Duck Brigade

I just want to point out that most of the interpretations above are wildly incorrect given that this was released in 1940 - much before the escalation of the Japanese-American conflict in the Pacific theatre. If anything, this was the period when the Japanese were occupying Manchuria and making deep excursions into the Sino mainland. If anything this conflict is representing the Sino-Japanese wars that were the precursor to Japanese alliance with the axis. 1. The frogs begin by bullying the ducks, the frogs live on an island - Japan is considered the Island kingdom while it is China or the Middle Kingdom that was basedon land aka Ducks. 2. The frogs have a naval ship made of steel - a clear reference to rapid Japanese industrialization and powerful naval dependence as opposed to the almost complete land tactics used by the ducks, aka Chinese. 3. The director was known for being an open Socialist. The Chinese socialists were already pushing back against a Japanese incursion at this point and Japanese penetration into the mainland had been paralyzed by the Oil embargo by the Allies (whose colonies were being threatened by Jap navies). 4. The message here was probably one of trying to persuade the Japanese people to realize that they have more in common with the Chinese and embrace Socialism when a much bigger threat was looming - The broader Capitalists "axis" of colonialism that had exploited countries like them for the previous centuries. It is interesting to see how openly anti-war messaging was smuggled into a film sanctioned by the Japanese ministry of Education, essentially a propaganda arm of a heavily militarized state. A very poignant message film that shows that Japanese sentiments weren't quite as monolithic as stereotypes tend to portray the cultural milieu of the time period.