dispatched by the might of the Soviet army, backed up with a catchy theme tune in praise of Comrade Stalin, and a bajillion warplanes.

Propaganda is meant to present a complex issue in the most extreme manner: black and white, Evil (them) v. Great (Us).  If the enemy is dehumanized, they're completely unsympathetic.  Humans have a love/hate relationship with the pig.  Love to eat, cute to look at, but also degraded (kept in factory farms for slaughter) and vilified.  The pig, like us, is omnivorous and will even eat dead bodies and sewage.

How else have pigs been used in propaganda?   I wasn't able to find any examples from WWII era Nazi Germany (I suspect that the Soviets would have been the pigs that time), but I did find a US short.  The Thrifty Pig tells the familiar story of the 3 Little Pigs.  The Wolf is the Nazis and the pigs are us: foolish, fatuous or fearless defenders of freedom who buy War Bonds, take your pick.  The second half of the short is like the Soviets: buy War Bonds and our mighty War Planes will destroy the enemy!

Animal Farm by George Orwell took the pig and used it as an allegory for Communism.  In the 1999 film, a propaganda film extolling the virtues of The Farm is played for an empty barn.  The ducks sing a song in praise of the leader and squadrons of them fly overhead, mimicking the war planes of the Soviet and US shorts.  There's nothing like watching a duck sing and march to reveal the tricks of propaganda.