Peace on Earth

If you have been reading The Eye for any length of time, then you have noticed my odd sensibilities and penchant for apocalyptic science fiction. Call it rebellion from a Bob Jones university influenced early education and an overdose of cynicism. Or it could be because I saw Planet of the Apes and the animation short I have embedded below at a very early age.

“Peace on Earth” is a 1939 MGM animated short set at Christmas in the future when animals are the only species left. A grandfather squirrel explains to his three grandchildren what men are in the lyric ’Peace on Earth/good will to men.” The cartoon has a brutally poignant anti-war message. The two last men on earth kill each other in a face off, then animals discover the heart of the problem is they did not follow rules set forth in the Bible. The animals rebuild society based on the commandments of thou shall not kill and love they neighbor as thyself. A little more subtlety, they beat swords into plowshares by making homes out of abandoned war material, a fact which is clear if you look at the buildings from the beginning.

Animation lore claims "Peace on Earth’ was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, but there is no official record of it being among the nominees. I tend to doubt it was dver nominated, but I do not discount the idea the Nobel Committee thought a cartoon, no matter what its message, was too far beneath them to officially count. William Hanna and Joseph Barbera remade and updated "Peace on Earth” in 1955. Retitled “Good Will to Men,” the animated short has more obvious Christian overtones and a much less personal annihilation of mankind--we all die in a nuclear holocaust. For whatever reason, the main characters are changed from squirrels to mice. Because of the change, one cannot help but note the similarities between the mice and one of Hanna-Barbera’s most famous creations, Jerry. I am not as fond of “Good Will to Men” as I am “Peace on Earth.” The Cold War alarmism does not resonate as much. Maybe it is because the organized anti-nuclear arms movement adopted the anti-Christian sign of the broken cross from the Roman era as its symbol. Hanna-barbera may not have been aware of that when they added stronger Christian themes in the short, but the irony kills it for me.

I prefer “Peace on Earth” because its images are based on World War I. Largely lost to history, but not to me, was a cultural anxiety regarding the end of the world at the turn of the 20th century which rivaled that of approaching 2000 landing the Left Behind series on the best seller lists. The Great War seemed like it may very well be the end to many true believers. (Some not so true. The Jehovah’s witnesses claim the apocalypse began on October 1st, 1914.) Woodrow Wilson, in his request for Congress to declare war, warned civilization hung in the balance. In that sense, "Peace on Earth” is an interesting historical novelty.